Help with Palmetto-St. Augustine

Florida Jimmy – posted 18 November 2001 08:20

Prior to installing my palmetto-st. augustine sod i had the area cleared and laid a base of 50/50 soil. Prior to and during the installation it had been raining very hard for several days. Not knowing any better i went ahead with the installation. After several weeks it began to brown and die. I was told it had root rot and was caused by installing the sod when the soil was wet and it hardened. i had it treated and it came back. Now, about a year later the grass is still very weak and tears up very easily. The ground is hard and compacted. What can i do to improve the health of my grass? Thanks.

deb-br,la – posted 13 September 2004 22:43

I’m sure you have taken action since you posted, but this came up when I was searching for other info on this type of grass which I have recently planted and LOVE! I’m hoping that this can help anyone who is working with the same problem.

When establishing this grass, you have to water it A LOT! In South Louisiana, I have gone for 3 to 5 inches a week this July, August & September (minimum 1 inch with the sprinkler every other day unless we get a really good rainfall). Once it’s established well an inch or two of rain a week should be enough.

To get rid of the sparse look and ease with which the grass gets torn up, you should cut the runners on the grass regularly as the new segments become rooted. Cut in the section just before the new root growth. This makes each “sprig” create an entirely new root system and a new plant that will create its own leaves and its own runners, etc. I have foud that this is the best way to thicken up any type of St. Augustine, but especially palmetto. Palmetto stays pretty spindly until it has filled the entire area with “new” plants and then it will concentrate on leaf growth. I also have used a root stimulator every week or two and a rooting hormone occasionally to strengthen the root system (just until I get that particular area pretty thickened up). What you are looking to make is thousands of little individual plants instead of a few parent plant with lots of runners. While the runners are the way to make the grass spread, they continue to leach off of the parent plant until they are cut, and they never get their own root systems until they have to (so what you end up with is a bunch of weak roots and not much else).

Another tip I’ve found is to apply a good 1/2 inch of peat moss or other humus to the surrounding area (away from the parent plant) it’s growing into; it’ll disperse as time goes on, but it helps to concentrate the moisture to the newer growth, which is where you need the moisture to stay. This would also help with your hardening ground issue, as the peat moss gives the new delicate roots something to grab onto until it they get strong enough to get through the tougher soil (the additional moisture will help with this too).

If your soil has a “crusty” look to it or black or green tinges, try this: 1 cup of Murphy’s Oil Soap and 1 cup of Listerine in a hose-end sprayer — it absolutely can’t hurt anything and it will help to clear up any algae or fungal problem you may have — I’ve been doing this every 2 weeks or so since the additional water has activated a lot of algae growth in my soil; it’s controlled new growth very well and has broken up all of the black crusty dried algae. (This recipe also chases off a lot of bugs, too, if you use a mint or citrus scented Listerine per Jerry Baker’s website).

Anyway, sorry for the dissertation. I’ve kind of been obsessed with starting a good lawn going this summer and have had pretty good success, through trial and error. Just trying to pass on some tricks I’ve found.

Best of luck!