Quote:
Originally Posted by idlewild
We're proud owners of a brand new Veranda home near Eastport. As such, we have a newly laid Saint Augustine lawn and had some questions in both Pest Control and Fertilization.
I understand that lawns need to not only be mowed regularly - and more frequently in the summer months - but am curious as to what else do lawns really need, how frequently, and what the best service providers (including myself / DYI) are for:
(1) Pest Control / Insecticide: I believe Spring (now) is the right time to apply insecticides for cinch bugs, mole crickets, fire ants. Is that correct? Do you treat for each in one service call?
(2) Fertilizer: I also would suspect the lawn needs to be fertilized heavily now (Spring) and likely more frequently given it's newly laid sod. Is that also correct?
For both, with what frequency should you apply the Insecticides and Fertilizers? Is there any harm to pets - we have dogs - with either? Are there any recommended contractors for Pest Control or Fertilization and/or I can/should I buy them and apply them myself? It seems Pest Control might be better sourced but shouldn't one be able to fertilized his/her lawn?
Thanks!
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I am 59 and I do my own lawn and pest control. I bought a couple sprayers and for insecticides. I alternate between talspar p and termidorSC four times a year. You can get them online from "do my own pest control". I never have bugs. I also don't know if I've even seen a mosquito in The villages since I've gotten here, but I am from Minnesota so I have a very high threshold for mosquitoes.
For lawn weeds I use something called Celsius. Seem to work good but it takes a while and sometimes take a couple treatments.
There is a nasty weed called nutsedge. For that, I use something called sedgehammer. It's a hard weed to kill though but the stuff seems to control it.
For cinch bugs, which kills Saint Augustine grass, I used something called merit from bayer. It's a granular and I only had to do it one time and it worked although I might start doing an annual treatment. It comes in a big bag so you can get multiple applications out of it.
I cut my own grass.
I bet I spend under $200 a year total on all of it.
Now if I could only find something that would kill Bermuda grass, which is invading my neighborhood.