Starting a St. Augustine Lawn

rfredd – posted 14 January 2005 08:48

I am moving into a new home on Jan. 26th and will have St. Augustine grass. How soon after the lawn is laid should I fertilize? The Lesco charts recommend a pre-emergent plus fertilizer, so I wanted to know if this was good on new lawns.

We have a sandy soil and my current neighbor uses Lime 3-4 times per year on his lawn to help with the yellowing. Is this a good practice?

rfredd – posted 14 January 2005 09:09

I meant Ironite, not Lime.

ted – posted 14 January 2005 10:16

need to know alot more about your location.

ted – posted 14 January 2005 13:17

i’m assuming anywhere that you have st. aug. you going to pretty much have off the chart ph. ironite will help, but sulfur treatments are required to effectively lower ph. are you getting the lesco info from the home depot handouts? i’ve seen a few of them, and they’re generally ok.

wk2hdwoman in brevard – posted 14 January 2005 13:22

Call you local county extension office, 941-722-4524, located at 1303 17th St W, Palmetto, FL, and talk with a Master Gardener. You can also go directly (never have to leave your house)to the UofF web site, www.ifas.ufl.edu and find alot of research backed information about St Augustine grass. You are looking for the publication, Yearly Calendar for St. Augustine Grass Care and Culture, 15 pages long. Good Luck wk2hdwoman

quote:Originally posted by rfredd:I am moving into a new home on Jan. 26th and will have St. Augustine grass. How soon after the lawn is laid should I fertilize? The Lesco charts recommend a pre-emergent plus fertilizer, so I wanted to know if this was good on new lawns.

We have a sandy soil and my current neighbor uses Lime 3-4 times per year on his lawn to help with the yellowing. Is this a good practice?

rfredd – posted 14 January 2005 13:42

I am located in Bradenton, Florida (west coast) about 15 miles from the ocean. I got the Lesco chart from Lesco.com, but it doesn’t address new lawns. My neighbor told me to start the lawn with a certain fertizer with a high middle number and then switch to a 16-3-16 type after it’s established.

[This message has been edited by rfredd (edited 14 January 2005).]

wk2hdwoman in brevard – posted 14 January 2005 14:08

web site is http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/

mikemaas00 – posted 01 February 2005 09:22

Do not use a preemergent with new sod, as it will cause root damage. You can throw down a mainly potassium fertilizer such as 5-10-31 or 9-2-24 right now, then when it greens up in the spring, go with a high nitrogen and potassium fert such as 18-0-18 or 24-2-11. Always helps to do a soil test before you apply anything so you can apply the right amounts of nutrients. Lime is not needed unless the soil test says you do. People that apply lime yearly without checking their pH could be wasting their money. Iron can help it turn green, but only for a short period of time. I think it’s kind of a waste of money, but if you want your lawn green early, that’ll do it. Just be careful you don’t overapply as iron can burn just as bad as an over-app of nitrogen.