customer called

[williams lcm]

2 weeks ago I get a call from my customer not to mow his lawn for a few weeks because he just overseeded his lawn. He called me today and says his lawn looks so nice and green . In my mind I figured it was rye grass. Sure enough I drove by and it was the rye grass. He use to have a beautiful St.Augustine lawn but a pest company let the crab grass take over and he did not water the lawn much anyway. I told him that he would have to resod and I would hook him up with an excellent pest company and that he would have to water more than 15min per zone. He said no and that he would try this grass seed. I told him it will burn off in the summer. He dosent think it will burn up. He says this is the best his lawn ever looked. Anyone got customers with the rye grass. All the neighbors are asking him what kind of beautiful grass he has. They say it looks much better than there St.Augustine. Customer these days

[Florida Gardener]

Originally Posted by williams lcm

2 weeks ago I get a call from my customer not to mow his lawn for a few weeks because he just overseeded his lawn. He called me today and says his lawn looks so nice and green . In my mind I figured it was rye grass. Sure enough I drove by and it was the rye grass. He use to have a beautiful St.Augustine lawn but a pest company let the crab grass take over and he did not water the lawn much anyway. I told him that he would have to resod and I would hook him up with an excellent pest company and that he would have to water more than 15min per zone. He said no and that he would try this grass seed. I told him it will burn off in the summer. He dosent think it will burn up. He says this is the best his lawn ever looked. Anyone got customers with the rye grass. All the neighbors are asking him what kind of beautiful grass he has. They say it looks much better than there St.Augustine. Customer these days

You told him. Now, wait till springtime and watch as it burns away and he looks like a fool. Sometimes you need to let people make the mistakes bc they won't take your advice.
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[greendoctor]

As long as the "mistake" cannot be pinned on you. A lawn that is going to be kept too short, too hot, and too dry should not be St Augustine in the first place.

[williams lcm]

Exactly.....some customer dont listen. They will learn.

[Landscape Poet]

Originally Posted by williams lcm

2 weeks ago I get a call from my customer not to mow his lawn for a few weeks because he just overseeded his lawn. He called me today and says his lawn looks so nice and green . In my mind I figured it was rye grass. Sure enough I drove by and it was the rye grass. He use to have a beautiful St.Augustine lawn but a pest company let the crab grass take over and he did not water the lawn much anyway. I told him that he would have to resod and I would hook him up with an excellent pest company and that he would have to water more than 15min per zone. He said no and that he would try this grass seed. I told him it will burn off in the summer. He dosent think it will burn up. He says this is the best his lawn ever looked. Anyone got customers with the rye grass. All the neighbors are asking him what kind of beautiful grass he has. They say it looks much better than there St.Augustine. Customer these days

It will last until late March maybe April looking decent. By mid April it will look pretty bad most likely. Nothing wrong with what he is doing as he will have a nice looking lawn for a change for several months and not to mention if we do get a freeze this weekend , which looks likely , it will be the only green one out there.

I will warn you that you may want to inform him that you will either have to charge more per visit or visit once a week as the Rye grass will grow very very rapidly and far outpace the SA this time of year. I will guess it will not be anything for you to pull up every other week and be taking 5 inches off.

The rye grass will stain the crap out of the concrete too. Do not try to mow it when it is even slightly moist or you will spend more time cleaning up clumps than you will mowing.

[RigglePLC]

Ryegrass is fine up to about 90 degrees--if it is well-watered, yet not too humid at night. Brown patch and gray leaf spot are bad in warm climates--especially where the temps get over 70 at night. Of course dollar spot, red thread, and rust can be anywhere. Really, I think rye should not be sold south of Richmond, except as winter overseed for Bermuda. Try showing him a map of adaptation for ryegrass from a seed compan's literature or website. He will probably give you a call about mid-June.

Maybe this map might help:
http://www.simplot.com/turf_horticul...nnial_ryegrass

[RussellB]

He most likely planted annual rye grass. It grows slower and looks good all winter. Deep root growth will benefit the St Augustine. Tell him it looks good and to give you a call of he needs anything.

[Landscape Poet]

Originally Posted by RussellB

He most likely planted annual rye grass. It grows slower and looks good all winter. Deep root growth will benefit the St Augustine. Tell him it looks good and to give you a call of he needs anything.

For his customer's sake I hope he planted annual rye, otherwise , it is going to look sooooooo bad during a majority of the year, essentially like dead grass.

Although I agree with you that the deep root depth helps alleviate the soil compaction to a extent, I still have not made my mind up about overseeding with rye here yet. A couple of things that I do not like.

1. the rye outpaces the S.A in height of growth. This makes your SA get less light at a time where it is already slowing because of less light hours available. Add to that...the fact in our environment the rye really needs to be cut every week when most of us are on two week to three week schedules.

2. In the spring when the SA typically is spreading and growing and filling in.....the rye is still there....not looking particularly good but still there, preventing the spread of the SA to its fullest capability.

3. The seed no matter how good of quality - stands a chance of introducing weeds that were not previously there. This could potentially means a need for herbicide typically not used on the lawn.

[bugsNbows]

Originally Posted by Landscape Poet

For his customer's sake I hope he planted annual rye, otherwise , it is going to look sooooooo bad during a majority of the year, essentially like dead grass.

Although I agree with you that the deep root depth helps alleviate the soil compaction to a extent, I still have not made my mind up about overseeding with rye here yet. A couple of things that I do not like.

1. the rye outpaces the S.A in height of growth. This makes your SA get less light at a time where it is already slowing because of less light hours available. Add to that...the fact in our environment the rye really needs to be cut every week when most of us are on two week to three week schedules.

2. In the spring when the SA typically is spreading and growing and filling in.....the rye is still there....not looking particularly good but still there, preventing the spread of the SA to its fullest capability.

3. The seed no matter how good of quality - stands a chance of introducing weeds that were not previously there. This could potentially means a need for herbicide typically not used on the lawn.

+1. Additionally, the transition from cool season species back to warm season species next spring may be challenging. I've seen quite a few overseeded SA lawns that do worse after this practice. If lawns are hybrid bermuda cultivars or even zoysia, they seem to fare better after a winter overseed than does SA. Just my casual observation over the years.

[Ric]

Originally Posted by bugsNbows

+1. Additionally, the transition from cool season species back to warm season species next spring may be challenging. I've seen quite a few overseeded SA lawns that do worse after this practice. If lawns are hybrid bermuda cultivars or even zoysia, they seem to fare better after a winter overseed than does SA. Just my casual observation over the years.

IMHO it is the amount of over seeding that effects spring green up. IMHO anything over 4 pounds per thousand of rye will stunt the perennial turf in the spring by out competing it. MSME is about the only herbicide that control rye grass and should be applied just as the weather breaks for spring green up. BTW MSME is slow to show response, therefore timing becomes even more critical.

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