Is this grass normal for a new home?
 

New build, moved in April 1st. They told us the splotchyness would go away with water, but clearly it hasn't. It looks like two different species of grass were used.

https://imgur.com/iUVnlye.jpg

My neighbor's yards look fine.

I am on the new Street of Dreams - this isn't normal, right?

More pictures -

https://imgur.com/gNiQ4tn.jpg

https://imgur.com/ANyFNOE.jpg

https://imgur.com/MYvOwLw.jpg

Before others ask how much water are you putting on it with sprinklers? It was a very dry spring and if your not watering same as neighbor then not a comparison to their yard.

Could be a few things…..water - too much or too little. Or, it was never fertilized after install.

I would take up a sod from a bad area, and a good area, and see what the soil/sand depth is under grass. Builders often use sod area as a dump for waste.
If condition are same under both areas, and looking at photos, your grass seems to be growing OK, fertilizer, or lack of, in different areas, could be the problem. JMO.

Looks like a fertilizer issue to me (nitrogen). You can have a soil sample taken but the university does't check for nitrogen levels.

I'd try a low nitrogen fertilizer with micronutrients like this.

50 Pound Bag - Lesco 8-2-12-4 — Fertilizer Direct

If it is lack of fertilizer, please be sure to use a “slow or timed release” fertilizer. We’re in the rainy season and your lot backs up to a pond.

Fertilizer runoff is the main reason why ponds in Florida get algae blooms. There are a number of counties in the state that actually ban the use of lawn fertilizer this time of year, due to it being such an issue.

Each of the sprinkler zones is set to 40 minutes, four times a week.

Plus its been raining for more than a month.

Sure sounds like alot of water. I'm no expert but, if it were my lawn I would back off the water.

Agree, 3 times a week is enough in that area.

Installing a wifi irrigation controller makes it easy to delay the irrigation a few days when we have rain.

I remember thinking when I closed on my new Villages home that the lawn looked absolutely awful. For that matter, so did the lawns of almost every one of the new homes in my neighborhood!

Lawns are always a challenge in Florida. I remember that from my childhood days in South Florida. But, for the developer to put in such poor lawns on new homes, I thought, did not reflect well upon the developer....despite otherwise nicely put together homes.

All that means is that the developer bought sod from sod farms that were less than decent. Not everything in a new house is going to be top notch! So, I just lived with it...and still do. The spotty lawn that existed at my house is still a challenge to make perfect. The lawn companies here are also pretty shoddy. They get great prices for so-so work. To do it myself requires more work than I can do at my age. But, do it I must...if I am to have a proper looking lawn!

Yes, that is a lot. You must not got your first waster bill yet? Two and maybe three times in the dry season at 40 minutes. I’m at every three days but with smart irrigation and rain wick it has not watered for several days now.

You are probably using 2 or 3 more water than I am, you may want to have a lawn company look over your lawn. I have used Deans for many years and am happy with the results, some require a yearly contract which I would avoid.

Before you mess with it, it is under warranty. Call and have someone in that dept look at it. They may replace for free. If you do something to it and find a major issue, warranty may say it is your fault and will refuse to fix. Best idea is to call them first.

Sod and plants used to be 30 days. It was 7 days from closing on this last house. I knew that ahead of time and actually made the phone call as soon as the keys were handed over in the closing office

Personally, I would still call warranty. I have heard of lawns that have deeper issues than the sod. I believe Michael61 had an issue with his lawn during his first year. He contacted warranty. Maybe he will chime in on this thread.

Michael had constant standing water in his front lawn, not crappy grass. Water back up was within his first month or so. Hugh issue between warranty, water department and builder.

Listen to the Tinker. Call Dean's and have someone who knows lawns in this area look at it. First glance, it looks like lack of fertilizer to me but that could be wrong. Let the pros tell you how to fix it.

That’s too much water. You should be doing 3 times a week at 50-60 min per zone assuming you have MP nozzles.

If there are no black spots on any blades, then it’s a nutrient issue. Black spots mean fungus from too much water.

Get Scott’s fertilizer for Southern Lawns (granular slow release use Scott’s broadcast spreader). Also, this time of year sod web worms and chinge bugs can yellow in patches then the grass dies, so be proactive and put down granular insecticide like Scott’s GrubX. If you want to be proactive on fungicide, I use Scott’s DiseaseX. Remember we don’t have good soil here, it’s nutrient lacking sand. You need to feed on a schedule following the fertilizer instructions (Scott’s every 3 months).
Watering a new lawn to get it established in this heat is rough. First month requires a lot of water. Watch the blades of grass for wilting. You’ll see it as a shadow on the lawn initially as the blades fold. Don’t cut under 3.5” or you’ll put the grass under stress. I’m watering 2x a week at 40 minutes. If I see wilting of blades I add a 3rd day for 20 minutes and it takes care of the wilting.

Scotts has far too much nitrogen for this area. You'll get better results with something like Lesco 8-2-12.

50 Pound Bag - Lesco 8-2-12-4 — Fertilizer Direct

All you have to do is take a drive down Meggison Road to see a real problem with the grass, especially south of Warm Springs to pass Sawgrass Grove. The medians look terrible. I don't know if it is the soil or maintenance, but it has been like this since it was built.

Bahia grass? Bring to Master Gardeners.

The problem with growing grass in the Villages and many other developments is that the soil is poor and offers the newly planted grass very little nutrition. The sod looks beautiful when it is first planted but over time the soil that the sod came with becomes depleted and the grass stops growing, turns yellow, etc. So people and the lawn companies hit it with chemical fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides. A chemical bloodbath that kills many microorganisms that make soil healthy. The soil food web is what our forests depend on. Do you ever see anyone fertilizing a forest. The rotting leaves and fallen logs, etc, rot and add food for the fungus, beneficial nematodes and bacteria that are fed nutrients from the roots of trees and other plants and then these soil organisms bring nutrients to the trees roots. This symbiotic relationship is the key to the healthy growth of plants. The “soil” in many Villages lots is dead and devoid of the life that provides for a healthy bio system. So the lawn companies hammer away with chemicals which actually kill many of these helpful organisms. What will improve your soil if you can’t put down better soil under the sod is to top dress with a great amount of manure, compost, or topsoil. Make sure the grass blades still show through when you rake it in. Water it in. After that try to use only organic lawn fertilizers that will feed soil organisms. Products such as Restore, Milorganite, and chicken lawn fertilizers are examples of some good choices. You will find over the years that you will have a beautiful green lawn and less need for insecticides and fungicides. Copious amounts of organic matter can solve many lawn issues. Feed the soil food web and give life to your dead, lifeless soil.

4x40 mins is 160 minutes per week.
3x50 to 60 mins is 150 to 180 minutes a week. :shrug:

Wow too much water! I have zoysia grass which is different. I am told the St Augustine grass is more difficult to deal with as regards to regrowth but never having dealt with it, don’t know if that is true. You can contact Adam's Earth. He is good with lawns.

Take a sample (a decent plug) from the “different” grasses to a Master Gardener plant clinic. They will be able to tell you if you have two types of grasses.

You’ve received lots of advice here.
The most important thing to remember is that you are on a pond and you have to be extremely cautious about the chemicals you use and the runoff.
If you and your neighbors all dump tons of chemicals on your yards you are REALLY going to be looking at something unsightly.

I agree that too much water is an issue here. It’s not about the minutes per zone or number of watering days per week. It’s about how much water is hitting the soil from all sources ( rain & irrigation). Too much water will flush the nutrients out of your soil in short order.

The first thing to do is reduce your watering. This time of year your lawn needs 1” of rain per week from all sources. Preferably spread out over 2-3 days and not all at once. We can’t control the rain but we can control the irrigation. Do it.

You can buy a rain gauge pretty cheap and keep an eye on what you are getting in your area. You can also test your irrigation system to see what it’s putting down in a normal day of watering by using empty tuna cans or cat food cans placed in the yard in each zone. After watering is completed check the depth of water in the cans to know what is hitting your soil in a typical watering cycle. Adjust accordingly.

Much depends on the soil type and grass type of your property.
Once you’ve adjusted your watering schedule then get a soil test kit and test what your soil is lacking in nutrients. Then, and only then, get a fertilizer that addresses the needs of your soil. Don’t go by what others tell you to use or how long to water. Do your homework and get the answers from your specific issues.

I don’t live in the villages but I built a home 5 years ago in Lady Lake and the sod looked terrible and multicolored across the lawn. Much like yours. I did exactly what I’ve outlined above and it looks great today.

You can also consult with the University of Florida extension service. I have used a lot of their publications to guide me.

Good luck.

One more comment on watering your lawn; deep infrequent watering is much better than frequent watering for a short period of time.

In other words, it is better to water twice a week for a long period of time to make sure the water gets into the root system than to water every day for 15 minutes. The latter does not promote deep roots.

It’s already out of warranty which is 30 days…

The landscaping is not covered under the builder’s 1 year home warranty.

Way to much water for sure.cut it back to two times per week at 30 minutes per zone.

Possibly two types of grass
 

I have a long term rental that closed in Nov. 24; the front is Scotts Provisa St. Augustine, and grows much slower and does not green up quickly with the usual Scotts fertilizer. The back has a mix of Provista and St. Augustine Floratam. Floratam seems to always be darker green than Provista

I have another home with all Provista and it does perform better (less weeds and chinch).

Your pics look just like my "mixed grass" yard. I surely would like to know if the warranty dept. would replace one or the other if it turns out you have two types of grass.

Suggest you talk to Greensmiths, Pest Control, Lawn Care - Green Smiths - The Villages, Florida for fertilizaiton and pest control and Oxford Lawn - Lawn Care, Lawn Mowing for lawn rehab and remediation. They talk to each other and work together and can bring your lawn back. They will also make recommendations for watering schedules based on location. I have been using them for the last 6 years and am more that pleased.

The grass here sucks! It's some sort of variety of Saint Augustine. I grew up in Fort Lauderdale and never had a problem with the sod down there at any of my houses.

The Villages maintained grass always looks better than my yard, wish they would let us know how they do it ;-)

No..it is not normal. I live on Truax Loop (behind the street of dreams) and we (yes--several neighbors have noticed it) that the yellow grass and weeds on the SOD homes are abominable. We have also complained the lawns and yards behind the SOD homes are weed and TRASH infested--mostly with bottle caps from the water they hand out at the SOD!

I heard Massey was replaced due to the condition of those SOD homes. You can just look at the other homes in the area to see this is NOT normal.

Many of the lawns are yellow with intermittent pops of green weeds. This is NOT normal.

Complain.... and complain about all those dead trees too!

Your main issue is alkalinity of the soil. Acidify with coffee lightly and often. St Aug wants around 6.2. Am seeing 7.2 to even 8.0 in new areas of TV.

I would also make sure rain sensor working. I see lots of yards irrigation sprinklers running during and after rain storms. The sensor should be cutting irrigation off during and after rain storms. If you have the wired one, all you got to do is push down on top point with irrigation running it should shut the zones off. Then, When you release it the zone should come back on.