Three weeks is WAY too freaking long to wait to mow.

You MUST mow at least once a week, especially in spring, and that is with ANY grass.

The shorter you mow it, the faster it grows.  So if you cut it to 1" you have to mow it more often to keep it that way.

A 2" cut is a decent cut, but in springtime everything is growing like crazy, so you may need to cut more often.

1" every two weeks is really dry.  What does the restriction say?  How much can he water?

This is excellent advice!

Water deeply, once a week.  That will make the roots go deep for the water.  Depending on your soil, you may need to do what is suggested here.

Whatever you do, aim for DEEP watering.  Drive the roots deep, seeking that water.  It will be good for your grass.

I have used Hydretain extensively.

I believe in it.

HOWEVER...depending on the situation, it might work or it might not.

If you have specific questions, I will put them to my Rep.

Take a look at it and see whether it is within the budget.  It's worth it, if it is right for you.

I am so very sorry that you live in a country with a different reality.

And yes, I know you live in California, which is technically part of the US.

But it has left us in all thought and action.

1 day per week at 8 minutes per zone means you probably cannot keep anything alive, unless you get rain.  And I understand it "never rains in..Southern California"..you may not be in that part. I think Northern California is different.

You can manage a desert landscape easily if you have chemical controls, but I think they are all now illegal where you are.  

If you are a conservative voter, Tennessee and Kentucky are beautiful, with people friendlier than you likely have ever met before, and kindness at hand.

You would be welcome in our neighborhood.

Gorgeous yard.  Those stripes are STUNNING!!!!

Try doing those diagonals on the curb strip.   Dooooooo Ittttttt!    

ETA:  Just mow straight across the sidewalk and continue the diagonal.

(Not sure how you will get over the curb, but I bet you can figure that part out.)

I never even thought of that.   Running the stripes across the curb strip is easy on my ZTR.  I've never actually run a reel mower.

Yep.  Wear the eye gear.

Just...wear eye protection no matter what in the lawn.

Sunglasses are better than nothing if you are just mowing.  You can get some cool-looking ANSI 87 sunglasses cheap.  You will kind of look like the FLY mowing and trimming, but hey...that's a cool look!

So help me understand.

You used Ortho a couple of years ago.

But you won't use herbicides now?

Cuz...to get that, you're going to either have to dig it out, tap root and all (you can't just pull it) or you're going to have to spray it.

I'm okay either way, but I have to understand your philosophy to know how to help.

I recommend the Greene County Fert Air-8 rather than a straight wetting agent.  It does have a wetting agent IN it, but it has a lot of other stuff too, including the long-chain humic acids.   I have seen astonishing results in compact and hydrophobic soils using it.   If you're putting down humic already, the effect will be less impressive, but if you aren't using any form of that, it's cheap and your results will be  better than with just the wetting agent alone.

I do recommend Hydretain.  Be sure to water it in per instructions. Especially the liquid if that's what you're using.   There is a very narrow window for getting it into the soil once you apply it.

I meant to have that down on all of my curb strips before June, but now it's 100 degrees in the shade, and I'm not spraying ANYTHING at these temps (except soil amendments.  Some of those I will apply.)

That looks like oxalis/yellow wood sorrel.

Take a look at this and see if it is.  In your photos I don't have close-ups of the leaves or flowers to make absolutely certain, so inspect it carefully.  See if you note any differences.    Here is a page of oxalis/wood sorrel images.

oxalis/yellow wood sorrel

So some thoughts here....You may not need any of this, but somebody else interested in the pesticide free lawn might gain from it.

Here's what I tell You in particular, as well as other homeowners who want to do their own lawn care without pesticides....


Okay so assuming that is oxalis of some kind, you have a fight on your hands that I am afraid to say you can win using only manual labor, and that's pretty much all you've got, because you've got a seed bank in that soil, and oxalis is notoriously difficult to control.

So if it were me and I would not use herbicides at all, I would dedicate all the time I could to hand pulling, and that means watering regularly so you CAN pull the weeds and get root and all.

INVEST IN SOME MANUAL WEED CONTROL TOOLS.... Some type of stand-up weeder would be a good investment, as would a good weed torch, though I have not found one that is effective and inexpensive at the same time.  

So my process would be as follows:

1-Focus on growing great grass.

a-Mow properly.   Once a week at minimum, and tall rather than short.  Follow the "one-third rule."   If you're not going to help your grass along with chemical weed control (don't take that as a hit toward your philosophy--it's not one, but you are not artificially creating an easy life for the grass the way most of us do it ) at least don't abuse it with the mower.

b-maintain a thick stand--you will need to aerate and overseed in the fall  (prepare to bend over. Grass seed is gold right now).  You may need to dethatch. I can't tell without looking at your lawn and/or a cross section to see if you have actual thatch.  At the very least, it looks like you might have a lot of dead grass clipping/other material in the undercanopy that needs to come out, which means a power rake.  You would need to take these steps before you overseed.  What you are after is good seed-soil contact.

c- water regularly as needed.  Nice and deep and fairly infrequently in dry times, more often in drought, etc (this is not the same watering you do when you are growing new seed...that's different.)

d-Get a soil test.  Find out what's under there.   Focus on the soil--build good soil and the soil will grow good grass.

e-Make a feeding program for your lawn to keep it in top shape.   You can't expect it to fend off weeds if it's struggling.



2-I suggest you get to know some of the youtubers who grow great grass.  

Allyn Hayne (The Lawn Care Nut) Especially the older videos  He is not pesticide free, but you will learn about grass and he is entertaining, fun and a great guy.

John Perry (Lawncology)--He grows such great grass that he ends up using almost NO herbicides.  You want to follow his example. You will also like the products he makes if you want to remain as sustainable/synthetic-chemical-free as possible.   If I watched no other channel but one, I would choose this one, go back to the beginning, and watch them all.

3-Spend some money on weed removal equipment as stated above including a good-quality weed torch (High BTU) and find a stand-up "weed popper" or manual tool that you can use without bending over as much.    Plan to water before you weed so you can get the entire root


4-Understand that you will have weeds.  Some invasions, depending on where you live, you won't win.  So the bar has to be a little lower. Nothing wrong with that.

@The Stig

@Savage1971

Recent video by a guy I know about reel mowing vs rotary mowing.    Chuck is a wonderful person, and was totally down with reel mowing and has made a sudden change in mindset.  LOTS of people going whole-hog reel mowing right now, and there's nothing like it.

But it's not for everyone....

Thought you guys might enjoy this.

Okay the sorrel that you EAT is different from Wood Sorrel.  Is the edible sorrel the one your wife loves?

This is images of Oxalis.

It's a clover. But most people call it wood sorrel.


@abnk

Take pictures of what your wife loves and calls "sorrel."

This is a case of regional common names and why at some level we all have to revert to the scientific names.  We don't have to do that here, cuz we have cameras.  But get us a photo?

If you can get some air-8 I would.  If I had a way to ship it easily I would send you some.  I believe in it that much for situations like yours.  NOW THEN...even BETTER is to puncture that hydrophobic layer and then put down air-8 and you get an incredible result.  But the air-8 alone, for compaction, shallow, or hydrophobic soils is amazing.

@TheStig  I'm going back through the thread, trying to determine whether I've missed anybody's post, and I saw that you got your new grooved roller.

Some questions from a non-reel mower:

1-What did you have before?

2-Are the grooves an improvement?  If so, why?

@Savage1971

Something I just noticed:

I was reading back through the thread, because sometimes I miss posts, and I don't want to leave anybody out cuz I had a brain fart.

I saw that you said one thing you don't like about your fescue is...it requires weekly mowings.

Any grass you put in is going to need that, if you want a good lawn.

I *think* you realize that, but I wanted to just be certain.  The Bermuda definitely requires weekly mowings, and actually could do with more if you want perfect.  Doesnt' mean you have to do more.  Bazillions of Bermuda lawn owners mow once a week.

But while fescue looks bad if you let it go too long, then take too much off?

Bermuda looks like absolute butt if you do that.

So....plan to mow.  Get yourself a mower you love.  Don't mow the Bermuda first, then the fescue, cuz you will have a Bermuda front yard within three years.  I would lay money on the table that this will happen.

You have to keep them completely separate, and that means cleaning the mower like crazy. I think you said you won't take the Bermuda mower into the front yard.  Just don't forget and mow with the small mower to trim out back, then take it in front.  

This has to be like "don't spread covid."

Only..Bermuda is more contagios than covid.

Just sayin.

@bansil

So you don't need grass in the back yard.

She is planting blue rug or blue star juniper for groundcover on the banks?  If so, you will need to get intimate with a lot of different specialty chemicals, to keep that bank from becoming one huge weed bed.  That's okay.  You can do it. But that is NOT a low-maintenance bank.  Know that going in.  One of my most expensive customers has a bank like that.  It costs a lot and takes a lot of time to maintain it.

In the rest of the yard, you need fescue wherever you want grass.   Not cheap fescue.  NOT contractor mix.  And I don't know where you can find clean straw to spread over it, but you need to get the cleanest you can find.  Even bagged, compressed straw like from Tractor Supply is a better bet than regular old wheat straw bales.   (And even the bagged straw starts growing weeds if it gets a hole in the bag and gets wet.  Just...not as MANY weeds. )

ETA:  If you could talk her into terracing that bank, with narrow planting beds on two or three levels, (and a walking path on each one--wide enough you can walk to take care of the level above) that would be brilliant.  And you could landscape it too.  Those make gorgeous landscape features.

Are you talking about that paled-out rectangle?

So this was sod?

And you know for CERTAIN that this piece starts and ends where the rectangle starts and ends?

Cuz it sure as heck looks like it.

Either you have something perfectly rectangular under that piece of lawn, or you got a piece of different sod.

ETA:  First, I'd pull a core on that...or drive a piece of rebar into the middle of it..or...anything to make sure there's nothing down there (I know there's not and you know there's not but....yeah).

Then assuming nothing is under there I'd cut that out and replace it.

ETA2:  It's weird because it looks like I can see the lines at the ends of the two pieces adjacent to it, and it looks like they all end at the same point.  That may be an illusion, cuz that should be laid staggered, like a wood floor.  That's why it's important to know for sure the piece of sod starts and ends exactly where the rectangle does.  Cuz if that's not the case, something else is wrong.

@abnk

I showed your photo to some friends who work lawns in Indiana, and am told that it is Lesser Trefoil.   Lesser Trefoil

I have not faced this, but it is kin to the clovers/oxalis/wood sorrels and is a difficult weed to manage.  Hopefully the link will be some help.

Good deal.  Yeah, Black Medic is not fun stuff to deal with.  Same type of troublesome.

What height is it now and what are you going to?