DanInTampa – posted 12 March 2004 10:21
I bought a house in north Tampa that had been vacant for about 7 months. In that time, it appears that no watering, fertilizing or any care at all had been given to the St. Augustine grass except having it cut. It is now very yellow and brown but does have odd patches where it is very lush and green. There are lots of dead bits of grass and clippings from the mulch mower mixed in with the brown grass that is still attached to the stems. Should this lawn be mulched? What is a good game plan for bringing some color back to this lawn?
MAXIMUS95GST – posted 12 March 2004 12:18
No way,
My neighbor tore up his yard like that.
Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 15 March 2004 08:03
St Augustine spreads by stolons on top of the soil. When you use a dethatcher, you slice through every one of those things which disconnects the grass from the roots. Not good to say the least.
Your brown spots are caused either by dryness, bugs, or fungus. Dryness should be easy to detect and correct. Fungus can be treated with 20 pounds of corn meal applied per 1,000 square feet (allow 3 weeks to see improvement). Bugs can be treated with beneficial nematodes. The problem with that is the bug damage is already done and the bugs could be long gone. Still, I use beneficial nematodes to prevent future damage.
But I’m thinking the grass suffered a lot from no water and that just getting it watered will bring it around.
1. Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an hour in every zone all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time.
2. Mow at the highest setting on your mower. St Augustine is the most dense when it is tall. It also shades out weeds and uses less water when tall.
3. Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 4 times per year using organic fertilizer.