Rye and St. Aug seeding vs. St Aug sodding? (Dallas: renting, home)

[bernie01]

I have some newbie questions about seeding this Sept. I live in Dallas, TX and the majority of lawns are St. Augustine. Yards throughout the neighborhood have st. aug that is thick and green year round. One person told me they plant rye seed mixed in the st. aug. Every landscaping service I talk to recommends St. Aug sod.

I’m not sold on sodding, my finances are tight but I do have a completely open schedule and I can work on this 24/7 for weeks. I’m not so convinced that st. aug sod is the way to go and I don’t think I can afford it. I was thinking of planting rye and st aug seeds come mid-Sept.

And I might be moving out-of-state before the spring.

Background Info….

Back yard
A year ago, the backyard was all st. aug sod but I starved it, it burnt and decomposed (all the dead, yellow grass is gone, it’s just all dirt….please don’t ask). Now the backyard consists of the compact soil, the same soil that’s on the bottom of the sod and there is some sandy soil. I would say half of the back yard is shaded from my neighbor’s trees.

Front yard
Most of the front yard is st. aug that is alive. Around mid-May, a landscaper put down some pieces of sod to fill some gaps. I watered the sod everyday, sometimes twice a day and I did not mow the new sod. About 4-5weeks later, the new sod was really green and really thick and needed to be cut but since I do not have a lawn mower, I had to pay someone to cut the grass. This person cut the grass too short, which I understand shocks the grass. I figured it would recover after 2-3weeks but it hasn’t. The sod square is completely yellow and brittle. Now out of the fifteen new pieces of St. Aug sod, less than half is still green and growing. A quarter of the front yard is shaded by my neighbor’s trees.

I now have good diligence and a strategy on positioning the sprinkler’s so watering shouldn’t be an issue. There are no pets, kids to worry about trampling the new grass.
I’m pretty sure I would need to till the backyard. Do I need to use top soil? Would the new seeds survive the winter?

Any thoughts? Any recommendations?

[doug1980]

Well the St. Augustine/Rye mix will do very well. I'm not in Texas but have many Lawn Care contacts there, since I own my own Lawn Care business, and they tell me this year was rough. Pretty much a drought season. Now sod would be the best option, and from my stand point that's what I would recommend, more money in it. Also if you are going to sell your home sod will provide you with quicker "curb appeal". However seeding will work if you do it properly. Lots of prep work and maintenance to get it healthy. Tilling would be the best thing to do as well as add good quaility topsoil. Also a soil sample would be beneficial to check the PH levels and acidity. Seeding in fall is very effective since the seeds will be allowed to germinate all winter. So basically what I would recommend is to run the numbers. Get the cost of sod (which you could do yourself and save on labor cost) vs buying topsoil, renting a tiller, buying straw, buying the seed, and factor in all your time involved in the maintenance. If you need advise on how to do either once you decide which way you want to go just let me know.

Good luck.

[bluescreen73]

Only plant seasonal Rye if you plan on mowing your yard in January. I rather enjoy the 3-4 month respite from that beating.

[momof2dfw]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Only plant seasonal Rye if you plan on mowing your yard in January. I rather enjoy the 3-4 month respite from that beating.

And if you don't do it again the next year you will be fighting weeds all winter and spring for every year after putting out rye seed. It looks great until the one year you decide NOT to do it.

[bernie01]

Thanks for the advice.

My concern with sod why did the mid-May sod die? What did I do wrong?

[Grainraiser]

You have to keep sod moist until it gets established. Once it dries out that's it.

[doug1980]

Originally Posted by bernie01

Thanks for the advice.

My concern with sod why did the mid-May sod die? What did I do wrong?

Well that is kinda hard to answer without knowing what happened exactly. Also pictures would help. You said it was cut really short which is very bad for your lawn. Couple that with the drought conditions and poor soil (I'm guessing you have) and you would have dead grass. I would replace the front dead areas with sod, and if you are going to do it this year you better hurry, if not wait till Spring. Then seed the back. And next year whether you buy a mower or hire someone to mow make sure you or they do not take more than 1/3 of the grass blade per mow. What I mean is if the grass blades are 3 inches long do not cut more than 1 inch off per mowing.

[derekv]

1. Seed for St. Augustine is not an option, it is not available as the grass doesn't seed to propagate.

2. I've successfully replaced two burned out/ weeded out yards with St. augustine sod. There are a few tricks of the trade; tightly pack the sod together with no gaps, Work from the edges in, only cutting pieces in the middle, water deep and daily for the first two weeks, then cut back to an inch of water twice a week, for the first year or so mow the grass at 4-5 inches.

Good luck.

[momof2dfw]

We ripped out all of the Bermuda in our backyard back in June and replaced it with St. Augustine. We have way too much shade for Berumda and still had to thin out the trees properly for the St. Augustine. Watered very good every day for the first few weeks and even w/ the high temps, dogs & kids the grass looks great and full. We did have to readjust one sprinkler head that didn't seem to be getting the area well and all is fine.

[Rakin]

If you are on a budget you can buy St Augistine sod and cut the sections into 1/4 or 1/6 sections. You can plug these smaller sections through out your yard and if watered and cared for well these will grow and crowd out the burmuda.

It's sodding SA on a budget. Takes longer to get established but works.