Should we just move?

[marlasmom]

The former owner took very good care of this house. It was 9 months old when we bought it. (if anybody would come visit me you would see that.) The first week we were here (early September) a neighbor who works in horticulture at WDW came over and said you have crabgrass. The former owner "loved it to death" according to this neighbor. He said not to do anything so we didn't.

Now we have HUGE patches of dead grass and huge patches of bare earth. I can't do much physical work and Roy can't do any. If we use a pre-emergent that will kill the grass that's there according to what I read on the net. It's Bahai grass which is supposed to be better than St. Augustine because St. Augustine needs loads of water which is very expensive here. Should I reseed now. I've been advised by another bb (garden.com) to wait until April.

Any ideas? Maybe we shouldl just move.

Thanks for any and all advice.

 

[Snowwark]

Marlasmom, is there anyway you could hire someone to do the work for you?

Here's some info from the University of Florida on Establishing Your Florida Lawn .

 

[TimNDansMom]

I know how you feel Marlasmom. My problem is too much clay and the crabgrass and weeds love it! Plus our summer watering restrictions adds "insult to injury". I spend more time on my hands and knees, weeding! I'm now looking into scree gardening. That, or Astroturf and plastic flowers!

 

[TigH]

Just give it time! Do you have an irrigation system? If so, that should have helped keep your lawn nice and green. We don't have one, so it's up to me to put the sprinklers out when it's dry and I haven't gotten around to it yet this winter.

We had trouble with brown patches in our lawn and my husband went to <a href="http://www.lesco.com/">LESCO</a> to talk to them about it. We had some sort of bug (cinch bug?). They talked to my husband about a fertilizer program and my husband goes there every other month or so to buy the appropriate bag of fertilizer/treatment for our lawn. It has taken a year, but our front lawn is much healthier looking (although we missed a winter treatment and I have a nice crop of winter weeds!)

Our back yard takes a beating in the winter, but that is because we play frisbee with the dog out there. It is shadier in the back in the winter too, so the grass just kind of goes dormant (and it's St. Augustine). Once the sun starts to move higher into the sky and the rains start again, the back yard gets lush and thick.

If there is a LESCO near you, I would suggest making a visit. Good luck!

 

[Tulirose]

NO! Don't Move! I bet you LOVE your new home and are just "annoyed" right now with the yard. No advice other than Keep Heart and get as much infor as you can to help correct this situation. It if takes a year or two... what does it matter in the big scheme of things. That's my outlook, at least.... but then you guys all know I'm just a big procrastinator! LOL!!

 

[marlasmom]

Thanks for all the advice. Snowark, as usual, your post was invaluable. What is LESCO? I noticed yesterday that neighboring lawns are browning out too. Makes me feel a little better that some of this is temporary. We do have a very good sprinkler system. Should I be watering now? Thanks again.

 

[marlasmom]

BTW I have never cared much about the lawn. I am interested in flowers. When we lived in NH we just mostly let the pony graze on the lawn to keep it trimmed. Now we have a small lot and it does need the lawn.

 

[marlasmom]

Just realized LESCO was a link. On my way to the one in Lakeland. I am sooooo computer impaired.

 

[Tulirose]

Originally posted by marlasmom
BTW I have never cared much about the lawn. I am interested in flowers. When we lived in NH we just mostly let the pony graze on the lawn to keep it trimmed. Now we have a small lot and it does need the lawn.

A PONY ON THE LAWN!!! How neat that must have been!!!