St. Augustine Lawn Grass, Salvage or Start Over?

[lakelandmusic]

I have never seen any soil test kit worth the money. If you want a comprehensive soil test go to a soil test lab. Basically all you will get with a store bought kit is whether your soil is acidic or alkaline. It will also tell you what is in the soil but it will not tell you if it is available for plant uptake. The DG product is an excellent product. The Sunniland is counterproductive to the DG product and possibly be a detriment to your tree and any possible plants you may plant. It will be much cheaper, efficient and safer to just but large bags of compost, a hard garden rake and a big bag of OMRI rated fertilizer and a grass plug tool. You can probably rent the plug tool. All I ever did regarding plugs is to just use a shovel. Most nurserys will sell St Augustine by the square. You won't need many if you just cut the square into small pieces. St Augustine comes in numerous varieties but most of them require full sun. Here in Texas the best shade tolerant St Augustine variety is Palmetto. Do NOT get Floratam.

Got it, alright, now I just need to figure out where to get a small quantity of compost. There are some locals on Craigslist but they only sell in bulk, like by the truckload. And this isn't a large area of lawn so i'm going to have to do some searching.

 

[DirtMechanic]

For one I can use the exercise, and I have the tool to do it on hand. But what you would recommend instead?

My neighbor probably said it best when she said she hated waiting on a plant to grow. Patience, get after it and keep after it and in 3 years it wil be amazing!

 

[Marck]

Got it, alright, now I just need to figure out where to get a small quantity of compost. There are some locals on Craigslist but they only sell in bulk, like by the truckload. And this isn't a large area of lawn so i'm going to have to do some searching.

One of the bagged soil amendment products sold at the box stores will work fine for your purposes.

 

[Fabguy1958]

Hello all, I just finished dethatching and removing all the accumulated leaves from the lawn in the home I just bought.
Lots of debris! 14 big contractor bags full of it! Got some weeds and a lot of bare spots. I know this is St. Augustine so I can't reseed,
and I have to make a decision to either try and regrow it (if that's possible), or tear up the ground and reseed with something else.
I can't afford to resod unfortunately, and I need it to look passable for the HOA. What do you guys think would be a good next move here?

Thanks!

I added a little triple 15 to my St. Augustine and it is doing amazing. It will grow back in the dead areas, faster if you plug it in several places

 

[lakelandmusic]

I added a little triple 15 to my St. Augustine and it is doing amazing. It will grow back in the dead areas, faster if you plug it in several places

Nice, did you fertilize before or after using the plugs? I have to lay some basic topsoil to fill in a bunch of holes and level some areas, then I have the fert and soil amendment and plugs. Does it matter what order you use the Fertilizer?

 

[Fabguy1958]

I used afterwards, I used a granular type. It's a slow release as they state

 

[Neno Baylov]

Water the lawn with water once a week, mow regularly and it will be fine. If you can mow with a basket, otherwise some grasses are capricious and the grass turns yellow.

 

[Chuck]

Many people do not know just how much water a lawn needs. They either water too much or not enough. Most grasses require about the same amount of water. In most circumstances 1 inch per week is sufficient but in S. Calif the lawn might require a little more Here in Texas during the heat of summer 1 1/2 inches is sufficient. How to determine how much water you have laid down on the grass...... The easiest and simplest way is to place a few tuna fish cans around the lawn and measure how long it takes to fill up the cans. A tuna can holds 1 inch of water. Set your timer to this after finding out how long it takes to fill the cans. The worst thing you can do to a lawn when watering is to water a little but often. A lawn needs a good deep soaking each time you water. If you just water 1/4 inch 4 times per week your grass will not develop a deep root system. The water needs to go deep. And, depending on your temperatures 1 - 1 1/2 inches per week . I would start out with a 1 inch program and go up to 1 1/2 if needed. Rarely will grass need more than 1 1/2 inches per week.

 

[lakelandmusic]

Many people do not know just how much water a lawn needs. They either water too much or not enough. Most grasses require about the same amount of water. In most circumstances 1 inch per week is sufficient but in S. Calif the lawn might require a little more Here in Texas during the heat of summer 1 1/2 inches is sufficient. How to determine how much water you have laid down on the grass...... The easiest and simplest way is to place a few tuna fish cans around the lawn and measure how long it takes to fill up the cans. A tuna can holds 1 inch of water. Set your timer to this after finding out how long it takes to fill the cans. The worst thing you can do to a lawn when watering is to water a little but often. A lawn needs a good deep soaking each time you water. If you just water 1/4 inch 4 times per week your grass will not develop a deep root system. The water needs to go deep. And, depending on your temperatures 1 - 1 1/2 inches per week . I would start out with a 1 inch program and go up to 1 1/2 if needed. Rarely will grass need more than 1 1/2 inches per week.

Luckily there has been an abundance of rain recently, because I have now found I have a broken irrigation pipe, three lost (overgrown) sprinkler heads, one broken off sprinkler head, and a bad controller unit. After dethatching and adding top soil, it already seems like it's responding, though slowly. But the big bare patch has already shown some filling in at the edges. Going to fertilize in a few minutes, and start shopping for some PVC, heads and a new controller unit. Finding those overgrown sprinkler heads is going to be fun.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Nice, did you fertilize before or after using the plugs? I have to lay some basic topsoil to fill in a bunch of holes and level some areas, then I have the fert and soil amendment and plugs. Does it matter what order you use the Fertilizer?

Use the fertilizer after. Let it soak down.