View Full Version : new house grass
village dreamer
08-17-2014, 03:30 PM
is it me or what.look at some new houses and the grass looks terrible. cant they water and feed it??? I don't mean a few but most them look so shabby,bare spots and dryed up .
mulligan
08-17-2014, 04:39 PM
There is quite a bit of transplant shock with Zoysia grass. It may take up to a year to look really healthy. The last thing you want to do is feed a stressed plant, but daily watering is a must.
redwitch
08-17-2014, 05:17 PM
Once the house has been built and the sod put down, the grass is not maintained other than watering. Bushes are semi- trimmed. Some houses have sat empty for a year. These lawns will frequently have infestations. It can be quite a challenge for a new homeowner to get the lawn up to snuff.
Villager Joyce
08-17-2014, 05:18 PM
There is quite a bit of transplant shock with Zoysia grass. It may take up to a year to look really healthy. The last thing you want to do is feed a stressed plant, but daily watering is a must. Thank you for the explanation. The grass looks horrible in much of Hillsborough (including our lawn). I never thought about the lawn being in shock. We have talked about replacing the lawn with St. Augustine.
graciegirl
08-17-2014, 05:24 PM
Thank you for the explanation. The grass looks horrible in much of Hillsborough (including our lawn). I never thought about the lawn being in shock. We have talked about replacing the lawn with St. Augustine.
Water and wait. Watering is important.
Steph
08-17-2014, 05:31 PM
Here in Dunedin the Zoysia in many of the new homes looked terrible. The landscaper has been coming thru replacing many front and back lawns. The new sod had army worms plus a lot of weeds. The landscaper is responding to the concerns and replacing the sod that is beyond help. It's starting to look better.
Bonanza
08-17-2014, 05:45 PM
What you are describing is typical of Zoysia grass, unfortunately. Go to some of the older sections and take a look at their St. Augustine. The lawns are beautiful and look like green velvet. I've seriously thought about putting in some St. Augustine plugs. It will take a while but is a lot less expensive than taking out the entire Zoysia sod and replacing it with St. Augustine.
PaPaLarry
08-17-2014, 05:47 PM
Zoysia require lots of water when first put down. If you take notice when we have dry spells, and the grass turns brown, it still comes back. Once green, you just need to water twice a week. Guaranteed though, within a years time, you will start getting Bermuda mixing in with Zoysia. The lawn cutters bring it in from the seeds they cut when cutting other homes. Can't be helped unless they rinse mower after each cutting (ain't happening) LOL
Mikeod
08-17-2014, 06:10 PM
Thank you for the explanation. The grass looks horrible in much of Hillsborough (including our lawn). I never thought about the lawn being in shock. We have talked about replacing the lawn with St. Augustine.
If you replace the zoysia with St. Augustine, please speak to your neighbors first so they won't be surprised when it takes over their lawns. If they don't mind or care, have them talk to their neighbors to let them know what will happen. Changing to St. Augustine carries some problems as well.
I've been in my home for eight years. The lawn struggled for a while until I changed to Zoysia Green to fertilize my lawn every other month. Looks great now. Please give it some time, care, and water.
mgcsooner
08-17-2014, 06:16 PM
I would be very upset if my neighbor planted St Augustine and I'm sure many others would as well. I just spent 5 years trying to kill it in TX when a neighbor did that--it spread into my gorgeous bermuda..
Bonanza
08-17-2014, 06:27 PM
I would be very upset if my neighbor planted St Augustine and I'm sure many others would as well. I just spent 5 years trying to kill it in TX when a neighbor did that--it spread into my gorgeous bermuda..
I'm sure it did spread into your Bermuda grass.
Bermuda grass is beautiful but having it is like having a full time job with no pay.
The result is beautiful but it needs constant maintenance.
Ask anyone involved in the care of a golf course.
I'm not an aficionado of Zoysia grass but I'll take it any day over Bermuda.
Less work for mother!
Bizdoc
08-17-2014, 06:36 PM
After 18 months of constant struggle with my turf, I took pictures to the extenstion agent. He looked at them and said soil problems. (remember, they put about a 1/4 inch of top soil on top of the sand.)
Had Adam Neusbaum from Black Kow come out and put down 3 cu yards of cow poop mulch on my yard. Watered a lot the first week. I now have the greenest yard on the block. It is also *finally* closing up the empty spots in the turf and choking out the weeks.
Oh yeah. For those who worry, the compost doesn't smell at all. It is very well aged and them micro-screened before delivered.
CFrance
08-17-2014, 06:45 PM
After 18 months of constant struggle with my turf, I took pictures to the extenstion agent. He looked at them and said soil problems. (remember, they put about a 1/4 inch of top soil on top of the sand.)
Had Adam Neusbaum from Black Kow come out and put down 3 cu yards of cow poop mulch on my yard. Watered a lot the first week. I now have the greenest yard on the block. It is also *finally* closing up the empty spots in the turf and choking out the weeks.
Oh yeah. For those who worry, the compost doesn't smell at all. It is very well aged and them micro-screened before delivered.
What kind of grass do you have?
Bizdoc
08-17-2014, 07:15 PM
What kind of grass do you have?
Empire Zoysia
rjm1cc
08-17-2014, 08:12 PM
Not sure as to the type of grass but I think you probably need a month of daily watering. Probably 50 or 60 minutes a zone. Then twice a month until fall. I would not replace until you went a year. It will probably comeback. I would lightly fertilize.
DeanFL
08-17-2014, 08:14 PM
After 18 months of constant struggle with my turf, I took pictures to the extenstion agent. He looked at them and said soil problems. (remember, they put about a 1/4 inch of top soil on top of the sand.)
Had Adam Neusbaum from Black Kow come out and put down 3 cu yards of cow poop mulch on my yard. Watered a lot the first week. I now have the greenest yard on the block. It is also *finally* closing up the empty spots in the turf and choking out the weeks.
Oh yeah. For those who worry, the compost doesn't smell at all. It is very well aged and them micro-screened before delivered.
My zoysia is struggling too - new house, 6 mos old.
Re your Black Kow matter. I'm thinking of going direct to the source >>> buy a cow (any color...) Let her graze and poop all over to her heart's content. Bonus would be a savings on lawn cutting. Now, only if the ARC and neighbors approve.
e-flyer
08-17-2014, 08:14 PM
(remember, they put about a 1/4 inch of top soil on top of the sand.)
In our area, they put the sod directly on sand, no top soil added.
bluedog103
08-17-2014, 08:35 PM
My zoysia is struggling too - new house, 6 mos old.
Re your Black Kow matter. I'm thinking of going direct to the source >>> buy a cow (any color...) Let her graze and poop all over to her heart's content. Bonus would be a savings on lawn cutting. Now, only if the ARC and neighbors approve.
Tell your neighbors that you have a big dog. Neighbors like it when your dog poops on its own lawn. :jester:
Bizdoc
08-18-2014, 05:49 AM
Tell your neighbors that you have a big dog. Neighbors like it when your dog poops on its own lawn. :jester:
Neighbors will notice in hot weather. *Lots* of poop which really smells when it gets hot. And there are probably too many folks from farm states who would spill the beans. Of course, you could have everyone over for steaks.
Cobh521
08-18-2014, 06:09 AM
We purchased last year and we maintain our own lawn. In the beginning we used Lesco 15-0--15 to help promote root growth. We also keep our clippings in the grass. In the beginning you need a lot of water. In the very hot weather we can have a spot or two that starts to tun brown and we use our hose to water those spots in the morning. We have a nice turf and the grass clippings helped to enrich the soil.
graciegirl
08-18-2014, 07:15 AM
In our area, they put the sod directly on sand, no top soil added.
BUT....the sod is green side up and brown side down and the brown side is dirt...soil. About an inch. Topsoil isn't spread anywhere that I know of here...and usually sod will be o.k. with water.
Ours did fine both places with plenty of watering, but we do have an area that has some kind of mole crickets and the grass doesn't look as good there. Sweetie is tryin' to solve that problem. Not my job description. I am in charge of world affairs.....not doin' too well there.
Vladimir
08-18-2014, 09:20 AM
Don't depend on the landscapers to make your grass look good. I have had lousy standard advise from them and this is what worked for me, which I had to do myself.
Watering is critical and needs more than what is generally reccomended. Spread top soil or black cow over the bare areas or all over your yard and seed the bare spots - this is key. Then as your landscapers fertilize you need to supplement their feedings two or three times a year - the landscapers fertilizer is weak and not enough. Also walk around every so often and dig out the weeds by their roots. I experimented and did this and my grass is green and lush and under control...and my house is only about 6 months old. Oh, don't cut your grass low - I prefer a residential push mower over 2 1/2 inches cutting height.
Papa Cuma
09-09-2014, 10:56 AM
is it me or what.look at some new houses and the grass looks terrible. cant they water and feed it??? I don't mean a few but most them look so shabby,bare spots and dryed up .
My wife and I were carting around Hillsborough north of Hillsborough Trail and noticed that the lawns are terrible. Thin, patchy, light green, weedy. But, south of the trail in Hillsborough and Lake Deaton the lawns were lush and green. What gives ???
village dreamer
09-09-2014, 04:28 PM
well my house is in lake deaton,and the builder replaced about 1/4 of my lawn due to bugs.
cmj1210
09-09-2014, 04:31 PM
Our house is also in Lake Deaton & so far it's good. There is some sort of warranty on that was it still covered
Penguin
09-09-2014, 07:44 PM
is it me or what.look at some new houses and the grass looks terrible. cant they water and feed it??? I don't mean a few but most them look so shabby,bare spots and dryed up .
Welcome to trying to have a nice lawn in Florida. I wish I could put in artificial grass. I hope it does'nt happen to you but when I moved in it cost me a small fortune to get my grass looking good. And I still have to pay thru the nose to water it. I HATE FLORIDA GRASS. In Illinois it gets to be 40 degrees below zero for 3 months and every spring the grass looks great. I HATE FLORIDA GRASS.
village dreamer
09-09-2014, 07:57 PM
Our house is also in Lake Deaton & so far it's good. There is some sort of warranty on that was it still covered
yes there is a warrenty on the grass but ,I had them repair grass befor I closed.............yesterday.
perrjojo
09-09-2014, 08:11 PM
St Augustine looks nice but needs too much water. It is also very susceptible to fungus. I agree, get Adam to put out Black Cow on your lawn. We have him top dress our lawn and shrubs twice a year. Also, if your house is less than one year old it is possible they will replace the sod.
asianthree
09-09-2014, 10:45 PM
Our lawn is over a year old and still looks iffy
jnieman
09-09-2014, 11:30 PM
Try Fertigator. They apply fertilizer at every watering. We have had them for three months and our lawn looks great now and new grass has choked out all of the weeds.
Bonanza
09-10-2014, 12:02 AM
Try Fertigator. They apply fertilizer at every watering. We have had them for three months and our lawn looks great now and new grass has choked out all of the weeds.
Our next door nighbor had Fertigator doing their yard.
Slowly but surely their grass went downhill.
They fired Fertigator about 8 weeks ago.
They were paying them $85.00 each month which was hardly worth it in light of what the results look like.
One of the problems with Fertigator is the fertilizer "fertilizes" everything because it is hooked up to the sprinkler system.
Different plants plus sod require different elements.
Whatever it is that Fertigator uses, couldn't possibly fertilize all the shrubs and lawn properly.
My advice is to do your own fertilizing a few times a year.
It's easy and the most cost effective thing you can do.
getdul981
09-10-2014, 08:11 AM
We use Fertigator. They are very good at following up on phone calls when you have a problem. The main thing I dislike about them is there is a crew that mows and edges, another crew that trims the shrubs and yet another crew that does the weeding and fertilizer supplements. I have had to call several times, but they have always responded and taken care of the situation (mostly for fire ants). Just last week, the supervisor said that they would rather me call so they can fix the problem than to cancel on them.
I can see where their service would not work if you don't live here and can keep an eye on things. I don't know of any lawn service that you can actually trust to take care of your lawn like you would take care of it, if you are not here full time.
jnieman
09-10-2014, 09:07 AM
As I stated before, we have Fertigator. Our shrubs and lawn are thriving and are weed free. I am going my my own experience and the experience of two neighbors who also have Fertigator. We did initially have our lawn dethatched due to a mold problem and they sprayed until that went away. We pay $55 per month and that includes termite protection, lawn and shrub fertilization and pest control. We have a normal size lot with a Wisteria house in Hadley. This is about $100 less than we were paying for our last company who was nationally known and very unresponsive to our needs.
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