HELP needed for St Augustine Lawn in Central Florida

[TheSodGod]

Hi All
My Folks moved into a new home here in Central FL a few months back and did all the usual stuff to get the the lawn to become healthier ie set the sprinklers, weed and feed and regularly mow it.
But the lawn is just looking terrible!
What do you guys think what would your plan of attack be??
Pics are below so you can get a good idea of the problem!

Ive been reading up on dethatching and it seems theres a few conflicting stories on it being bad or not im no expert in this field but id say by the looks of the lawn it could do with something to get rid of all the straw/thatch embedded within most of the grass. Now if this is the route to go would one of the less expensive dethatchers with the metal tines that attache to the back of the tractors work or are the ones that cut into the ground like edgers the only ones to use on St Augustine?

http://www.dmflorida.com/grass/DSC_0309.JPG

http://www.dmflorida.com/grass/DSC_0311.JPG

http://www.dmflorida.com/grass/DSC_0311.JPG

http://www.dmflorida.com/grass/DSC_0312.JPG

http://www.dmflorida.com/grass/DSC_0313.JPG

http://www.dmflorida.com/grass/DSC_0314.JPG

http://www.dmflorida.com/grass/DSC_0315.JPG

http://www.dmflorida.com/grass/DSC_0316.JPG

http://www.dmflorida.com/grass/DSC_0317.JPG

http://www.dmflorida.com/grass/DSC_0318.JPG

http://www.dmflorida.com/grass/DSC_0319.JPG

http://www.dmflorida.com/grass/DSC_0320.JPG

http://www.dmflorida.com/grass/DSC_0321.JPG

http://www.dmflorida.com/grass/DSC_0322.JPG

http://www.dmflorida.com/grass/DSC_0323.JPG

[quiet]

Hopefully one the FL boys will chime in, but let me get you started. It looks like the lawn never got established properly after the installation, and you're seeing some die back this winter. Perhaps the damage is also a result of a fungus, but in mid-winter it is probably not "active". I understand you've had a long dry spell in FL.

When the appropriate time comes -when the grass begins growing, use a fertilizer that has a high level of Potassium in the mix - preferably potassium sulfate and not muriate of potash. (Potassium is the 3rd number on the bag.) Also use a fertilizer that contains Ammonium sulfate as the primary N source rather than urea.

Start there.

[ICT Bill]

Next to the driveway it is probably compaction issues due to the cars driving over that area, you may have to aerate in some manner to get anything to grow.
The other areas look like they were established at one point probably, like quite said, irrigation or some type of water issue. What can you say about wild onions, they like the cool weather but are soon gone as the temps go up.

[tamadrummer]

Most of the damaged turf looks like it was ravaged by chinch bugs. The other part where you may be seeing excessive thatch build up is probably from excessive watering and/or fertilization (nitrogen).

You have to have a pest control program for your turf or the chinch bugs will tear it up.

BTW I am a Lawn Service not a Pest control person so my statements are purely based on experience after 30+ years of living here and years of working for others in the industry.

[tamadrummer]

Didn't get to edit in time:

Don't forget, it is winter and your grass should not be being fed to keep it growing like you would in the spring/summer/fall. It needs to be allowed to go dormant so don't kill the crowns in a deep freeze. We have already had 2 freezing days, who knows if we will get hit again.

I won't be putting any fertilizer down until mid to late February or early March. At that same time I will start trimming my customers Crepe Myrtles.

[GreenThings]

Mowing it high will help out a lot as well. Say about 3 to 3.5. This grass will not tolerate being mowed short.

[Elden]

I think tamadrummer hit it with the chinch bugs. areas around concrete will show chinch bug damage more some times if watering is not carefully watched in those areas. when its dry the problem is multiplied because they suck jucies out of the turf.
it looks pretty badly damaged. you will probly have to resod that area come spring, unless you are really patient and are willing to wait for it to fill in on its own, and the few weeds that you showed the quickest way to take care of them would be to just pull em.

[Elden]

also it looks like it could use some areation and the mowing height could be raised.
a higher mowing height will help to retain moisture in the turf and allow it to produce more energy for its self

[TheSodGod]

Hey guys thanks for all you input the grass is getting sprayed today and will be areated shortly too, thanks again.

[RAlmaroad]

"Hi All
My Folks moved into a new home here in Central FL a few months back and did all the usual stuff to get the the lawn to become healthier ie set the sprinklers, weed and feed and regularly mow it.
But the lawn is just looking terrible!
What do you guys think what would your plan of attack be?? "


What "Weed and Feed" was used on this grass?St. Augustine cannot tolerate anything with strong 2-4-D. How much fertilizer did you put down in the spring? What about the Nitrogen amount? St. Augustine is a wonderful grass when you learn what it likes but it's a bit picky in the begining.
"It's possible to have the clinch bugs, but am a little suspecious. Have you tried the old "Can Trick" back when the lawn began to decline? Can you pull the sod up in big chunks? I am learning a lot on the St. Augustine especially SAD (St. Augustine decline) Ric knows about everything about it. It looks a whole lot like it suffered from overwatering. What was your irrigation routine. About 1" of deep water per week on a two schedule generally works better than say everyotherday or shallow irrigation. Can you go into the routine. That green mound is Green Kylinga.
It will be good for all to know your solution and what the real problem was. Please follow up.
Roy

[electronics2667]

I totally agree with tamadrummer about the chinch bugs they will robb you from have a good looking lawn. They love the St. Augustine grass because the blades of grass grows so close together.

[TheSodGod]

Hi RAlmaroad

As requested

So back in November when the home was first purchased Scott's® Bonus® S Southern Weed and Feed was put down then about a month ago some Vigoro Ultra turf for st aug was put down, both times one of the little Scot's spreaders was used and set to about 4.5 as per the instructions....

As for the water the Hoa only alowes 2 days a week Tuesday and Friday's so we put the sprinklers on for 15 mins a zone (8 zones) as it seems like we are getting a good amount of rain at the moment!

As for the Coffee can trick I did try it on a hand full of locations all around the lawn but couldn't find anything, as far as i understand the clinch bugs are about the size of sugar ants??

The lawn is pretty much if not a little worse than it was in November, sorry i cant give you more info but we have no idea what was done to the lawn previously but i suspect nothing as it was his vacation home and he was only down here a few months a year over the winter so i would imagine we are pretty much starting from scratch!!

As its the dormant season in the two weeks or so nothing has happened apart from a letter for the HOA asking us to re turf the dead spots... dam hoa lol

I had planed on digging up the dead parts and plugging in some new sod from the back lawn where the grass is great, before i do that i was going to test the soil and aerate it.

hopefully this little episode helps others learn the inns and outs of St Aug :)

[RAlmaroad]

Hi RAlmaroad

As requested

So back in November when the home was first purchased Scott's® Bonus® S Southern Weed and Feed was put down then about a month ago some Vigoro Ultra turf for st aug was put down, both times one of the little Scot's spreaders was used and set to about 4.5 as per the instructions....

As for the water the Hoa only alowes 2 days a week Tuesday and Friday's so we put the sprinklers on for 15 mins a zone (8 zones) as it seems like we are getting a good amount of rain at the moment!

As for the Coffee can trick I did try it on a hand full of locations all around the lawn but couldn't find anything, as far as i understand the clinch bugs are about the size of sugar ants??

The lawn is pretty much if not a little worse than it was in November, sorry i cant give you more info but we have no idea what was done to the lawn previously but i suspect nothing as it was his vacation home and he was only down here a few months a year over the winter so i would imagine we are pretty much starting from scratch!!

As its the dormant season in the two weeks or so nothing has happened apart from a letter for the HOA asking us to re turf the dead spots... dam hoa lol

I had planed on digging up the dead parts and plugging in some new sod from the back lawn where the grass is great, before i do that i was going to test the soil and aerate it.

hopefully this little episode helps others learn the inns and outs of St Aug :)


Clinch Bugs are Black and Orange from what I've seen photos. I've never had them so I can't comment on what they look like.
I do see that the grass could have just died from lack of water and not enough Nitrogen. St. Augustine should have a lb/K begining in May, June and in July up to 1.5lb/K. This is about every 6 weeks or so. Watch the water and let the grass tell you when to water. If it begin to curl and turn a dry green then it needs water but I'm thinking that only 15 minutes is not enoiugh to water deeply and develop your roots. Is 15 minutes the max? When did you water? Early morning would be better than evenings as the grass needs to dry off to prevent fungas. Night watering seem to promote fungas that could have been a cause.
Resodding will certainly help. But when and If you do, put in large pieces. Cut them into about half. Those stolens will develop better along those line rather than those wimpy litt 3 X 3" squares with just a stolen here or there. But that sod needs to be kept wet for two weeks. If the HOA won't allow it, then get your water hose out early in the morning and hit the sprigs. Otherwise it will die.
So much to consider,
Maybe Ric will offer some suggestions
Roy

[electronics2667]

St. Augustine grass does better in the shade. And they do better with alot of water. I know they do in north florida cause my front yard is St. Augustine & it is like a carpet walking though it.

[RAlmaroad]

Sod:
Does the HOA restrict shallow wells? If not, I suggest you look into it. 15 minutes two times a week is hardly nothing. We water deeply at least an hour or more until the soil is soaked about 2"-3" down. Let it begin to dry out. You'll finally develop a pattern on how many days it will go and then adjust your timer.
I put rain guages on my wells to cut off pump when there's rain--HA HA.