YborRiver – posted 31 May 2001 19:52
I have a St. Augustine lawn that seems to shed water. Although it is on a slope it would seem that the water should not run off as easily as it does. The area is under an oak tree and the ground seems to be compacted. I am not sure if it’s because of the roots or some other reason. I have fertilized and watered once a week(due to Hillsborough County, FL water restrictions I can only water once a week). The grass does not grow well and looks poor. Do I need to aerate and if so how is that done on an established lawn?Thanks,Tony
seed – posted 04 June 2001 10:47
YborRiver, first off, it’s usually very hard to grow St. Augustine under an oak tree, due especially to shade, but also root competition and leaf litter.
If infiltration is the problem, you might try intermittent irrigation.
For example, let’s assume you may water one day per week either between midnight and 8:00 am or between 6:00 pm and midnight (one or the other, the choice is yours).Hillsborough County Outdoor Water Use Restrictions
Let’s assume that your lawn needs 90 minutes of watering to accomlish 3/4 inch, based on a catchment cup test, e.g., you have rotary heads distributed far apart.
Instead of watering 90 minutes straight, see if you can set your timer to come on every hour for 10 minutes, within your prescribed watering time.
I don’t think you can get much headway from aeration because under an oak tree there will be oak roots everywhere.
Phil
[Note: This message has been edited by seed]