Hey everyone, I'm a total newbie, but I've purchased 2 books about grass/lawn care and one of them was Scotts "Lawns", a guide to a "beautiful lawn". It's a great book and I highly recommend it, especially for greenhorns like myself.
In December 2005, I purchased a home in San Antonio, Texas. During the Spring, we had a severe drought condition and, being new to this whole lawn thing, I neglected and did not take care of the grass. I've attached some pictures of my lawn in hopes that it will help provide some clues as to what is the best way for me to tackle this problem and how I can bring it back and have the "toe-ticklinest turf in town!"
Pics:
formatting link
grass type: St. Augustine Soil Test Results: Should be received this week! I am waiting for this before I make a move on feeding the lawn
Question: With my lawn condition, should I just do some lawn patching or do I need to renovate the lawn by killing the whole thing and then starting over? What would you do?
What's the fastest way to get this lawn back in top shape?
Thanks for any advice!! P.S> I had Scotts do a free lawn analysis and they gave me the following info: Turf density: Thin, Moderate shade, Aeration needed/ compacted soil, Clay loam, good mowing, drought stress, weeds: clover, dandelion, dollarweed, oxalis, crabgrass, foxtail, goose grass, chinch bugs(?)
Too busy here to respond in detail at the moment, but:
I'm not a big fan of dogs, but you apparently are. Keep in mind that the Scott's franchises are in business to sell chemicals, none of which can be legally tested for safety in humans. I have no idea if they've ever used dogs as test subjects. Probably not.
I see you have some vegetables in the raised bed thing. Most lawn chemical companies hire high school children to apply chemicals. They lie to these employees, telling them that the stuff they're spraying is safe around food crops. My one experience in this area involved walking out of my house about
30 seconds before a lawn spray child was about to contaminate MY vegetable garden with a chemical which he claimed was safe, but was NOT legal to use anywhere near food crops.
Everything else they told you is probably true (soil quality, etc), but you can get that information in other ways. I would recommend that you contact the cooperative extension service and get some advice from them. It's free, and they don't sell anything. It's a service of your state university. It exists to advise farmers and homeowners on agricultural issues. Go to google and search using the words "cooperative extension texas". You'll find it.
Scott's is a pesticide and synthetic fertilizer company so I would be very weary of any advice they give to you. Having said that, you need to water if you want a lawn, period. Each year I remove more and more turf and replace it with perennial and annual plants which are native or adapted to my area in Austin, TX.
You no longer have what I'd call a "lawn." If you want a "lawn" you will have to remove all the turf and lay new sod and you must water it every day, several times a day till it is established. After that, St. Augustine can work well with one inch of water per week.
Everyone in Texas eventually gets chinch bugs, which can be regulated using beneficial nematodes, but you must water to keep those alive. Nematodes are un-segmented organisms which are microscopic and you can get much more information about that online.
If it were my home, I'd remove most of that lawn and put in beds and plant ground cover or have some interesting islands of companion plants of differing color.
I didn't see an abundance of St. Augustine there- 90% of what you have are weeds.
IMO the fastest way to get it into top shape would be to kill/remove all the weeds and resod with a new and improved St. Augustine variety. Then maintain it with good food and proper watering- not a buttload of chemical applications from a service needing to justify monthly charges.
You could of course use selective herbicides to kill the weeds and just nurture along what little St. Augustine you have, but that is in no way fast and you'll have lots of mud in the interim. St. Augustine is fast, but I still see it taking at least two years if you do it this way.
Don't take this the wrong way, but considering your knowledge level, I think you should hire a pro to install the sod. It will be done in a day. Specify NO CHEMICAL WEED KILLERS. You'll remove all 19 of your weed clumps by hand, if the sod installer wants you to. Make sure his contract says that you are responsible for watering the new sod perfectly, and that he's not to blame if you don't take care of it nicely.
First understand that people who say they feed your lawn or your trees flunked photosynthesis. Most of them are product pushers trying to push their products trying to make you believe they are feeding your plants. If we could feed your lawn we would put the sun out of business. Think about it. Sure we can apply essential elements, but we don't feed. Most people who claim to "feed" your lawn or trees are pushing nitrogen which goes right into your drinking water. What about the other 16 essential elements? They are the same people who claim the tree had feeder roots and root flairs. They probably also push wound dressing. (Link on wound dressing -
formatting link
formatting link
see "TREE FOOD". If your lawn care or tree care person claims to be feeding its time to look for a better qualified person. Try to avoid product pushers. Qustions to as to select a professional.
formatting link
and
formatting link
If you need help with any of the questions, I did not write the, I will help you.
Top dress with composted leaves and help feed the soil. We can feed the soil carbohydate based substances. Try to keep your lawn away from yourt trees. See proper mulching before acting.
formatting link
John A. Keslick, Jr. Arborist
formatting link
formatting link
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology. Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us that we are not the boss.
To winterize or not to winterize lawn
"Winterize your lawn", the big sign outside the garden store commanded. I've fed it, watered it, mowed it, raked it and watched a lot of it die away. Now I'm supposed to winterize it? I hope it's too late. Grass lawns have to be the stupidest thing we've come up with outside of a thong swimsuits! We constantly battle dandelions, Queen's lace, thistle, violets, chicory and clover that thrive naturally, so we can grow grass that must be nursed through an annual four-step chemical dependency.
Imagine the conversation The Creator might have with St. Francis about this:
"Frank you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there in the Midwest? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracted butterflies, honeybees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles."
" It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites.
They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great extent to kill them and replace them with grass".
" Grass? But its so boring. Its not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees, Only grubs and sod worms. Its' temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that green grass growing there?
" Apparently so, Lord, They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poising any other plant that crops up in the lawn".
" The spring rains and cool weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy".
" Not exactly, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it-sometimes twice a week".
" They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?"
" Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags."
" They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?"
" No, sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away".
" Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?"
" Yes, sir."
" These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work."
" You aren't going to believe this Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it."
" What nonsense! At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius,
if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty an d shade in the summer . In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket
to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life."
" You better sit down, Lord. The suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and have them hauled away."
" No! What do they do to protect the shrub and the tree roots in the winter and keep the soil moist and loose?"
" After throwing away your leaves, they go out and buy something they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in the place of leaves."
" and where do they get this mulch?"
" They cut down trees and grind them up."
"Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore. Saint Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?"
" Dumb and Dumber, Lord. It's a real stupid movie about.
" Never mind I think I just heard the whole story."
The extension services I am aware of, especially Penn State are product pushers.
Sincerely, John A. Keslick, Jr. Arborist
formatting link
formatting link
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology. Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us that we are not the boss.
Thanks for your feedback John. Surprisingly, the guys from TRUGREEN said pretty much what you just said, however, the Scotts people pushed their products big time.
It can be done in much less than a year- if you do the prep work properly, lay the sod correctly, and stay super vigilant about your watering schedule while it is getting established. If you screw up with any of those three it is a waste of money.
If you're going to do it now, get cracking. The worst of the heat isn't here yet, but it will be soon, and sod wihtout established roots dries out very quickly. If you are hand watering (no irrigation system) I would go as far as having the install done on a vacation week or two so you will be available to keep to the watering schedule on those first crucial weeks.
Some extension services use volunteers, so it's likely you're hearing their personal opinions. Since we have two very accurate surveys proving that a little over 50% of the population is pathetically stupid, you have to take everything you hear with a grain of salt.
The best thing for gardeners to do is hire private detectives to help them find their local library. Then, read some books, and take the least poisonous or invasive approach to solving problems.
I heard on the news tonight that one drugstore chain hires high school children as assistants to dispense prescription drugs.
They showed one person who was crippled and couldn't talk and had a contorted face after taking the wrong prescription. The drugstore said that the teenager put in pills with ten times as much dosage, and the pharmacist, who reviewed*** what the kid had done, missed the mistake.
***They said he reviewed it anyhow.
They had another example also, who maybe died.
The drugstore said that there were only a couple cases out of millions of prescriptions properly filled. But who knows how many mistakes there really were, including those didn't cure like they should have, but didn't have noticeable side effects. Etc.
In Connecticut, you can't be employed to apply pesticides or herbicides under the age of 18. I realize YOU were probably much older than that when and if you finished High School, but most kids are about 17 when they graduate.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.