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I pray my St. Augustine isn't doomed!! My husband and I take pride in our yard; we've even won yard of the month a few times Our front yard is nice and shady and the St. Augustine did okay even in the scorching summer we had. Pics below just to show that we *do* take care of our yard!
The back is another story. The previous owner removed a lot of the beautiful oaks in preparation of putting in a pool. Then he moved and the pool never happened. The back of our house faces East and the yard gets a LOT of sun... hand watering wasn't an option (we live in San Antonio and are in water restrictions) with a 2 year old and being 9 months pg in August. Our back yard is pretty big; 1/3 acre. So the grass really really suffered.
and a close-up
It's bad.... I know. And this morning I noticed weeds popping up. So my question is, is there anything we should be doing NOW to help it along? I know not a lot will happen until spring, but I'm hoping with enough water and care it will come back. Believe it or not, it was lush, thick, and weed-free this past spring.
We are very hard workers and aren't afraid of a little labor in order to get our beautiful yard back.... we spend every evening in our yard and having beautiful grass is a priority. I just feel there is *something* we should be doing before the spring!!!!
Lauren,
No. There is nothing you can do , just pray that next year after you either reseed or sod, you get more rain.
I feel for everyone this year, I am in SC and we are under a stage 3 drought condition.
Hopefully next year will be better.
Don't worry too much about the weeds, you can take care of them next spring anyway.
Are you allowed to water yet?
I hope you get some rain this winter, you may run low on water to drink
if it gets any worse.
I think you should give up on St. Augustine. The few good qualities it has are strongly outweighed by its thirstiness. The current Texas drought is severe, but water restrictions will get worse over time, not better. San Antonio's population continues to grow and the amount of water is unchanged.
I suggest replacing the dead St. A with Palisades Zoysia. It is less fussy than Emerald Zoysia, grows as well as St. A in shade, and of course uses less water. It is beautiful grass too.
I think you should give up on St. Augustine. The few good qualities it has are strongly outweighed by its thirstiness. The current Texas drought is severe, but water restrictions will get worse over time, not better. San Antonio's population continues to grow and the amount of water is unchanged.
I suggest replacing the dead St. A with Palisades Zoysia. It is less fussy than Emerald Zoysia, grows as well as St. A in shade, and of course uses less water. It is beautiful grass too.
Unfortunately many HOA POAs require St Augustine, at least in the front. It has a lot to do with the fact that reliable Zoysia hybrids weren't available until a couple of years ago. If you are in an HOA, check your restrictions or with them before resodding with a different type grass. Most will issue a variance as long as its asked for before the work is done.
I thought I would post a little UPDATE. We decided to seed with Winter Rye just to get us through the winter. Neither my husband nor myself could stand the thought of looking at a dead yard all winter long. Plus, we have a toddler and a dog and our house stays cleaner when there is grass.
Winter Rye grows like crazy, especially with all the rain we've been having. Luckily my husband loves to mow! It's cheap therapy The grass looks awesome... I'm just anxious to see what happens when it dies off and the St. Augustine comes back.
Hmmm what will happen when the rye dies? I wish I knew. We never did that.
Our St. Augustine did well but not without lots of time, effort and expense. It does need LOTS of watering. If you don't get enough rain or can't use the sprinkler system without restrictions it will be a challenge.
Hot sun especially hours of strong, late afternoon sun is a big burden. It helps if you keep your grass at least 3 inches tall. This gives the soil shade and helps it retain some moisture.
Your back yard St. Augustine grass does seem beyond help, by the looks of these pix. You will probably need to re-sod, but don't place the sod over all those dead runners. Try to get rid of as much of it as you can before you lay down new.
When we lived in SoFL I tried to remove as much grass as possible and plant either drought resistent groundcover or perennial shrubs. We did lose some running-around room for our kids but decided to take them to a neighborhood park when we wanted to play outside and save the expense related to keeping up large swathes of grass.
We seeded our back yard with winter rye a couple of years ago. Around March it will turn brown and die off really quickly. Make sure you have a good pre-emergent herbicide down before that happens. If you don't, you will end up with all sorts of opportunistic weeds moving in and trying to take over.
Don't you wish winter rye would live on? It IS pretty!
Ypou basically as described have the wrong grass type for area with little averaqge annual rainfall;especaiily as it faces drughts quiete often. Its find on coastal regions and love there.
Location: Went around the corner & now I'm lost!!!!
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I gave up that fight a year before the drought came last year and I'm glad I did. I planted a lot of Texas native perineals two Falls ago. They tolerated the heat and gave me beautiful Texas flowers with less water usage. Texas natives require only 6" of water per year and makes a beautiful natural looking yard to boot. This past Fall, I incorporated an edible scape where I planted strawberries along the stone walkway and herbs into the landscape. Get creative I say.
I gave up that fight a year before the drought came last year and I'm glad I did. I planted a lot of Texas native perineals two Falls ago. They tolerated the heat and gave me beautiful Texas flowers with less water usage. Texas natives require only 6" of water per year and makes a beautiful natural looking yard to boot. This past Fall, I incorporated an edible scape where I planted strawberries along the stone walkway and herbs into the landscape. Get creative I say.
I love to do that be we have a little problem called an HOA. Its very specific on what we can and cannot do in the front yard!
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Our front yard is nice and shady and the St. Augustine did okay even in the scorching summer we had. Pics below just to show that we *do* take care of our yard! 
Update!
