Fertilizing distressed St Augustine

javasnow2 – posted 08 April 2004 09:23

Location is Houston, TX.

Thanks to Ted, I think that I have correctly diagnosed my lawn problem as “killed it myself with Weed B’ Gone screw-up.” On Ted’s advice, I looked into fertilizing the remaining distressed lawn in an attempt to revive it, but I have found conflicting recommendations. Also, I just applied a Bonus S Weed/Feed less than 3 weeks ago (March 22, 2004). This was an otherwise healthy and established lawn, as opposed to new sod, before I got my hands on it. The Weed B’ Gone fiasco occurred in February.

A little gun-shy, I’m hesitant to put additional fertilizer down, as it’s hard to undo it once it’s done (Shop Vac recommendations notwithstanding). I’ve read enough suggestions not to use Weed/Feed in any case, so if I do anything, it will be fertilizer only (recommendations?). With all due respect to Ted, I would be grateful for any other advice, even if the advice is: “listen to Ted, he knows what he’s talking about!”

Thanks again.

ted – posted 08 April 2004 14:16

nice try! seriously, you’re not going to bring back the “dead” ( if it’s dead) st. aug. i’m trying to get you to stimulate the st.aug. that’s there into spreading into the other sections. you need around a pound of actual nitrogen for each 1000 sq. ft. – so figure out your sq. ft. of grass, then find the first number on the bag of fertilizer and divide that into 100. for example, 25-3-4 would use 4 pounds of fertilizer per 1000 sq. ft. use this as a guide to plan your fertilizing. it will also show you if you over or under fertilized your st. aug. previously. you can easily use 1 pound of actual nitrogen per 1000 sq. ft. per month in houston during spring and summer. go to the texas a and m website or call up a pro like the guys at Lesco. and no i don’t work for lesco!

javasnow2 – posted 08 April 2004 15:02

Ubiquitous Ted,

I had a feeling you’d respond! Thanks for the follow-up, and for the guide on reading the fertilizer numbers. My square footage in the back where the problem are is small, so even if I can’t ressurect the “dead” it’s not too much to re-sod in any case. I’ll give it a try…

Thanks again Ted!

[This message has been edited by javasnow2 (edited 08 April 2004).]

ted – posted 08 April 2004 22:15

resod may be your best option- fine time of year to do it.

ptzgrl – posted 09 April 2004 09:50

Was just cruising thru to see any good ideas and bumped into your question. Just for FYI, there are lots of great ideas and suggestionson this website, yes?

Anyhow, I too am fertilize shy at the moment, mostly of the weed and feed stuff.Being the organic inclined (mostly because of pets, not because I live in L.A., CA!)I think you might find some relief in a product called Texas Tee, and of course, it is easily accessible to you who live in Texas. Check out the forum of “Critters” and my question of “St.Augustine problems”. It’s got some interesting and rather different views ofhow to address the problems. I myself am teetering on the decision to use corn meal or Texas Tee, which I will have to e-mail order and wait for it’s arrival. If I lose the organic battle, then Ted’s advice rules (which means I will be replacing sod in the backyard)!! Read and take your pick, folks! Good luck on your lawn journeys. Keep us all posted on the results!

[This message has been edited by ptzgrl (edited 09 April 2004).]

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 12 April 2004 23:59

ptzgrl,If you can afford Texas Tee, it is 10 times better than plain corn meal and only 5 times more expensive. There are similar products available in California. I am not familiar with the local brands but Espoma is good as is Ringer’s.

scott p – posted 29 April 2004 15:56

Location is Los Angeles, CA:

Late last summer, my St Augustine front- and back lawns started turning brown, dry and brittle (giving the lawns the look and feel of straw). I got so tired of watching the brown dry patches spread throughout the lawns, that I overseeded them with winter rye just to cover it up. Now that spring is here, the winter rye has died-off, leaving me with St Augustine grass that is totally dead looking and is not greening-up at all. What do my lawns need to revive them? Dethatching? Fertilizer? The lawns do appear to have a thick buildup of dead material. Any suggestions or hints would be much appreciated.

ted – posted 29 April 2004 16:17

yeah, just fertilize it and aerate- sounds like you might have a watering problem from last summer? just guessing, considering the watering issue in Ca. I’m also wondering about the advisibility of using St. Aug. in California? thinking more of fescue and bermuda, since St. Aug. is a salt water resistant, Gulf Coast, kind of grass.I know you’ve been hot lately but don’t your temps usually run in the 80’s?

scott p – posted 29 April 2004 17:34

No, I can’t say there’s a watering problem. It’s always been watered regularly – especially in summer. Summer in SoCal is always dry – no rain whatsoever. When you recommend ‘aerating’ the lawns, is that instead of dethatching? How is ‘aerating’ different from ‘dethatching?’

cohiba – posted 30 April 2004 08:25

ScottP,

Aerating involves any number of methods but they all provide the same outcome: opening up the soil, below the crown of the grass plant. This allows air to get into the rootzone as well as gases to escape from the rootzone. It allows water to get down into the roots as well as helping with drainage. If you pull plugs, let them dry and break them up on top of the grass surface you will allow microbes to get to a fresh source of food: Thatch.

Dethatching mechanically removes a larger amount of thatch buildup. Does very little to disturb the soil(as compared to aeration), and in some cases opens up the turf to wounding and diseases. Never dethatch your lawn when it is under stress from enviornmental problems(water: too much too little, heat, under fertilization,ect.)dethatching is best done when the turf is actively growing, and can recover easily with the proper growing conditions. Word to the wise: before you do it decide if there really is a thatch problem. Some thatch is desirable. It holds moisture, cools the soil and roots and provides cushioning for the crown of the plant.

I’ll let someone else try to explain how products like “Thatch-away” work as I have never used them.

PS: Do not try to compost thatch that is removed, why? I’m not sure but I’ve never tried.

Hope this helps,and take care……

ted – posted 30 April 2004 13:55

watering would mean at least an inch a week, minimum- don’t you have some fairly drastic governmental watering issues there???

scott p – posted 30 April 2004 16:31

ted & cohiba-

Thanks for the info on aeration. My lawns do appear to be stressed and aeration may be the way to go. I think Home Depot or Lowe’s rents aerators. I’ll check it out.

ted-

Though water rates in my city are high, water isn’t rationed or anything. You’re permitted to use a lot of water, but will pay through the nose.

Sir Skrip – posted 03 May 2004 15:09

ScottP,

U have the same problem I do… I put in Winter Annual Ryegrass and it did hide all the browness of the st. augustine. And Last month I couldnt stand the color of the bright green ryegrass, with the st. augustine’s new dark green growth. Thankfully, these horrible temperatures in the 100s have helped to start killing of the ryegrass. The only problem is I also have small hay looking patchs in the st. augustine. I actually went in with my hand and remove dead areas of st. augustine, careful to not pull living grass. Also where I could see clumps of ryegrass that has dried, I pulled it out with roots and all. I decided to mix in a few bags of steer manure and spring some of that bandini st. aug weed/feed. I dont have a weed problem, but it was all i could find at Home Depot. Anyways, I mowed my lawn pretty low (killing off mostly and tall ryegrass. Then I sprinkled the manure/st/aug feed mix over the grass, not too much to bury it, but enough to fall in between and not overwhelm. I then soaked it for about 45 minutes. Then the next morning, i resoaked it again.

My grass area is about 40×20. And in the last few days, it is greener than before. I am tempted to water again, but will wait for a few days, like everyone says, lots of watering but infrequently is the best thing.

I hope it does well, as I have been confused by all this nitrogen talk and 3-1-1-1 thingie. Most simple gardeners recommend Manure, so I figured add some feed with it. Seems to work so far…

Will-PCB – posted 06 May 2004 07:27

Allow me to just pass on a few things I have noticed here that were either lightly touched on, or wasn’t touched on at all.

1. Did you send a soil sample to your local County Extension office for analysis?2. Are the stolons green, or are they brown and dead? (the leaves can be brown and dead, but as long as the stolons remain green, the grass will recover)3. Have you considered turning the dirt over in the area of dead grass and replugging it vs resodding? (I dont remember you stating a size of the area)

About St Augustine care:

St Augustine is a grass that should have deep, deep roots. If you water frequently, your roots will remain shallow and the grass cannot recover from the various things that stress it. However, if you watch the blades of the grass, you will see them start to wilt (i.e.; roll up on their vertical axis). Once that happens, then you water, and I mean water deeply. Then I do not water again until I see the next signs of wilt. Because of this, I can measure roots in my St Augustine up to about 8 inches deep now. I also top dress my lawn with either beach sand, or washed sand lightly year to year (in November).

This is the time of year to fertilize your St. Augustine grass. There are many ways to go about it, but right now the St. Augustine is growing more agressively than it will all year. Be warned, the more you fertilize it though, the more work your going to have. So be prepared to deal with everything from nitrogen loving mole crickets to a fungus to a thatch problem. When to fertilize? I generally fertilize whenever I see the grass trying to seed. By the end of June, you’ll likely want to slow down on your fertilizing as July, August, and Sept are stressful times for St. Augustine. Resume your fertilizing in October to help it recover from those stressful times.

To mulch or pick up – I generally do not pick up the grass clippings this time of year. The nitrogen from the fertilizer is in the leaves, so I just recycle them back down into the ground. Many people are under the misconception that the clipped leaves is what makes the thatch, but it is really the dead stolons that create your thatch. Some thatch is good, too much is bad. Everything in moderation. Just remember to keep your lawn mower at its highest settings. You cannot shave St. Augustine like the bermuda grass owners do.

DO NOT be spraying chemical weed killers on your lawn this time of year. It’s just simply too hot now. Just about anything a home owner can purchase to control weeds will damage your St. Augustine when the temperatures stay above 60 degrees most of the day/night. I hate to say it, but your going to have to manually pull your weeds.

Lastly … have patience. I’ve had areas spring up that I thought were going to just be another bare area of dirt in my lawn, and I was about ready to break out the hand tools and start all over, but my neighbor makes for a great coach. He always tells me that I am not patient enough. So I will check my stolons, and wait. Because my lawn is healthy and agressive, it always recovers very quickly.