[Pondboy]

I’d start by saying that no one will take better care of your lawn than yourself.

If you want the best lawn on the block, do it yourself. If you want an ok lawn, use a service. But understand that the results will be determined by the guy/gal that does the treatment. If they know their business, you are in luck. If not, your lawn will suffer. There are many things that can and will go wrong with a lawn. If they are not able to correctly diagnose and fix the problem, you could loose your lawn.

Also know that by law, your lawn service can only put down 2 lbs of nitrogen per year on your lawn. In some areas, with good soil, this might be fine. However, if your soil is very sandy, the fertilizer will soon leach out and the grass will suffer.

So I’d recommend getting on line and studying “how to grow and care for St Augustine grass. I’d start with you tube and look up either Lawn Care Nut or Better call Chad.

As far as fertilizer goes for your newly laid sod, I’m thinking that you should wait at least 6 weeks before fertilizing…but look it up on line to confirm.

If you go with a mowing service, make sure they will cut at a minimum of 3.5 to 4”. The taller the better but I understand it depends on what type of St Aug you have. Either way, not meeting the minimum height will be very detrimental to your lawn.

As far as watering….measure the output of your irrigation heads to determine how long to water. Use cups to measure. You need at least 1-2” per week. In the heat of the summer, you might need more. You will probably also have to water more than twice a week as the villages states.

I could go on and on….but mowing height, watering and fertilizer are the most important things to understand.