Lawns Suffering
 

Why are some Lawns looking sick this year? Seems like many are having to put dirt and extra soil additives on the lawn.. The professional lawn service guy " thinks" it might be the frost but said he honestly didn't know. His exact words were, " I only spray for lawn bugs and drop fertilizer." He must be keeping the Trade Secrets to himself! Any ideas or suggestions...

My theory is that lawns look great in Florida for about one month per year.
Lawns do great in England where temps are mild and rain is plentiful, not so much elsewhere.

Here, it's too much or too little fertilizer, bugs, water, heat or cold. Take your pick.
I don't think your lawn guy knows because most everyone has the same problem.

Do the best you can and don't worry, it'll come back. Good luck.

Thanks John, love ❤️ the reassurance!

That's just your "theory"...My lawn looks great at least eight months out of the year...granted it does looks like crap when it goes dormant in the winter months. I am having to deal with more weeds this year than any other also.

A very big part of a good looking lawn in FL is the sprinkler system....how good the coverage is and how often one waters the lawn.

Clue?

Same lawns look great during the the so called rainy season!!

lawns
 

my lawn looks fine most months except domant ones. green up nice already, weeds are minimal. have used fertigator for 10 years. very responsive if i do have a issue.

Lawns are just waking up Little more heat some nutrients and daylight they'll be fine

Need more rain I am thinking?

It's beyond me why keeping a lawn is even a deed restriction at all when for many months of the year most lawns look like utter garbage. Astroturf would be an improvement.

Could it possibly be because....
 

It has been dry across a large chunk of Central Florida lately. The rainfall deficit for the year has once again increased to more than 3 inches across most of the region.

I know my lawn had chinch bugs that killed it. My bug company had to spray something extra plus I sprayed it some and now we are waiting for the grass to come back. Will be there is a couple weeks to check on it.

Mine looks good 12 months a year. I bought a courtyard villa and rocked it in.
I sold my lawn mower to the landscaper as part of the deal!

Here's what Bob Vila says about lawns.
Turf Care: 11 Ways You're Accidentally Ruining Your Lawn - Bob Vila

The changes in temperature affect the need for watering zoysia. Our guy gave us a chart. With temperature changes of 30 degrees in a week. It is hard to keep up. I feel bad for those who are not here all the time to watch their lawns!

I use Falcon and they spray my yard which includes pest/bug control and “nutrients “. They do a good job and they come every other month. In addition I spread a light coat of Scott’s southern lawn fertilizer about 4 times a year but never when the temperature is 90 plus. I also cut my own grass which in the rainy season has to be done twice weekly

There’s a difference between summer and winter!

lived there for 12 yr's watered







lived there for 12 yrs. beautiful lawn,Empire Zoysia..water 3 times a week in hot summer,25 min day.in cool weather 2 ties a week 30 min....only concentrated on front lawn.

Where I live it really varies from plot to plot as to how well the grass is doing. I do think proper sprinkler schedule and coverage is probably key.

Water every day for 10 minutes a zone instead of twice weekly for longer periods. You don’t use anymore water and it keeps the grass nicer. Found a little everyday is better than a lot twice a week.

My lawn and my neighbors lawn are being eaten up by mole crickets which I had not even heard of before. They are both being treated but so far it still looks like a losing battle.

Lawns at this time of year
 

I was thinking that my lawn actually looks greener/better this year than it does most winters. The lawns generally look better up North than in Florida, anyway. Kentucky Blue is better than zoyzia, but Kentucky Blue won't tolerate the heat. But my lawn looks OK.

Lawn
 

A big issue here is the clay sub soil they used when filling and grading the property. If you have tried to dig you'll find it is like digging in semi hard cement. It's great for supporting you home but not for growing grass. Fertilize often in small amounts. Every 8 to 12 weeks instead of once or twice a year and apply pest and chinch bug treatment spring and fall. Adjust your sprinklers to avoid dry spots as that is where chinch bugs and weeds will attack first. I've bee s trying to stay ahead of the things that affect St. Augustin grass for 28 years it is a constant battle good luck.

To all who posted on this issue:
Please consult your local extension office! Some of these "cures" could have disastrous consequences regarding water quality and your budget.

The lawns are recovering from an unusually cold winter. Fertilizer should be done later than usual so the lawns have extra time to recover.

the Grass gets cut too short too often which ends up exposing the roots and sun burns them. Then lawns are over fertilized -again burns the roots. Landscapers just do this to keep work

So Sprinklers are key! Proper watering at night or early morning before the sun comes up is best. I grew up in Florida listening to pops talk about lawn care hope this helps lol.

Our lawn was getting more and more patchy (Less grass and more bare spots). We were told it was mole crickets. They are treating for them and the lawn is now filing back in with grass.

Ohiobuckeye
 

Personally I think it’s still a little to early to worry about it. Mine looked like it was dead too but in the last 4 or 5 days I can see new green grass popping up. But I do my own fertilizing & use Scotts. When I have an issue I email them (Scotts) they’ve always, always answered & always have the right solution. I’m just not a big fan of lawn care specialist.

Also, check the PH. St Augustine likes it around 6.5. I tested and it was well over 7. Dropped a bunch of granular sulfur down and that did the trick. Also, Telstar for bugs and Milorganite for an iron boost. Just got done dropping a high nitrogen fertilizer down while it was still cool and mild. Don't do it when it gets hot or you will be fighting fungus. After that, I only put down a 16-4-8 slow release fertilizer every 2-3 months. Lastly, I replaced all the rotator sprinkler nozzles with spray nozzles. What a huge difference that made. Much greater coverage and I only need to run each zone about 10-15 min. Lawn is in the best conditions its ever been in. Enjoy!!

I recall reading somewhere about the US with roughly 400 year history feels a need to buy, copy the far longer English history. We have bought London Bridge, Castles, the Cloisters and more recently beat to death used double Decker buses.

The invested the inch, the foot, the yard and went metric leaving us holding the foot.

Next they will think the left side of the road is the right side.

Oh and my British car. You needed three sets of tools Whitworth, metric and SAE.
They do have a good sense of humor-needed to survive.

Thats what you get for min wage

It depends if you are north or south of 466. If you are north, the grass dies off if it freezes and then comes back. It happened twice this year but the grass looks great now with the early weeds in full swing. Lawn guy taking care of the weeds.

Different than last year? I keep meaning to but do not. Would be wise to collect photos and compare one year to the next.

As to lawns looking bad. We are growing warm climate grasses. Some have Empire Zoysia and others have St Augustine. In either case I would look on line for the instructions for whatever grass type you have.

With whatever grass you have it is a matter of doing the right thing at the right time.

Issues with your lawn? The first question is what and as important is why.

Endless debates. First I would get a soil test done. In most of the villages we have sandy clay with a high PH between 7-8. Solution is to improve your soil. There is no shortage of people who will sell you something. Adding organic matter makes sense.
However laying it on top of the grass-top dressing is according to me a waste of time and money. Organic material needs to be stirred into the soil not laid on top and it takes a lot of it to actually improve your soil.

The PH battle. What you want is 6.5 what you have is as above likely 7-8. Organic material will help. Sulfur will help and also prevents fungus you need to be careful not to apply too much and the change is slow-like over a year. It is also kind of expensive.

Lawn? My goal is good enough. If, as too many people do, you apply too much fertilizer, you need to water more, mow more and you will have more fungus and bugs.
The goal is balance at least my goal is balance. I do not put huge amounts of fertilizer.
I refuse to mow twice a week and water every day or two

If, you have Empire Zoysia, it takes the ? winter ? off. Last fertilizer application was in Oct of last year. Now is the time for your first application of this year.

Point, you want to cooperate with nature not fight it. The right thing at the right time.
Read instructions-your lawn cannot read. If, it says 2 lbs per 1,000 sq feet four is not twice as good and it may well burn your lawn.

There is no shortage of opinions. Your grass is lazy. If, you water lightly often, it has no reason to run it's roots deep. Should you due to repair or??? miss a day, it will quickly wilt.

Ten minutes a zone? What you want to do is measure how much water you heads put down in so many minutes. Easy to do with washed cans placed on your lawn.

Also an ex-northerner. Cooperative extension the lecturer asked how many of you are Northerners. His punch line was forget everything you knew. The good news-no dandelions. The bad news. Up North no dollar weed.

I have been told by an excellent hydraulic engineer that if you look at a world globe - at Florida's latitude most other countries have deserts there. Florida is practically an island with water around most sides. That must (?) save Florida from being a desert. However, with Global Warming, US weather patterns are changing - hence, the new term "Global Weirding". The extra weeds may be because weeds are stronger than grass and are more drought-resistant? I doubt that anyone knows for sure. I am just putting forth a Possible (?) theory. I am just a messenger with a theory that is "food for discussion". Please don't shoot at the messenger. What are some other theories?

I start off during this time of the year watering between 30 minutes and one hour. Usually, by June 1st I turn the sprinklers off for the entire summer. The lawn is beautiful.

I watched the Massey rep drive up to my next door neighbors house today, get out of his truck, stick his Massey sign in the yard. He then shuffled some things in his truck bed, then get in his truck and drive off. She has been wondering why her yard is full of weeds and looks terrible.......humm

OMG!! Terrible! Glad I didn't sign up with them. I went with Superior. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I would hope you told your neighbor so she could contact Massey and have a supervisor come out to see her yard and tell Massey their guy is useless.

We have Massey for several services and they have done a good job.

St. Augustine grass wants a lot of water. It looks much better during the rainy season. Winter is generally dry and sprinklers often are not good enough to overcome the lack of rain.

The twice a week is a requirement by the Villages and the 2 days you can water are listed on you watering clock.