What's everyone doing with their grass? (Houston, Happy: condo, home, school)

[Mom2Feebs]

Hi everyone...

Being that the last home that we owned was actually a condo, this is our first foray into the world of....YARDS. Hubby and I both have a rudimentary third-party-type schooling in yard maintenance through parents and friends, but that's it. Nothing hands-on. We have St. Augustine grass and honestly, it looks completely dead (I realize grass is dormant in the winter, but this looks dead from freezing--not sure though). I may even need to post a pic. We have tons of broadleaf weeds popping up. What steps should I take now to prevent/kill the weeds we have and get our grass back? I do see some green leaves among the dead ones but not much. Can my yard be salvaged or are we talking re-sodding?

Thanks in advance!!

[Rottnboys]

Mom2Feebs - ours looks dead too - but it most certainly is NOT If you look closely, ours is already starting to sprout NEW HEALTHY shoots among the dead......in all honestly, we needed a HARD freeze to help control the disease and bugs that thrive in our St. Augustine yards.

I think this year, after such a hard freeze, lasting multiple days, it will be very important for us to properly water our yards, as they begin to sprout. Most years, we could get by with waiting it out, because our yards were green almost all year round.....we'll also be adding a fertilizer, as we do each year at the beginning of the regrowth season.

Some folks with established St. Augustine, will 'buzz' or 'shave' their yards in the next few weeks - to drop the height of that dead grass really low, allowing the healthy spouts to come on out. We don't typically do that, but we will mow several times between now and the regrowth, due to leaf scatter, etc.

I love my St. Augustine yard - even though it might not be a popular choice in our area because of the water load......I will be nurturing mine in the coming weeks - in hopes of a SUPER HEALTHY yard this year, thanks to the hard freezes we've had thus far

[Camper1]

We have a" natural" yard. Also have some St. Augustine, just let it be in the winter and in the spring start watering it and it will all come back. Mine has been doing it for years. Always comes back. Be careful with the weed killers around trees.

This is going to be a killer year for bluebonnets! I'm going to have them everywhere which means tricky grass cutting until they go to seed.

[HillCountryHotRodMan]

Originally Posted by Mom2Feebs

We have tons of broadleaf weeds popping up. What steps should I take now to prevent/kill the weeds we have and get our grass back? I do see some green leaves among the dead ones but not much. Can my yard be salvaged or are we talking re-sodding?

Broadleaf weeds need to be hand weeded with a weeding tool. Use the tool to make sure that you get the entire root, or it will just come back. We hand weed and "mow in" the leaves as natural fertilizer. This has always been sufficient and I have never had to add other fertilizer. My St. Augustine lawn is 15 years old and comes back every year (with a vengeance).

[Primo]

Follow this annual grass care program to a "T" and your yard will be beautiful. Also, follow the watering reccommendations in the Express news on Saturdays.


Annual Lawn Care Program - Lawn Care Plan - Scotts Miracle-Gro

[Bo]

HCHRman is correct. It's too late to apply a pre-emergent treatment like corn gluten meal. The time to do that was in October and November.

[SnappyBob]

If you want you can put some corn gluten meal on in February then around the end of March or early April spread some compost on the lawn. The corn gluten meal will act as a pre-emmergent herbicide for weeds that will otherwise come up in the spring and then act as a slow release fertilizer. The compost will keep your soil and the good thing that live there happy. Happy soil = happy lawn. The green grass in the spring, warmer temps and the lawn mower will probably discourage those broadleaf winter weeds. You can dig them up too, it's good exercise.

[713 to 210]

This works in Houston, not sure if it works here, but I wouldn't weed n' feed my St. Augustine yard as everyone else did to kill the weeds. If I waited long enough that the grass would naturally choke out the weeds. I preferred this method for a few reasons, 1) it's cheaper, 2) I don't use harmful chemicals on my yard, and 3) the grass came back with natural growth, not the choppy growth you can get from an uneven application of fertilizer.

Just a couple of Lincolns...

[wellguy]

Mow it,(Not low but maybe one setting under your normal year round setting. Use a Mulch Mower if you have one) Water it, Feed It, and most of all Love it. It will come back and as others' have said it looks bad due to the Hard Freeze(s) *I gave our it's second trim this past weekend,fed it , and watered it. I kid you not I see more green than before.

I have never used any weed and feed products. As a matter of fact I've known folks who lost young shrubs after using it. I would try something organic as stated above. I don't have a green thumb but I'm able to have a lush green yard during the growing season. If you are able try to pull the weeds. I know it can be a pain. Please Please Please for your own sake do not mow them if you can prevent it. The weeds will eventually put on seeds and you'll spread them all over your yard so if you have to mow your best bet it to use your mower bag. The may not germinate this season but next season they'll haunt you. As I'm sure you know when the St. Augustine comes back it will choke out a lot of the weeds.

[catriona]

Originally Posted by wellguy

Please Please Please for your own sake do not mow them if you can prevent it. The weeds will eventually put on seeds and you'll spread them all over your yard so if you have to mow your best bet it to use your mower bag.

Please Please Please heed this advice!! My DH, who has absolutely no interest in gardening, mowed a patch of weeds down a couple of years ago, even when I told him not to and we still have weeds scattered all over the back yard. I can't tell you what 'happy' thoughts I have as I hoe hoe hoe and dig dig dig those nasty dandelions and whatever that other nasty stuff is that sticks to your clothes and spreads at the rate of a zillion feet a day if you don't get rid of it. I don't want to use chemicals because of the dogs, plus, I want them GONE!! So I dig dig dig, hoe hoe hoe, and think happy thoughts.....