[galluccb]

Kevin
Before you spend money get free advice from a professional.
I've used Larry at Massey for years. I totally trust him.
Give him a call
Good Luck Bob G




he front lawn consisting of St Augustine grass at our villa looks terrible and also has weeds. We water regularly and pay for treatment every other month from a company called zoysia green (obviously not happy with their service)….

In short, I am considering having all grass torn out, fresh soil added and then either seed or sod put down. I would be interested in hearing any and all suggestions from those who have done the same or similar. Also interested to learn if there is a particular time of year that is suggested for best results.

Any recommendations for trustworthy landscapers to do this job will also be appreciated. I love the Villages and want to make my lawn look great and think I need to start my lawn over! Thx in advance[/QUOTE]

[dolphin]

Originally Posted by PugMom

i agree. mine was the same way until i got the new landscapers- i thought the lawn was beyond repair. it took awhile, but is lovely now

Greensmiths Lawn and Pest control did wonders to our lawn over a period of 6 months. Highly recommend. Little more expensive but well worth i

[maistocars]

Originally Posted by La lamy

I have a patch of dead grass that I would like to replace. Is there a store that sells pieces of sod at this time of year?

Lowes and Home Depot - was there 10 days ago.

[Teemotay]

Originally Posted by kevinm55

Hi all. The front lawn consisting of St Augustine grass at our villa looks terrible and also has weeds. We water regularly and pay for treatment every other month from a company called zoysia green (obviously not happy with their service)….

In short, I am considering having all grass torn out, fresh soil added and then either seed or sod put down. I would be interested in hearing any and all suggestions from those who have done the same or similar. Also interested to learn if there is a particular time of year that is suggested for best results.

Any recommendations for trustworthy landscapers to do this job will also be appreciated. I love the Villages and want to make my lawn look great and think I need to start my lawn over! Thx in advance

It’s difficult to advise you on the proper way to fix this yourself without more info, although many have done just that.

Your question was for trustworthy landscapers to give you a fresh start. I can’t help you there, however if you want to give it a shot yourself then you need to educate yourself on several issues concerning growing healthy St Augustine grass.

Weeds have been a big problem this year and especially since we’ve been in a bit of a drought for a while now. Without adequate water the grass weakens and the weeds come in. You said that you water regularly but what does that mean? You could be watering every day for 10 minutes and not getting enough water for your grass to thrive. First, understand how much water your grass needs and then test to be sure it’s getting it from your irrigation.

You should also do a soil test to better understand what what is lacking in it. The grass needs nutrients and proper water to thrive. A soil test will tell you what fertilizer to apply so that you’re feeding your grass what it needs.

As far as weeds are concerned, you need to know what they are so that you know how to control/eradicate them. One size definitely doesn’t fit all when it comes to fertilizer and weed control.

Your grass is not dormant now, contrary to another comment in this thread. We’ve been having temps in the 80’s and healthy St Augustine is still growing enough to need mowing. If you’re mowing it then it’s not dormant.

I do my own lawn mowing and treatment. I’ve attached a picture of how it looks this morning. Definitely not dormant.

The University of Florida extension service has great info on growing a healthy St Augustine lawn. Good luck with your lawn!

[Rich Iwaszko]

I have ridden around a lot of the Villages and none have good grass. No matter the species, zoysia or St Augustine. At any time of the year, at best 60% of the grass is green.
The other 40 is some shade of brown. The reality here is that the weather and the bugs are never going to allow you to have a northern lawn, 90% green.

I saw a couple of really good lawns 80% green, I was impressed, what did they do? 3 months later they were back to 60% green. Its just the nature of the beast, what you are fighting is not being 25% green.

The less lawn you have the better, turn it into something else, rock, ground cover. A villa is ideal for that. Everyone else larger than that will just have to suffer with the 60% green.

Don't look at a lawn from a distance, stand on it, you will see the brown. Its just the nature of the beast here.

Now, if someone says I have a great lawn, go and look at it and see for yourself. There are no great lawns here. People have just gotten acclimated to the 40% brown. More brown in the winter and less brown in the spring summer. And all of these services do the same thing, BUT, they too cannot fight nature either, they just try to keep the 60% from becoming less.

Really, take a good look around and you will see, any lawn you can eliminate is good. The rest you can settle with 60% green, like everyone else.

Originally Posted by kevinm55

Sincere thanks to all for your responses. This will be a process obviously and all info provided on this thread has been helpful!

[Switter]

Originally Posted by Ptmcbriz

Chinch bugs are ruining St Augustine grass really fast this year. At first it looks like a patch of area is not getting enough water. It’s a wilted looking. Go Lowe’s and buy a bag of Triazicide and spread it according to directions. It’s a granular. Then water the heck out of your grass. You’ll want to to it now to get a jump on them in the spring. I had to water 10 minutes every morning plus the two days a week of deep watering of 45 minutes each. I grass is thick and lush but I jumped on it fast when any area started looking bad. St Augustine seems to require more water than the normal TV standards to keep it looking lush.

Thanks for posting this. Good information. I think I have cinch bugs too, at least that's what someone from Massey told me when they came to my door soliciting service. I bought my place in August had sat empty for a year and a half so I'm sure no one was taking care of the lawn. I went out and bought a granular from Bayer called Merit. It's supposed to work really well with cinch bugs. I have no idea if it's working though because I'm not really sure how to identify them, other than dead spots in the lawn. I applied this with a normal granular broadcast spreader. I might do a second application pretty soon.

I also do my own general pest control. I will alternate between talspar P and Termidor four times a year. That's what I did in my previous home. The Termidor is better for ants and termites because it's a slow release and they take it back to the nest. I just go around the whole house about 4 feet up the wall and 4 feet out into the yard and hit the eaves that I can reach.

As for weeds, I have nutsedge, which I treated with something called sedgehammer. I just applied it yesterday so it's too early to see if it's working. It's a little spendy though. I also have clover and something I think they call Hawksbeard (which is kind of like dandelions where I came from) that regular spectraside (the kind that doesn't kill grass) from Home Depot or Lowes seems to work. The Hawksbeard is starting to wilt a little. If it survives, I bought something called Celsius, also from Bayer, that's supposed to work really good. But that's expensive so I'm gonna try the spectraside first because it's cheaper. I'll come back and update my post after I get some results. All of the applications above, except for the Merit, you mix with water and spray on. I know I could just pay Massey or other service to do it but it is a lot cheaper to DIY and I am the kind of person who likes to do it myself anyway.

I'm gonna keep watching this thread to see what others suggest.

[DeeCee Dubya]

Their default service is six visits a year and they charge you over $50 per visit.

Some of their visits take only two or three minutes and I have no idea what they’re doing.

They don’t do anything to kill weeds in fact they will tell you that they will not treat for crabgrass.

[ryoungs]

My lawn is going bad also. Mine is because the guy I hired to mow does me third in a series of six or so houses and has brought weeds from the houses before mine into my yard. The weed is a Spurge, and it spreads rapidly. I told my mower guy I would get him a ramp to drive up on so that he could use my hose to wash the bottom of his mower (he refused, and that is understandable), and so I asked him to mow my lawn first and clean his mower at home before coming out (again, he refused). At first, he was running his machine so fast that he was rutting my lawn and destroying sprinkler heads and landscaping lights, but I asked him to slow down and not run his mower at full throttle. That helped a little, but not with the weed problem. I recently hired a landscaping company to remove the weeds, plug the patches with sod, and spray the lawn with a "weed and feed" type chemical once a month. It is expensive, but they are certain they can get the lawn back to how it looked a few months ago.

Now, here is my question for you -- does my St. Agustine grass need to be mowed weekly during the winter months (my lawn mowing guy mowed it short last time and wants to mow it every other week during the winter months), and do you think I could find somebody in the area to mow using my own riding mower and gas. If so, how often should the job be done?

By the way, my lawn here looks a lot better than at my home in Illinois where my soil is hard clay. Up there, my lawn is mostly "creeping Charlie" and tree roots (I built in a forest).

[Switter]

Originally Posted by Rich Iwaszko

I have ridden around a lot of the Villages and none have good grass. No matter the species, zoysia or St Augustine. At any time of the year, at best 60% of the grass is green.
The other 40 is some shade of brown. The reality here is that the weather and the bugs are never going to allow you to have a northern lawn, 90% green.

I saw a couple of really good lawns 80% green, I was impressed, what did they do? 3 months later they were back to 60% green. Its just the nature of the beast, what you are fighting is not being 25% green.

The less lawn you have the better, turn it into something else, rock, ground cover. A villa is ideal for that. Everyone else larger than that will just have to suffer with the 60% green.

Don't look at a lawn from a distance, stand on it, you will see the brown. Its just the nature of the beast here.

Now, if someone says I have a great lawn, go and look at it and see for yourself. There are no great lawns here. People have just gotten acclimated to the 40% brown. More brown in the winter and less brown in the spring summer. And all of these services do the same thing, BUT, they too cannot fight nature either, they just try to keep the 60% from becoming less.

Really, take a good look around and you will see, any lawn you can eliminate is good. The rest you can settle with 60% green, like everyone else.

I'm actually kind of glad to hear this! I'm pretty new to the villages and my lawn is a little rough (working on it) and I'm worried that I'm gonna get a letter from ARC, lol. I probably won't but I am still learning the ropes here. I eventually will replace more of my lawn with landscaping to reduce the amount of grass I have. Saint Augustine grass isn't even nice as far as I'm concerned, not compared to Kentucky bluegrass that I had in Minnesota. It reminds me of the quackgrass and crabgrass I was trying to kill off, lol.

[lpkruege1]

Originally Posted by PugMom

Fertigator. they were recommended by another member here, & i'm beyond pleased. i prepaid the year, & these guys come out, spend lots of time & do it all, inc. shrub care.

I had them and I wasn't impressed. I fired them.

[lpkruege1]

Originally Posted by ryoungs

My lawn is going bad also. Mine is because the guy I hired to mow does me third in a series of six or so houses and has brought weeds from the houses before mine into my yard. The weed is a Spurge, and it spreads rapidly. I told my mower guy I would get him a ramp to drive up on so that he could use my hose to wash the bottom of his mower (he refused, and that is understandable), and so I asked him to mow my lawn first and clean his mower at home before coming out (again, he refused). At first, he was running his machine so fast that he was rutting my lawn and destroying sprinkler heads and landscaping lights, but I asked him to slow down and not run his mower at full throttle. That helped a little, but not with the weed problem. I recently hired a landscaping company to remove the weeds, plug the patches with sod, and spray the lawn with a "weed and feed" type chemical once a month. It is expensive, but they are certain they can get the lawn back to how it looked a few months ago.

Now, here is my question for you -- does my St. Agustine grass need to be mowed weekly during the winter months (my lawn mowing guy mowed it short last time and wants to mow it every other week during the winter months), and do you think I could find somebody in the area to mow using my own riding mower and gas. If so, how often should the job be done?

Cutting every other week is fine. Cutting to short is not. A number of us asked the lawn guys to cut a little longer. Low and behold, the grass is green and lush. St. Augustine doesn't like to be cut to short.

Finding someone that actually sprays the weeds is the next issue.
It appears the company that does my lawn fertilizer and weeds seems to do a lot better job on the front and sides of the house. Hey, it's what you see from the road. The back of the house looks like it wasn't fertilized or sprayed for weeds. Hmm, their contract will not be renewed.

[lpkruege1]

Originally Posted by DeeCee Dubya

Their default service is six visits a year and they charge you over $50 per visit.

Some of their visits take only two or three minutes and I have no idea what they’re doing.

They don’t do anything to kill weeds in fact they will tell you that they will not treat for crabgrass.

Same thing here. The front and sides look great. The back looks like is hasn't been fertilized or sprayed for weeds. I had to have them come back out AGAIN. Funny how it looks way better after you complain than if you don't.

Anyone have any experience with Tru Green?

[Villagesgal]

You gave such a small lawn. Go to Lowe's or Homedepot and buy a bag of Weed and Feed for St. Augustine grass. Then put it on the lawn including the bare spots, you can use a gloved hand, don't need a spreader, then water it in well. Do it now. It will kill weeds slowly and feed your lawn. In March, do it again. Then in June and again in September and your lawn will be beautiful. A bag of Scott's Southern St Augustine weed and feed will cost you about $30.00. After the first year you only need to do it March and September and your lawn will be the envy of the neighborhood. It takes about 20 minutes to do your entire lawn. I've been doing this for 22 years and my lawn is the best in the neighborhood. So easy and saves you so much money. Those services don't care about your lawn, only you do. If you can throw out a handful like you were feeding chickens, you can do this yourself. When you see new weeds, spray Roundup Weed Killer for Southern lawns, buy it at ACE Hardware, ask for it specifically, not regular Roundup. That takes only about 20 minutes once a month, but when your lawn is healthy, you get next to no weeds. Save your money and do it yourself. You'll be glad you did.

[rickaslin]

Originally Posted by MSchad

The product you provided the link to say it will also kill all grass. How do you spray for weeds in the St Augustine grass without killing the St Augustine?

Lowes told me any weed killer they have with a purple lid will NOT kill St Aug grass. It has worked so far for me

[PugMom]

Originally Posted by dolphin

Greensmiths Lawn and Pest control did wonders to our lawn over a period of 6 months. Highly recommend. Little more expensive but well worth i

thx for the tip. if i ever need someone else, they will be on my list to call