Newbie Seeking Lawn Advice
 

Greetings! In the process of relocating from MN. Buying a new home in Hammocks of Finney and looking to replace the St. Augustine grass with something finer and or softer. What recommendations do you have and can that be over seeded of the St Augustine or do we have to tear it out and re-sod?

IMHO, it's all just grass....as long as it's green I'm happy

Contact these folks.
Sumter County Master Gardeners - The Villages

St. Aug. grass
 

Be carefull what you wish for. Zoysia is the obvious choice but from my experience is very high maintenance. TV used it north of 44 but has now given up on it.

TV mowing philosophy: If it's green, mow it. If it's brown, water it.

Many houses in my neighborhood are replacing their Zoysia with St. Augustine. Apparently it's easier to maintain and requires less water.

I used to water every 3 days. My lawn always looked bad. Went to watering every night. I'm using less water (45 minutes every 3 days - 13 minutes every day) and my lawn has never looked better.

Ikagele, did you have your lawn properly treated year-round by experts, not your lawn-mowing guy? My mother & I moved here in 2007 to Amelia. We had many mowers & many lawn treatment companies over the first 4-5 years. Our Empire Zoysia looked good but we had some trouble spots. The sprinklers were on twice a week & regulated by "Water Wise" on the districtgov.org website. Finally we found Heron Home and Outdoor. We had to sell the house in 2017 so my mother could go to assisted living. We had the best lawn in the area. Right before we moved, a neighbor down the street stopped by to ask us who we used because our lawn was so beautiful. I'm now living in a patio villa that used to have Zoysia grass but the landlady told me that the neighbor(a designer house behind me) planted St. Augustine, which is invasive, & took over the lawn. I hate St Augustine!

We moved here from Ohio and we didn't like the Empire Zoysia. Nothing down here is like it is in the North, of course. My brother lives on the Historic Side and he had his lawn removed, many dumptruck loads of good topsoil brought in & re-sodded with a better type of St. Augustine. Please do your research with the Master Gardeners as suggested. If you put in Zoysia, the St. Augustine of your neighbors will probably take over your lawn as it is aggressive. You can not have a lawn like you did in Mn. You traded snow for crappy grass. I would recommend Heron Home and Outdoor for your lawn treatment needs. They have an office in Wildwood and Leesburg but are based near Orlando. Check out their website myheronhome.com. Good luck!

At my old house (approximately 15 miles from TV) I originally had zoysia which got infested with grubs, so I replaced the lawn with St Augustine. Many homes in my development replaced their lawns with St Augustine due to issues with Zoysia. Unless you stay on top of everything and constantly treat your lawn, I would strongly recommend St Augustine

Do not like the looks of St. Augustine. Am a Florida native and the newer varieties of St. Augstine are good and easier to maintain than Zoysia. Was looking at new construction in Harbor Hills and noted no new Zoysia. Per real estate agent they discontinued using Zoysia due to maintenance issues.

Lastly, the best way to cut Zoysia is with a reel mower(type used to cut greens) and most landscapers do not use this type of mower.

Grass is Grass is Grass . . . in Florida, That is!
 

when I lived in NC , the newbie's want to kill all the bear because they were a nuisance...Enjoy your nice healthy lawn