Bahia and me HELP!

[jds720]

Heres the deal:

I live in Florida. I have sand for soil. Hence the use of Bahia! I scraped my topsoil of all the horrible weeds and nasty crap that was there, and now Im getting ready to put down sod.

My question:

Should I pre-treat the soil with anything? Fertilizer? its bare soil now.

I want this lawn to be amazing, or atleast GREEN and Lush!

[capelawncare.com]

If you have irrigation, I would scrap the bahia all together and go with St Augustine.

[amscapes03]

sod farms usually fertilize the heck out of their product. ask your supplier. they should be able to tell you if you need to condition your soil further, or at least tell you when your first fert. application should take place. don't assume your soil is junk........get it test first. good luck.

[jds720]

NO st aug for me! to much of a headache and its just not my kinda grass! Bahia is nice when taken care of. my soil shoud be good im just wasnt sure if i should put somthing down to help it along. I was told MILORGANITE was a good idea to put down I think its 6-0-12 Around there i believe

[bug-guy]

milogronite is good but if you want to use a starter fert and can't find 1 look for a plant fert like an 8-10-10 this would be a great starter.

[jds720]

Well i also got a bahia fert, i cant remeber the specs.
So should i put it down first or after its laid??

[Ric]

JDS720

I do some accounts in the Venice Area.

Here are the facts of life.

Just east of you, Bahia grows great and that is where the Sod Farms are located. The reason it grows great inland is because of the soil. However Venice is right on the Gulf and has Calcareous Sandy soil with an average pH of 9.5. Basically you have Calcium lime for soil made from sea shells. BTW is Venice beach not popular for shelling

If you want to grow nice Bahia in your area, you must import at least 6 inches of top soil with a high SOM (soil organic matter). You want at least a 6.0 pH to grow nice Bahia.

The top soil will cost more than the sod, so economically you are up side down and that is why St Augustine is the preferred turf in your area.

[jds720]

Gotcha. Im going to do my back yard in bahia and front in St Aug. I thougth 2k sq ft would do my entire yard but its only going to cover the back. So my wife/boss wants to do ST Aug up front. LOL:hammerhead: So now i gotta find a descent Irragation guy. Ug the joys of "Home Ownership"

[gregory]

you will be alot happier with st augustine then bahia...once you get the sprinklers in to me st aug is alot easier to take care of and looks alot better ...bahia is cow grass

[jds720]

Ric
I was wondering if you know any good sprinkler guys in venice?

[Ric]

Ric
I was wondering if you know any good sprinkler guys in venice?

Jds

The only Irrigation guy I would let do my work is Raintree Irrigation but I don't think they come to Venice. Remember a cheap system costs you more money in the long run. BTW I gave up my Irrigation license after Hurricane Charlie and only do Fert & squirt now in semi retirement.

Reliable Irrigation works in the Venice area and don't do bad work. Stay away from Gear drive sprinkler heads. Standard pop ups placed correctly give the best coverage but cost more to install because you need more of them.

[jds720]

thanks! so you just do fert? Were? Im just now taking over some accounts in the Venitian off of I-75 and Laurel. It would be nice to have a good fert and pest guy!