OT: DIY lawn care

[TheStateUofMS]

I recently moved into a home that has a good yard, not a great yard, but can become great. My two neighbors on either side of me have carpet like grass. They insist I use TruGreen, but I wanted to give this a shot myself. I'm in New Smyrna Beach, FL and the grass is St. Augustine specifically Floratam (I think). Floratam was developed in the 1970s with scientists from Texas A&M and Florida working together to combat chinch bugs. Floratam is sensitive to regular St. Augustine pre and post emergent. The temperature has been below 90 degrees since I started this process, so I think I'm good to go.

Until recently, every type of weed has found its way into the yard. I know a great source is the vacant home directly across the street from me that has every weed known to man growing in it. They have the outside of the home maintained, but no one lives there. The lawn guy cuts the grass, but they're not doing any type of weed control. I actually sprayed some post emergent in their yard last week. My backyard gets weeds too. I've picked by hand and used Roundup equivalent for spot killings, but I want to get my yard like my good neighbor's, so I've done research and here's where I'm at:

1) Handpicked all weeds in yard other than the front yard where the yard meets the road where it's too much to pick and a post herbicidal treatment was be applied. Mowed yard 9/20.

1) Soil test showed my soil is good. My ph levels are where they should be, so I don't need lime.

2) I get fungi in the backyard. It's more shaded the first half of the day where the fungi grows. I've applied Bayer Advanced Fungus Control for Lawns. Watered after application. Will apply again in a week or so. Applied 9/21

3) The main weeds: Spurge, Yellow Nutsedge, Dollar weed, Chamberbitter and crabgrass. For my type of grass, I have to be careful which post emergent weed killer to use. Remember I have Floratam St Augustine. A high concentration of 2-4D is a no-no. Spectracide Weed Stop for Lawns (for St Aug and Centipede Lawns) and Image South Lawn Weed Killer for St Aug and Centipede grass is what I used. The Image is known for killing yellow nutsedge and I think I should have just used this in the front and the back. I thought my backyard had the nutsedge problem, but my front yard has plenty of it as well. I can already see some of the weeds, specifically the nutsedge where I sprayed the Image dying. The applicators connected to my water hose. The Spectracide sprayed excellent and had great coverage. The Image did not spray well. It sprayed more of a jet, so I had to shake it to get good coverage. I'm sure I over treated some areas. I applied two days after mowing, which was 9/22 and 9/23.

6) Spot killed remaining weeds around house, sidewalks, flowerbeds, etc with Round Up. I did this yesterday 9/28.

5) Today I applied fertilizer to the yard and watered after. I did this in the morning 9/29.

So, that's where I'm at. Any advice is appreciated.

ETA: My next steps are going to be to put some grass seed out in a week or so, and see what happens. I will fertilize in the early spring and apply a pre emergent herbicide as well. A few months after that I will fertilize again.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

If tru green does a good job on the neighbors' grass, I'd just let them do it. Tru green gets a bad rap in the Jxn metro, but the best looking yard in my neighborhood uses them.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

If you have St Augustine I would just let them handle it.

 

[garddog]

I use scotts southern triple action on my parents St. Augustin yard. Has 29-0-10 fertilizer mix. Kills almost everything you listed. And it has pesticide in it.

 

[T-TownDawgg]

Be cautious with those fertilizer/herbicide mix combos. They can be very indiscriminate in what they fry, and by applying both at the same time can burn an already struggling turf. Use caution. I prefer to spray my pesticides and later spread the fertilizer.

 

[Mobile Bay]

I just use a local guy who charges less. My front yard looks great, but thanks to the dog the back remains a muddy warzone.

 

[eckie1]

Do happen to have any Bermuda in your yard?

I use scotts southern triple action on my parents St. Augustin yard. Has 29-0-10 fertilizer mix. Kills almost everything you listed. And it has pesticide in it.

I used that exact solution on my yard one year and it was amazing. But, parts of my yard have Bermuda mixed in and Triple Action is supposed to kill that. The only damage I noticed was to the weeds and the ants, so I’ll probably use that again next spring.

I got some St. Augustine post-emergent spray that did pretty well, but not on the level that the Triple Action did the year before. St. Augustine is amazing grass, but you sure as hell have to know what you’re doing to take care of it.

 

[garddog]

No Bermuda at all. Mostly St. Augustine, some centipede, and unfortunately one patch of byhalia. The Scotts worked great for me. And no ants for 6 months. Got some late in the year.

Anyone have a surefire way to get rid of byhalia, I am all ears.

 

[dahmer17]

Atrezine is a good weed killer for St Augustine. In Mississippi, I put down some dimension (pre-emerge) month ago. No clue what ya do in FLA.

 

[Ralph Cramden]

What kind of grass seed ?

 

[OneParticularHarbor]

2) I get fungi in the backyard. It's more shaded the first half of the day where the fungi grows. I've applied Bayer Advanced Fungus Control for Lawns. Watered after application. Will apply again in a week or so. Applied 9/21

I’ve had fungus problems in my St Augustine. I tried Scott’s and Bayer without good results, then found that Fertilome F-Stop granules are more effective for curing, then maintaining. I also spot sprayed some liquid copper between curative doses of F-Stop on advice of my local garden center guy. It cleared up within about 3 months.

 

[TheStateUofMS]

I'll take a look at that. What kind of St. Aug do you have? This Floratam stuff is very unique. It has very wide blades for St. Augustine is one way you can tell.

 

[TheStateUofMS]

Thanks. I've been reading the labels over and over to make sure I don't apply too often or mix them. I didn't mix herbicides, but a few days later I did technically mix it where the nutsedge was in my front yard bc I spot treated those areas with the Image after using the Spectracide a few days earlier. The Spectracide says it doesn't treat nutsedge while the Image does. I probably should have used Image on the whole yard, but wanted to try two products and see what works best.

I put fertilizer down yesterday nearly a week after I put out the herbicide. I actually do have a pest control company who treats my yard and they last came about 3-4wks ago, so I haven't sprayed any pesticide.

 

[TheStateUofMS]

That's actually the stuff I found in my work shed from the previous owner. I may try that after I use this Bayer one more time since I have one bag of it left.

One issue could have been I was watering in the evenings and I found out watering in the morning is the way to go, so I probably contributed to excess moisture in the back yard, but that stuff was likely in my shed for a reason. I will try that.

Usually I'll get 4 or 5 mushrooms grow over night when I have an "outbreak" but that's every week or two. It's not something that's a huge issue currently.

I'm going to look for that Fertilome. I do know Fertilome makes good stuff, but couldn't use one of their post/pre emergent products bc of the Floratam St Aug I have.

 

[TheStateUofMS]

Haha around my fence where my dog runs non stop is going to stay a war zone. Big yard thankfully. What kind of dog do you have? I have a German Shorthaired Pointer and he's barely over a year, so he's running all the time. Great dog though.

 

[TheStateUofMS]

So the pre-emergent goes on in the fall? I thought post-emergent was used in summer and early fall if you still have weeds, then you put out the pre-emergent in the spring time?

I have active weeds growing as well, so maybe that's why I need a post-emergent before a pre-emergent?

 

[T-TownDawgg]

Definitely water in the mornings.
Last year I had gardenias and crepe myrtles get mold and powdery mildew for the first time because I watered at night a few evenings one week. Took forever to get rid of it.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

Not sure about the Floratam, but I had old school common St Augustine at a house in Dallas. Neighborhood was built in the 50's and most everyone took decent care of their yards. But about 10% just blew everyone away. The old fart brigade. They had all lived in the neighborhood since it was built and used organic fertilizers.

It was stuff like cornmeal, vinegar, and manure. Some little feed store had this whole program. It was too much effort for me, but I can't argue with the results. Might be worth checking around your area to see if anyone is doing it. I do remember the cornmeal was anti fungal.

Anyhow, isn't grass a *****? After moving a few times in the past 5 years I have had St Augustine, bermuda, zoysia, and bluegrass. They all have some kind of deficiency. I thought zoysia was best until me and the dog started pissing on it. Good luck to all. I'm now on a gravel yard. It sucks too, can't walk outside barefoot.

 

[TheStateUofMS]

I'm up for the challenge right now. I rented the past several years and had a crappy yard, but kept it up best I could without putting a lot of money into it and when I got this house one thing I wanted was a yard and this has it, so it's going to be perfect one way or the other whether I have to pay someone or I can do it myself. If you just drive by the house the yard looks great, it's when you really start examining it is when I find all the issues I want to resolve.

Living in North Carolina, I liked the grass up there. Lots of fescue and Kentucky 31.

I have heard of the cornmeal being anti fungal. You can also add some dish soap to herbicides I've read to make it more like a surfactant.

ETA: Not going outside barefoot would stink! Maybe you're feet will toughen up though.

 

[TheStateUofMS]

I wonder how much they would cost. I have some thatch too I think in certain areas. I've been ripping it up. Still have a few more spots.

 

[TheStateUofMS]

I'm thinking just some St. Augustine and Floratam specifically since I think that's what I have.

 

[TheStateUofMS]

Yeah I thought watering at night would keep the moisture better for growing, and it certainly keeps moisture, but not at the right time I guess.

Thanks.

 

[garddog]

I learned a lot cutting grass in my youth from older folks. Dishwater is what they always put on yellow spots in st augustine. Also, if you have weak spots, throw your used coffee grounds in those spots. Never use fresh grounds, it will kill it.

 

[Smoked Toag]

Funny thing about all these yard threads, I knew a guy once who had a St. Augustine yard over in Murderham, and he did NOTHING to it at all. Leaves would fall in November, he'd leave them there until spring and just chew them up with the mower. No special treatment at all, and that St. Augustine simply would not die. Worst yard maintenance imaginable.

I baby mine and I can't get it to grow.

 

[Ralph Cramden]

I was just asking because I was thinking St Augustine seeds were non existent. Am I wrong ??

 

[T-TownDawgg]

I really like centipede. Hardy, low maintenance. It seems to grow similar to SA with fewer problems.

I like zoysia, too, but the one thing I fought was when you get a lot of rain and can't cut for a week or two (like we have this year), good luck. It gets so thick even going slow with a sharp blade just rips it up and looks terrible. It needs to be cut weekly at minimum.

I can let my centipede go for a couple weeks to dry out, cut, and still looks great.

 

[dahmer17]

My lawn is fairly weed free. I add some in the spring as well. MSUcares, the ag extension folks....are great at answering questions. Also, your local garden center always has someone that is knowledgeable. Not everyone that works there is an expert, so ....try two garden centers

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

I wonder how much they would cost. I have some thatch too I think in certain areas. I've been ripping it up. Still have a few more spots.

I think i pay my guy $50 six times year.

 

[RocketDawg]

I think i pay my guy $50 six times year.

Same for me, except I think 5 treatments a year. I use a local guy who specializes in zoysia, not a national franchise. The pros are that the guy who does it knows what he's doing, he does in 15 minutes what takes me half a day to do, it's inexpensive, and the lawn looks great. I can't think of any cons - no weeds at all.

 

[Dawgpile]

I think i pay my guy $50 six times year.

You can negotiate with TruGreen as well. 3 neighbors and I negotiated with them as a package and got it for $30 per visit since we were all one stop for the driver.

 

[The Peeper]

I grew up in South MS and the common thing there a lot of people did was burn it to the ground every Spring (as in scorched earth policy) and it came back healthy and green every year, but the weed seeds burned up and didn't