I nuked my yard, now I need help rebuilding

Kinger – posted 10 November 2009 10:31

I’ll attach pictures below.

I am located in north central Florida for future reference. I bought my house in March of this year. The grass (St. Augustine) was in OK shape. Used some Bonus S and the grass was nice a thick throughout the summer. Later in the summer (late July maybe?) I noticed some common weeds starting to take hold in the yard. I used Bayer weed killer (it was labeled OK for St. Aug) self mixing hose attachment. I think I over applied. Everywhere I sprayed say a lot of degradation in the grass coverage.

I think I burnt the yard. Now the grass is slowly starting to come back (watering 2 times per week per the water restrictions, each area of the yard gets 30-35 minutes of watering). There are still a lot of dead areas but I think they should come back once the spring comes.

Anyway, weeds are starting to take over now without the coverage of grass I used to have (see pics). I would like to reapply something to keep them in control until the grass can grow over the dead areas. I’m worried that it’s either too late in the season or that I will cause further damage with too much chemical in the yard (even though it’s been a few months). Would it be OK to use Bonus S again this time of year? Or should I just use a weed killer? What kind? I’d like to use a spreader so I can be sure not to over apply again.

I was not planning on putting in any winter grass. I prefer not to make a sick St. Augustine yard compete with anything come spring time.

If you have any questions let me know. I can grab more pics if needed.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/kingpinsvt/016.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/kingpinsvt/013.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/kingpinsvt/012.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/kingpinsvt/011.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/kingpinsvt/010.jpg[/IMG]

I’m also getting a lot of this weed, but I don’t know what it is. It isn’t really mixed in too much with the grass though. I’ve been killing it with Round Up. Do you know what it is?[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/kingpinsvt/014.jpg[/IMG]

Kinger – posted 10 November 2009 18:31

Hmm, img code is disabled.

Lets test thishttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/kingpinsvt/010.jpg

Kinger – posted 10 November 2009 18:33

OK, since that worked here are the rest of the links:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/kingpinsvt/011.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/kingpinsvt/012.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/kingpinsvt/013.jpg

Huge dead spot:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/kingpinsvt/016.jpg

This should be that weird weed I was talking about:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/kingpinsvt/014.jpg

Turfguy_UF – posted 12 November 2009 13:23

Hello Kinger,Thanks for the picture and information.

Looking at your pictures I wouldn’t rule out insect damage as well as some possible burning. If you still have the label of the herbicide I would read it over to make sure it was safe to use on Floratam. It is actually really common for a herbicide to not be safe on Floratam but be safe on other types of St. Augustine.

As for the weeds those look to be warm season weeds and as soon as we get are first hard frost those should all go away.

I would wait to fertilize until spring as you do not want to push for growth just before the grass goes dormant.

I would research over the winter for a pre-emergent herbicide and insecticide and apply that in the spring and follow it with a low nitrogen fertilizer to give some vigor back to the grass. If you do this you should see a nice improvement by summer time.

Hope that helps.

TurfGuy

Kinger – posted 18 November 2009 07:12

Thanks for the advice. I was back at Lowes this weekend and double checked the spray I had used. Sure enough, not for Floratam. D’oh!

Spent a few hours trying to get these weeds under control the old fashioned way. Yuck.

saltcedar – posted 01 December 2009 05:43

Your weed may be Wavy Leaf Basket Grass!Oplismenus hirtellus subsp. undulatifolius

landscapelifer – posted 20 January 2010 20:02

That one guy was dead-on…you are not the only victim of the “Bayer-burn”, and have learned a costly lesson in the importance of reading a label completely. Right now your lawn is likely freeze damaged brown. I’d hit it with a good granular now.like a “turf-builder” repeat in first of Spring. Then once every 10 days for 3 cycles…you have lots of herbicide damage from Bayers weed control. yeah not safe for Floratam! i have recovered quite a bit of grass in similar burn situations with this method and at least reduced the amount of turf to be replaced. The pics: #011: herbicide burn; #012: Lots of Asiatic Hawksbeard weeds. #013: Asiatic Hawksbeard and yellow Wood Sorrell. #014: Wirnkle-leafed Dayflower. #016…more herbicide burn. Use a product called “Basagran” herbidice (Safe for ALL St Augustine lawns for the Hawksbeard and Wood Sorrell…usually 1.5 ounces to 1 gallon in pump sprayer. Dayflower dies in cold weather and likes later summer in shadier areas, not suitable for lush St. Aug…use a ground cover or thin overhead shade.

Almaroad – posted 22 January 2010 02:24

Landscaplifer: Have you found anything that will work on that Asiatic Hawksbeard? We have a little in SC. Other than wicking with Roundup, I’ve found it difficult to control. The best I’ve found is to use a Good Pre-Em like Gallery twice a year. Gallery has the least effect on root pruning.