Anyone know anything about St. Augustine grass?

[chrissyk]

We have an offer in on a house here in FL that has a seriously ratty-looking yard. The grass is of the St. Augustine variety, which is supposedly hard to kill. What would I have to do to revive and improve the lawn then? At what point do you decide to just get a landscaper in to fix the yard and put down sod? Thanks...I'm a landscaping novice, so this will be an interesting project if we do get the house.

 

[kikipug]

Do what the rest of us in FL do... hire someone to come in and care for it once a week.

I went from living on 2 acres in New England and caring for it myself, to living on a postage stamp in FL and having someone else do it. St. Augustine is so hard to mow, and grows so fast (12 months out of the year, I might add)... lawn care is relatively inexpensive, and worth every penny of it.

 

[chrissyk]

Of course we'll have a service mow our lawn We had one in New England too. I'm wondering what to do to get the grass to be healthy and not patchy, though. I don't think that the mowing service will do that for us.

 

[kikipug]

I have Middleton (not sure if they are in your area of the state) do the analysis/chemical service quarterly, the same people who do our termite bond. (It's in our development bylaws that we have to have our property sprayed for termites annually, whether we need it or not.)

They treat the problems spots in the lawn, and use non-toxic chemicals. If only they could make the armadillos go away!!! We certainly didn't have THOSE in New England!!!!

 

[chrissyk]

We had groundhogs digging up the yard in MA instead of armadillos If we do get this house, it already has a termite protection system. It's the one with the dark green circles in the yard. I'm semi-familiar with it, because I remember seeing the same termite system at my sis's old condo complex.

We had a chemical service for our yard in MA as well as a mowing service. Our yard there was in good shape to begin with, though. The yard on this house definitely needs help. It's patchy in spots, looks like it needs to be thatched and aerated (do they do that for yards down here?), is bald alltogether in many spots in the backyard, etc. Also, do the yards in FL get grubs? We had our chemical service do a grub treatment annually in MA.

 

[kikipug]

Also, do the yards in FL get grubs?

Grubs are a favorite food of armadillos!!!!

 

[Snowwark]

Just thought I'd pop in and say Welcome, chrissyk, and kikipug!

I'm enjoying reading and learning about lawn care in Florida, so, just carry-on ladies!


Kim

 

[ducklite]

Keep in mind that it's the dry season, and even if you water everything is still a little brownish.

We have a lawn service mow and edge every week, and a chemical service fertilize and put down pest control every three months. Are you fertilizing?

Anne

 

[drdelsol]

Unfortunately, St. Augustine isn't mega hard to kill. It actually is up there in requirements to keep it good looking, especially with water. That is one of the reasons in some areas home owners associations can't require everyone to have plush lawns anymore. It is the better looking grass for here but too high maintenance for me. I can't bring myself to use the amopunt of chemicals it needs either. I have ugly bahia that I do very little too.

If the lawn is very spotty, some may come back but a lot of the time you will have to resprig it or get some new sod.

I am not a professional , this is just my opinion from a native.

 

[Gone Disney]

HI Chrissyk

I'm no expert by any means, but I will lend you my experience. I've lived in Florida for most of my life and have had St. Augustine for the better part of those years. I'll keep it short, St.Augustine can be revived. How? will depend on your problem. If it's a lack of maintenance then you may be able to tackle it yourself. If it's a bit more of a problem like cinch bugs or leaf spot then I would hire a company like Middleton or Chemlawn even the smaller guys are usually good and less expensive sometimes. These guys will usually give you a free estimate in case you are curious as to whether it's worth your time to do it yourself.

First thing to know is St. Augustine likes to get wet although not too much. So a sprinkle system is a must. DO NOT water at night. If your not into the organic way of things then I would suggest using a product like Scotts weed & feed before it gets too hot. This will get a handle on the weeds and get the grass to start growing again. And yes you will need to keep it mowed regularly. I mow mine atleast once a month in the summer and I haven't mowed since November.

That's the jest of it in a nutshell I think.

Patti

 

[chrissyk]

Well, we didn't end up buying the house with the ratty yard. We bought a house with a beautiful yard! We close tomorrow (knock wood!). The lawn service is the next thing that I need to get set up.

Patti, you only mow once a MONTH in the summer? How often do I need to have a yard service come? Where we're from (MA), we had our yard service mow every week between May and Oct. Does the yard service just come weekly even when they don't need to? Is mowing once a month in the summer the norm? Is there ever a time of year when you need to mow St. Augustine grass weekly in FL?

 

[nhpooh]

This is helpful to me, I too am from the northeast. I take care of my own yard. I will be moving down in two years. I was wondering about the lawns down there. I love to take care of my own yard. My DH says that I am outside during the summer all the time doing yard work. My DD says and always has said that the lawn mower is moms. Thanks for the info, and will be reading from time to time for updates.

 

[nhpooh]

Also, good luck with the new house Chrissyk.

 

[chrissyk]

Also, good luck with the new house Chrissyk.

Thanks I'm off to the final walk-through in an hour