Practices for establishing vs. established

GAScott – posted 18 October 2004 18:48

I live in Southeast GA and want to establish St. Augustine grass around my country home surrounded by oak trees. The plot was cleared and there was no existing turfgrass to begin with–just weeds, dirt, and oak leaves. I’m not looking for a perfect lawn. Just some nice green cover around the house itself. (I’m mulching and planting ground covers directly under the trees themselves.)

Sodding is simply too expensive for me. Too much area. I have already started sprigging and plugging around the house, and it’s definately spreading.

Seems that most of the topics on this board concern already-established lawns or the care of newly sodded lawns. I’m seeking advice about how to most efficiently (and economically) encourage the spreading of St. Augustine grass so it eventually becomes an established lawn.

About watering — I’ve got very sandy, acidic soil. It dries out quickly. I took the advice of watering deeply and infrequently (about an inch once a week. or when the grass started to wilt), and the grass didn’t do much during the spring and summer. When the soil dries out, it gets hard and makes it difficult for the runners to root.

But it REALLY took off after Hurricane Frances dumped about 8 inches rain all at once on this area. I was worried about root rot and fungus, but all the grass did was grow and spread like crazy. Got another 4-5 inches from Jeanne, and the grass kept on growing faster. So I started watering anywhere from 2-4 hours at a time per zone every 7-10 days. Does that sound crazy?

I probably need to add some ammendments to the soil, such as lime and compost. How much and how often, again, to maximize establishment. And what’s the best way to fertilize to encourage growth.

Any advice to keep those runners running and roots rooting will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!