Hey guys, recently purchased a property and this is the state of the side yard.
Have mowed down to nothing and am wanting to kill everything before getting soil in and re-turfing.
Not sure if the longer stuff closer to the camera is nutsedge/nut grass and I try and selectively kill that or if I just glyphosate the whole space? Would love some input. Yard is in Queensland, Australia.
Glyphosate will likely work, just will need to cover a large area which will be a pain. Consider using a bigger pump sprayer to get more coverage faster. Don’t get glyphosate on your skin, wear gloves and long sleeves. Glyphosate is no bueno. Best of luck! 
@Hayden
Yeah to be honest I’m a bit on the fence with glyphosate. Have a dog, which I’m going to have to restrict his play to the back yard until it’s been re-turfed, assuming that by that time (5-6 days) it should be safe if it’s been covered in topsoil and has turf on top.
Would love to go with another option but I’m not sure how effective they will be in comparison.
@Caden
You could sheet mulch it. Lay down sheets of cardboard overlapping and it will kill the grass. You can then put your soil on top and it will break down.
I’d go glyphosate… 1 round, wait 14 days then hit it again… Should waste everything.
Keagan said:
I’d go glyphosate… 1 round, wait 14 days then hit it again… Should waste everything.
Thanks Abuck! Am trying to get this turned around pretty quickly - so might not have 14 days to wait. You think if I nuke it all tomorrow I’ll be right getting soil in and then turfing this weekend or am I just running the risk of it all coming back through?
@Caden
Oh I missed you’re turfing. Yeah you should be good hitting once and then turfing. It may come back a bit but you can selectively hit it once the turf is established enough to do so.
Keagan said:
@Caden
Oh I missed you’re turfing. Yeah you should be good hitting once and then turfing. It may come back a bit but you can selectively hit it once the turf is established enough to do so.
Thank you, appreciate the response!
@Caden
Sorry for the bad news mate but most poisons work by foliage application and to get the best results you generally don’t mow for a few days before/after you apply. Would have been best to spray it before you got rid of it all.
Glyphosate stops working once it hits the soil.
@Zev
Yeah I unfortunately got a bit excited and just wanted the mess gone. Might be fighting time here to get this done before I wanted.
Caden said:
@Zev
Yeah I unfortunately got a bit excited and just wanted the mess gone. Might be fighting time here to get this done before I wanted.
Yeah fair enough I get that. I’d still spray it but just try to soak what’s left as much as possible.
Have you contacted your turf supplier yet? They should be able to recommend preparation for it.
Getting additional soil in, plus the turf will raise the level almost 100mm though which will almost be at the bottom rail of the fence, just keep that in mind.
@Zev
I haven’t yet, but good call, will do first thing in the morning!
Will actually be pulling about 50-100mm from that fence line to back fill some low spots toward the house as I need to get it to fall right into a new pit drain I’m installing.
@Caden
Yeah my 2c would be not to rush and order the turf for this weekend (unless you have all week to prepare) and spend the extra time getting the drain done, new soil in and leveled. Prep is key and you don’t want expensive turf waiting around for you to be ready for it.
Remember to water the bare soil before laying the turf down, will help out the roots!
Caden said:
@Zev
Yeah I unfortunately got a bit excited and just wanted the mess gone. Might be fighting time here to get this done before I wanted.
Time to till the yard and plant over and worry about the weeds later I guess.
@Zev
This guy knows what he is talking about. The poison has to be absorbed by the leaf and then you just give it a couple of days to get down to the root. After that, you can roto-till the soil and rake out and dispose of the dead foliage and roots. Leave the dirt alone in the sun for a week to deactivate the Glyphosate before you bring in your sod. The link below will tell you more than you want about the subject but it is really readable.
My experience is in the hot Texas sun so your experience may be different.
Good luck!
@Caden
What turf are you laying?
I’d still glyphosate that and try and kill it, the risk is it’s kikuyu runners (most likely is), it will just come back up in your new turf.
But if your neighbours have that grass it’s going to be your friend coming under the fence to see you anyway. You can’t stop that shit.
Unless of course you just join the club and plant a kikuyu lawn.
That’s what I’d do, rather than tear your hair out trying to keep it out of your buffalo that it’s already invaded once before.
@Maris
Hey! It was buffalo previously - or so I was told. Was planning on laying some shade tolerant (sir grange) zoysia.
All good points I need to consider, though. Thank you!
Caden said:
@Maris
Hey! It was buffalo previously - or so I was told. Was planning on laying some shade tolerant (sir grange) zoysia.
All good points I need to consider, though. Thank you!
Sir grange is really nice.
I’d just worry about that being kikuyu, I’m guessing that’s what it is, but could be wrong, are there runners?
Have you had a look over the fence and seen what’s there?
@Maris
There are runners, yeah, I’d just assumed they were from the left over buffalo.
Will pop my head over the fence and see what the neighbours are looking like, but I think they’ve got stone to the back boundary.
