asiverio – posted 07 April 2004 12:10
I know you probably heard this before but here goes. I moved into a new home in Miami and it is my first lawn. It has a lot of semi-dry grass all over the place and some circular dry spots in some places. I have started to water it twice a day and half the lawn has come back a bit. But only half. THe other half is still suffering. I do see brown beetles everytime I water. Help! idiot with a lawn.
Alex_in_FL – posted 09 April 2004 22:48
I think you are inviting problems watering twice a day. Water once every two or three days and water deeply (1/2 to 3/4 inch of water) to help jumpstart your yard. Also, check your sprinkler heads to see if they are missing areas (causing the brown spots). You can hand water a few brown spots and see if that helps.
No idea about the beetles. They are likely attracted to the dead grass. You might want to grab a grass sample (dead grass) and a few bugs and visit your county extension office. They can probably tell you exactly what to do. The cost will be minimal and the advice very valuable.
If you have fungus then I recommend a good commercial spray and the corn meal DChall of San Antonio recommends. It fights fungus and fertilizes the yard.
Hope this helps.
Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 12 April 2004 23:30
The circular dry spots are almost certainly fungus disease. If you apply corn meal at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet it will be gone in 3 weeks. You will also have fertilized the lawn so you won’t need any fertilizer until early summer.
Here are the three most popular turf care tips I’ve gleaned from all over the Internet. They are in order of importance with number 1 being 5 times more important than number 3. Number 2 is 4 times more important than number 3.
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. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds.
2. Mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. Bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses are the most dense when mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. Dense grass shades out weeds and uses less water when tall. Dense grass feeds the deep roots you’re developing in 1 above.
3. Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 4 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above.