beginner needs help

teacher_man – posted 29 January 2010 19:03

I bought my first house about four years ago after graduating college. Sadly to say, I haven’t taken good care of the grass since I’ve been living here. Actually, I only found out last year that it was St. Augustine! I’ve decided that I want to return my yard to its previous glory. Now my lawn is covered in weeds and a few dead spots. I’ve been researching on the net, but it’s hard to find reliable info. I need suggestions on when it’s best to apply fertilizer and how often? What about a watering schedule? I want to know anything else I need to know? Funny (or not so funny) story about how naive we are: My wife was having the hardest time keeping these long pesky weeds out of our yard the past few years that were invading the shrubs. Come to find out they were the stolons! LOL! Thanks in advance for any help!

Rieja – posted 30 January 2010 11:09

Better late then never. Until you get a decent reply, poke around these forums, there really is some good information here. Whatever you do put down on your lawn though, make sure it says for St Augustine grass.

https://turfgrass.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000218.html

[This message has been edited by Rieja (edited 30 January 2010).]

Bill Drake – posted 31 January 2010 14:10

Check with your county extension office. They can point you to “how to do it” information for your corner of the world. You might also checkout data from the college or university that administers cooperative extension services in your state. Here is link for Florida. http://solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu/agriculture/turf_and_sod.html

teacher_man – posted 31 January 2010 15:05

Thanks for the help so far. I’m located in Southwest Georgia so I’ll be sure to post what i find out and see if ya’ll agree!

Almaroad – posted 09 February 2010 11:53

Ah, good Southern boy–I’ll help you out. What do you need to know?Let start off right with a good soil test and go from there. Walk around you lawn with latex gloves and dig a little hole about 3-4″ down and not very wide and use a clean plastic scoop like a coffee scoop and put it in a large thoroughly washed plastic bucket. Do this every 30′ or so in all directions like a checkerboard. Mix all of these with the gloves still on. Fill a very clean sanitized peanut butter and take to the County Extension agent (See you Phone Book). Ask for St. Augustine analysis. We’ll go from there. You will need to buy some Simazine. Measure your lawn. Buy a good back pack sprayer with a fan tip as the Simazine is a liquid and will have to be diluted. Write me back with soil analysis and when you have that backpack. We going to apply a pre-ememrgent herbicide next. This will be a granular product but really liquid fertilize is much better but does need special equipment for application. Roy

teacher_man – posted 19 March 2010 13:19

Thanks Roy! Just got your reply. i thought I had my email set to alert me when someone replied. I’m a little behind but called county extension agent and they are coming to test soil for me. I have a good bit of henbit (googled it) growing now. my front yard is 46 feet by 32 feet. I’ve done absolutely nothing but I want it to look good and I’m ready to give it my all! What’s next Roy?

[This message has been edited by teacher_man (edited 19 March 2010).]

Almaroad – posted 24 March 2010 14:42

OK–Let’s begin by using something with Nitrogen and Potassium…St. Augustine is OK with a Chlorine based Potassium. Lesco’s 15-0-15 will be OK. Fertilize is in percentage of the amount in the bag. So that 50lb bag has 7.5 lbs of Nitrogen. You want to apply 1 pound of Nitrogen to every 1000sq.ft of turf–(MEASURE YOUR LAWN) So, let’s round this off to 7 and divide your 50lb by it. So 50/7=7 That bag will cover 7000sq. ft. of turf. Buy what ever your lawn measures. I’d use a cyclone spreader. Mine covers 10ft. but those little Scotts cover 5ft. wide. It would be better to set up the spreader so that you cover it; then again at 90degrees the other way which means that you will go over it two times. YOU’LL More Even Covarage that way. If you can find a fertilize that has numbers something like the 15-0-15 plus some iron and micros…buy that. Do Not Buy the $cotts. When that lawns has been mowed 3(Three) times, go to Lowes and buy “Image”. It comes in a hose-end applicator that will cover 8K of turf. Apply it–only when the grass is growing strongly and it must be watered in within a week. If the weather is calling for rain in a couple of days, that would be ideal. “Image” will get rid of a lot of weeds. Just read the label. Fertilize again in about 6 weeks, with a fertilize that has a high Nitrogen number (1st)Number and Nothing on the second number and something less than the first number on the third number. ie. 15-2-8 + Iron and Micros. Call John Deere Landscaping and ask those guys or better yet tell them that you need a fertilize with Iron and Micros. You might check out the old Lesco.com site and go from there. Do this now. Roy

teacher_man – posted 31 March 2010 12:57

Thanks, soil samples were sent off and should be in any day now. I’ll put fertilizer down ASAP and let you know how it’s going.

teacher_man – posted 31 March 2010 16:09

ok, only thing here close to 15-0-15 fertilizer is 13-0-13. Shall I assume that’s ok for my lawn? Also, I already checked at Lowe’s and found the “Image”. Another question is do I wait for rain to apply the fertilizer? I read that it’s best to apply fertilizer when expecting rain so it can be watered in.

Almaroad – posted 01 April 2010 14:04

Go ahead and put down your fertilizer. You could couple it with a pre-em with it, you would prevent some future weeds. If you do not have irrigation, holding off a few days before a rain is a good idea. Good luck and let me know how it is doing. Roy