dwmyers – posted 14 May 2005 15:45
I recall a poster here (don’t recall the thread) who started to use St Augustine in their Marietta yard. I don’t know if they reported any results. I’m in Snellville, Ga, and I grew up in a house (Shreveport LA area) with a lush St Augustine lawn that my family put in.. sodding and adding soil when necessary. It took a few years but it took over and wiped most everything else out.
I was pretty despairing of adding St Auguatine here until I saw a couple things.. the low in this area hasn’t been below 14 for 3 years and Palmetto seems exceptionally cold resistent, if the claims of its proponents are correct.
So, I bought about 100 plugs and I’ve added them to my lawn. Some have been in two weeks, others have been in a week. About half look good, a quarter look pale, a quarter look as if they are about to die. Hey, if half live and expand for now, I’m happy .
What I am curious is, what is the period in which I can add plugs to this yard? I’ve looked around for dealers in sod, but around here that means Bermuda, and I’m not fond of Bermuda.
br549 – posted 14 May 2005 20:27
We grow and ship palmetto here in Fla.,and it is the most cold tolerant of our varieties.Are you mixing plugs into an existing lawn?We have sent it into South Carolina,and it grew well.
dwmyers – posted 14 May 2005 21:58
Mixing plugs into an existing lawn? Yes. The house is well over 20 years old and will never have a perfect lawn, too many large fully grown trees. There is a fine oak in the front yard and several pines in the back.
I’m just curious if I can continue to add plugs through the spring, or if May is really the best and only month for this? I understand St Augustine is a summer grass in Georgia, but no point in planting it if it won’t grow and spread.
Tungsten – posted 16 May 2005 09:36
what is the soil like? Do you keep the soil wet for the first 2 weeks or so for the roots to take hold in the soil? Did you use the starter fertlizer to help the root establish quicker? I probably dig up a bigger hole and use rich soil to fill in around the plugs. Maybe it’d take longer time but I just know that if it’s rich soil and you water enough for the first 2 weeks, they grow very fast thereafter. When my dad passed away, he left behind a big garden (20ft by 30ft which is sadly the size of my future backyard) and SA took over it very quickly! It just meant a lot more grasses for me to cut, unfortunately.