Need serious help!

DavidC011 – posted 23 October 2010 11:10

A local nursery informed me that i had brown patch, i got most of the thatch out and treated with scotts fungus control. green blades started to appear back in it in spots, i live in east texas and was wondering since spots in my yard still looked fried could i just pull all the brown spots with green in it up all the way to the dirt and just resod it and if so do i still need to treat my yard with scotts fungus control again after? I would really appreciate any help i can get.

Houston610 – posted 24 October 2010 08:18

Brown patch will Not kill the grass, it is just unsightly. You can treat with PCMB fungicide but it is really not needed. The best remedy is to rake out the dead blades and stop watering more than once a week. Once we start getting some rain this fall, stop watering all together till February or March.It will grow back in the spring.

Greenthumb Man – posted 09 March 2011 00:00

I am not responding to anyone. I am new to this and have some questions about St. Augustine sod.We moved here 2 years ago from Michigan where we had a pretty, full, LUSH green lawn. We moved to North Mississippi, to a fairly new subdivision where the lawns here all have sod and it is the UGLYIST grass I ever laid my eyes on. It is full of weeds and not a pretty green at all.I have spent a fortune on killing the weeds in my lawn and fertilizing it. It is sod and they say it is bermuda.I was told by someone living in Jackson, MS to get St Augustine sod and put down. Well I have already spent over $100 on fertilzer the first of this month and already put it down.1. should I lay the St Augustine now that I have alredy fertized the grass?

Let me back up a bit. I read some of the blogs on this site and it seems there are more than one type of St Augustine sod.

2. Is there?3. and if so what is the differences?

I read that sappire is a sun loving St Augustine sod and that raleigh is a shade loving St Augustine sod.

4. is this so?

My house is sitting where it can be fully seen from all 4 sides. The back and one side get full sun all day long one side is shaded all day long and the front is partially shaded and partially sun.

5. So should I mix the type of St Augustine [if there are differeent types]put raleigh on the shaded side and put sappire on the other 3 sides?

6. do you reccommend that I dig up the entire yard or just the spots where the sad will be laid?

7. how far apart do you reccommend I lay the sod apart in order to make it go farther?I was told to skip an area after each layer. I was told to dig up the grass and to spread down sand over the lawn the lay the St Augustine sod on top of the sand. because the hot sand will make it spread faster.

But from reading some of the posts it seems there are more to it than what I just wrote.

8. is it? if so what else do I need to do?

I looked in the yellow pages and found 3 sod places and called all 3 and only 1 of them sell St Augustine. I even called Home Depot and Lowes. Seem neigher of them sold enough sod last year and they are not sure if they will even get any this year.The one place that do have it say it will be ready in April.

9. What is a reasonable price for a plat of St Augustine?

10. If the seller is just saying St Augustine how do you know which variety you are getting?

11. Since it is so expensive is there a warranty on the St Augustine sod?

12. Where can you find black dirt?

I used it on my grass in Michigan and it worked wonders on the grass. I can not seem to find it any place here.

Sorry for so many questions. A sincere thank you for any help, suggestion and/or information you all can give.

seed – posted 10 March 2011 23:24

Lots of questions on different topics but at least they are enumerated (I rearranged a little so the number precedes the statement being questioned.)

1. should I lay the St Augustine now that I have alredy fertized the grass?

ANSWER: It’s okay. It won’t hurt. Just a waste of fertilizer. By the time the sod roots, some of the fertilizer will have moved down.

2. I read some of the blogs on this site and it seems there are more than one type of St Augustine sod. Is there?

ANSWER: Yes, Palmetto, Seville, Raleigh, Captiva, and Floratam (this one may not be cold tolerant enough for your area).

3. and if so what is the differences?

and

4. I read that sappire is a sun loving St Augustine sod and that raleigh is a shade loving St Augustine sod. is this so?

ANSWER: They all do well in the sun and the dwarf ones, certainly Seville and Palmetto, and probably Captiva take partial shade, if there is the equivalent of a minimum of 2 hours of full direct sunlight per day. There are some other differences in cold hardiness (Palmetto reportedly the best), and Seville has the longest history.

5. My house is sitting where it can be fully seen from all 4 sides. The back and one side get full sun all day long one side is shaded all day long and the front is partially shaded and partially sun.

So should I mix the type of St Augustine [if there are differeent types]put raleigh on the shaded side and put sappire on the other 3 sides?

ANSWER: Probably nothing will grow on the shaded side. If you like Sapphire you might as well put it on 3 sides.

6. do you reccommend that I dig up the entire yard or just the spots where the sad will be laid?

ANSWER: I’m not sure if you are sodding in patches or spot sodding (slabs like a checkerboard, or cut sod pieces in plugs). Main thing is to spray out with Roundup any noxious grasses and remove vegetation as necessary to get soil-root contact and to remove enough material so if you need to grade the area you can rake the dirt around.

7. how far apart do you reccommend I lay the sod apart in order to make it go farther?I was told to skip an area after each layer.I was told to dig up the grass and to spread down sand over the lawn the lay the St Augustine sod on top of the sand. because the hot sand will make it spread faster.

ANSWER: Now I understand. You are planning to use full sod slabs, let’s say 16 inches x 24 inches, in kind of a spread out checkerboard. This is not good because it will be lumpy for a long time, it will take just as long or longer to cover as plugs, and you will be spending a lot of money on sod. Instead, get a machete, sharpen it well, and cut your sod into squares about 4-6 inches across and plant them in rows at least 24-36 inches apart, and at least 24-36 inches apart within the rows. Once they start running the will fill in fast. It may take 5 months of growing weather altogether. If you plant 4 inch plugs 24 inches apart on a square grid (offset would be better), you will need 28 square feet per 1000 square feet of planted area. Once they root, put about 1/2 handful of Milorganite on each plug, that way you are not feeding the weeds. Water no more than once per day at first, less often later. When you starting see weeds, start mowing.

8. But from reading some of the posts it seems there are more to it than what I just wrote. is it? if so what else do I need to do?

ANSWER: This is what a good seedbed looks like:https://turfgrass.com/planting/rake.html

9. I looked in the yellow pages and found 3 sod places and called all 3 and only 1 of them sell St Augustine. I even called Home Depot and Lowes. Seem neigher of them sold enough sod last year and they are not sure if they will even get any this year.The one place that do have it say it will be ready in April. What is a reasonable price for a plat of St Augustine?

ANSWER: If this were Florida, I would say $130-160 per 500-square-foot pallet, not including delivery or the price of the pallet. But if you cut it up with a machete you won’t need a whole pallet and the per-piece cost could be about $1.

10. If the seller is just saying St Augustine how do you know which variety you are getting?

ANSWER: You have no idea. Even if the seller says what variety it is, you may have no idea. Some of the patented proprietary varieties such as Sapphire are sold under a licensing agreement with relatively good safeguards.

11. Since it is so expensive is there a warranty on the St Augustine sod?

ANSWER: Generally there is little remedy for sod problems, maybe for a week or two, but that depends on what kind of agreement you have with the vendor, how good a relationship you have with the vendor, how much the vendor wants your or your friends’ business in the future, and especially on how many days have passed before you see and report problems if there are any.

I think if you can show the sod was damaged at the time it was received, e.g., noxious weeds, dead on the pallet, or serious insect or disease problems immediately after receiving it, you have a decent argument. Try not to receive sod on a Friday afternoon when its almost impossible to send it back. If you see problems when you receive it, try to send it back. Do absolutely obtain a clear bill of lading and/or invoice or bill of sale showing what they say they sold you, and if it’s a licensed variety there should be some literature pointing out what it is and possibly who produced it.

12. Where can you find black dirt?

ANSWER: First of all, grass grows well in sand and tends to produce its own organic matter in the form of thatch, over time. The main benefit of humus, such as the organic humus from Florida and lake areas, is to help improve soil structure, as well as holding some nutrients and water, and the more stable forms such as Canadian spaghum peat give cohesion to sports surfaces. But too much organic matter in a turf area can be much more of a problem. Black dirt is good for gardening but is often more of a drainage problem for turfgrasses.

[This message has been edited by seed (edited 10 March 2011).]