I just got St. Augustine grass today! Tips??

I am the proud owner of St. Augustine grass, Out here in Orange county, it doesn't go dormant in the winter. St augustine is vulnerable to moths and grubs so watch for little brown patches.

I use a reel mower on mine and keep it on the shorter side or else I noticed it can get rust.

I inherited this 34 year old lawn and it was rather sickly when I took over it, but overall, it's pretty tough when it comes to kids and if you fertilize and aerate it regularly, it will be around for years to come- just make sure it's what you really want though because once it's established, it's darn hard to get rid of!

We use Scott's Weed and Feed (humm or is it weed & seed) and that helps keep it nice and healthy ...for some reason the cheach (sp) bugs LOVE our yard.

Connie, I only use Milorganite, it's an organic fertilizer, on my SA. The weed and feed products can burn easily and they tend to settle in the bag so you may have more weed killer in places and it can seriously weaken or kill broadleaved plants.

Connie, I'm going to learn along with you. We laid a couple of pallets of SA when we built our home 3 years ago but that was just the beginning. We laid an additional 15 1/2 pallets this year! Yep - over 1000 square yards! So we need to educate ourselves a little about the potential pests, etc.

You are so right......this is much easier and way more fun than doing one's own research! Besides, I love hearing other people's experiences and seeing their photos!

Best of luck with your new lawn. It is beautiful!

Debra

Great grass...but you might want to water it ALOT more than what your sprinker system is doing..at least at first....it will let you know...and it is very forgiving when it comes to springing back from brown. Our biggest problem is mole crickets...problem is...you dont know you have them till you step down and all the moths fly up...for sure want to get ahead of them systemically.

Connie,

I apologize, don't mean to take over your thread, but Gardenglory......would you go into a little more detail about those "moths"???? I've never heard of that.

No prob, fleurs...that's what this thread is all about! --Anything that will tell us more about SA (hey...hey...I know now !!! ha).

I don't think I'll have much of a prob with weeds as I LOVE weeding! When I see one, I swoop down on it and very gingerly pull it out to get the roots. I should have been an oncology surgeon! But, I definitely will look for the SA fertilizer.

All right...waiting with Fleurs to hear about those nasty moths/ mole crickets! Yikes!

Connie your lawn is (beautiful)! We have worked on our SA lawn for many years and it's really pretty now.


Lin

Dancey...is Midway "midway" between two towns I might know of?? Are you near Austin?? A few of us are having a short NT / lunch here in Austin on July 10....:)

No. I'm sorry too! I would love to have joined ya'll for lunch. ;) Thanks for the invite.
Midway is in Madison County very close to Madisonville, Tx. So I'm pretty far from Austin actually. The closest large towns are Huntsville (not real large) and Bryan/College Station.

Aww...shoot...well, I guess you attended the Roundup in College Station and have Dave over for dinner occasionally? haha

I haven't attended any of the College Station RoundUps yet but I sure hope to. ;) And who knows I might have Dave over for dinner! LOL

I wish I did know of someone that lived close to me that was as crazy about gardening as I am. It would be fun to trade plants and share dreams. ;)

Lin

Well, we can live close "vicariously'!!! I just noticed on a Heuchera thread that you're newly into those, as I am.
What else do you want in the area of plants (hey...I want $millions for plants and grandkids! haha

Hi: Noticed that everyone is from a really southern clime and decided to "chime" in. I live in Hardeman Co., TN. About 13 yrs. ago, stopped at a lady's house to ask if I could buy a plant from her. She said "no" and gave me the plant. She had a strand of SA in her yard that she later told me she brough up from a visit to TX back in the late 40's. It took hold in the clay "soil" up here and flourished. There happened to be some in the plant she gave me and from that little tiny bit, it spreading thru my hard. We had planted fescue and bermuda when we built our house and now the SA is overtaking all of it. It goes dormant in the winter and in the spring I usually burn it off, feed it with Scotts, water and let it go. By the way, I was born and raised in Jacksonville, FL and my mom had a yard full of SA. Really beautiful and never minded that my brothers, all the neighborhood kids and I played on it. What a joy on the bottom of my feet. I walk barefooted in mine sometimes. Usually wear shoes since we live in the woods and I don't want to step on a snake barefooted. We have plenty of them around here. Good growing to everyone this season.

LC2, what nice memories. Thanks for sharing with us. I can almost feel the grass beneath by feet.

Debra

Yes...great story! BTW...what is "burning off" of grass?

I've heard of burning off pasture grass. And we do that. Never heard of doing that to your yard lawn though. A lot of people around here 'burn off' their pasture grass and then the new grass begins to pop up and grow well.

My SA that gets all day sun will sometimes have yellow spots. Once in a while I use Ironite to green it back up. Our prettiest SA is in the shade of the oak trees.

Connie I have a whole mile long list of plants that I want. LOL There are so many plants that can be grown here that I haven't tried. I had two Heucheras one time but they died. Probably my fault they didn't get enough water. I was still working at the time and had so little time for my gardens. Geraniums is another line of plants I want to explore. Especially the scented geraniums. ;) I'm trying to have as many fragrant plants as possible in my gardens.

And speaking of grandkids, our little 3 yr. old gd spent the weekend with us! What a treat. ;) She is such a little doll.

Lin