My lawn really took a beating in the last 2 summers. Is there any grass seed I can throw on it now to help hide the bad spots and hopefully to help choke out the weeds???????????????
HELP my St. Augustine lawn looks HORRIBLE!
Pictures?
St. Augustine can't be grown from seed. However, you can easily do transplants from thicker areas of your lawn. Take out a plugs of sod and plant them at intervals in the bald spots and you should get coverage fairly quickly.
But we need to know why your grass isn't thriving. Tell us about your watering habits, fertilizers, any weeding stuff you have put on. Because St. Augustine can be killed by most "weed and feed" or weed killers (unlike other types of grass).
ladyborg, mine looks HORRIBLE also. I am planning on selling my house in the spring, so I think a quick fix is in order. Unfortunately, I am going to have to fork out some $$, but I plan on tilling it up and having texas turf or bermuda put down instead of St. Augustine. It is beautiful grass and I love it, but it requires too much water for the summers that it has to endure with no rain.
I like St. Augustine for the thick turf, it chokes out weeds and is not only tolerant of tree shade - it likes it (in this hot area). To cut down on watering and maintenance, I simply plan on having as little of lawn as I need. :) Everywhere else is going to be garden plants, woodland plants, and naturalized ground cover. It's important to look at your yard and say to yourself - do I REALLY need lawn there? I think the only places that could use lawn is places people walk or gather. All other places can have alternatives, especially xeriscape ones. (And even the walk-gather places could have foot-tolerant ground cover, cobblestones, decks or patios, walkways made with mulch or pea gravel, etc.)
Plus, a stretch of lawn keeps a certain order in a yard.
Ladyborg, is it just that winter has done its thing, or do you have chinch bug areas, weedy areas? Pictures would help. You might try spraying it with alfalfa tea.
From time to time brown spots appear in my St Augustine (there are two out there now). It is a waterhog, but I have it only in the front - fairly small yard - and it conforms with HOA standards. Just as growing season begins, I spread pottrng soil about an inch thick over the brown patches and water well. In little more than a week new runners will cover the areas as tho nothing was ever wrong. The lawn has been there ten years and is so deeply entrenched only a bulldozer could get it out. Yuska
No it's not just the lawn winter blahs, alot died the summer before last due to drought, last year I made sure to keep watering plenty, but it's pretty dismal. I know it can't be grown from seed, I don't care WHAT type of lawn I get as long as I can plant some seed now to give me GREEN (other than weeds) this summer.
All the input is appreciated.
What about rye or bermuda grass, don't they grow from seed?
When do you plan to put your house on the market? Rye is a cool season grass. Here in Texas it is used as a winter grass. Pleeeeeease don't add to the Bermuda grass problem by introducing it into the neighborhood (If it isn't there already.) Once established, it is impossible to get rid of it permanently. It spreads like wildfire.
Here's an article by A & M's Plant Man on Buffalo grass
http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/turf/publications/buffalo.html
I've bought seed form Native American Seeds. They carry a variety of native grass seeds.
http://www.seedsource.com/garden/grasstips.htm
Ladyborg - St Augustine always looks bad at this time of year. All those winter weeds, and bare spots. But wait until it starts greening up and growing, and all those winter weeds die out, and you'll wonder why you were worried. Last year, we were ready to tear it all out and resod. The price was abominable, and I said forget it!!! Glad I did. It looked great last summer. I had chinch bug damage and take all patch to overcome. It did.
Rye is a winter grass - too late for it now. And St Augustine will overtake Bermuda - thank goodness. Bermuda goes in and under and over anything in its path. You'll never get it out of your flower beds. Patience....