hows everyone keeping their grass green (Tampa, St. Augustine: HOA, Home Depot, neighborhood) - Tampa Bay - Florida (FL) -Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater - City-Data Forum

kelly3120 · 05-12-2008, 02:38 PM

I'm dying over here ....or my grass is.
Its St Augustine and gets treated so its not like we have bugs ...we have heat!
I noticed some peoples grass is green ...but what about us w/o trees to shade our grass ....any tricks up your sleeves?'

Thanks!

tampaguy03 · 05-12-2008, 04:41 PM

water on your watering day(Sunday or Tuesday), hand water other times, and pray for rain(coming soon, rainy season is almost here)...its tough if you dont have any shade trees...the lawn must be burnin up, but it will turn back to green if it still exisits once the rainy season gets here

kelly3120 · 05-12-2008, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tampaguy03

water on your watering day(Sunday or Tuesday), hand water other times, and pray for rain(coming soon, rainy season is almost here)...its tough if you dont have any shade trees...the lawn must be burnin up, but it will turn back to green if it still exisits once the rainy season gets here

thanks. I could cook a hotdog on my grass during the day.

I'll start praying ...maybe do a dance.

TampaKaren · 05-12-2008, 07:34 PM

I can't even stand to walk barefoot on mine. It's crunchy!!! Seriously, I water occasionally, but I feel so guilty about being wasteful. I'm hoping it comes back to life once the rains come. It has in years past, but that's no indication it will this time. Only time will tell...

kelly3120 · 05-13-2008, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TampaKaren

I can't even stand to walk barefoot on mine. It's crunchy!!! Seriously, I water occasionally, but I feel so guilty about being wasteful. I'm hoping it comes back to life once the rains come. It has in years past, but that's no indication it will this time. Only time will tell...

I'm watering as much as my neighbors are. ....if it was bahai grass I would blow it off ...that grass can go through anything and be smiling the next day but it's St Augustine ....its a big baby!

Mike1306 · 05-13-2008, 06:35 AM

I was going to mention bahia. I don't have a sprinkler system, it gets water when it rains and except for a few patches of brown it is mostly green.

kelly3120 · 05-13-2008, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Peterson

I was going to mention bahia. I don't have a sprinkler system, it gets water when it rains and except for a few patches of brown it is mostly green.

Bahai is magical in its ability to go dormant in extreme heat and cold
...we are holding on for dear grass life over hear. ...it sounds like I'm walking on potato chips in the front yard.

The back yard is beautiful but we have trees in the back.

bentlebee · 05-13-2008, 11:55 AM

Use Scott's fertilizer for St. Augustine. It has iron in it and in myneighborhood, all home owners who use it have green lawns, the others are yellow. Even the once who have pest control coming to threat their yards are looking awful.

tjax1000 · 05-13-2008, 01:08 PM

Do most of the HOAs in the Tampa area require you to have St. Augustine grass?

When I used to have a St. Augustine lawn I found that it had to be watered every other day when it got above 90 degrees. I could water the heck out of it twice a week and in the days in between, it would look like pure death. Surely there has to be a better grass to standardize on. And lets not even talk about what happens when the chinch bugs discover it, which is what happens when it gets too dry. It is dead for good at that point! Some people think the chinch bugs only affect the blades and it will grow back but from my experience they turn everything into dust. Then comes the nasty-grams from the HOA.

bentlebee · 05-13-2008, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjax1000

Do most of the HOAs in the Tampa area require you to have St. Augustine grass?

When I used to have a St. Augustine lawn I found that it had to be watered every other day when it got above 90 degrees. I could water the heck out of it twice a week and in the days in between, it would look like pure death. Surely there has to be a better grass to standardize on. And lets not even talk about what happens when the chinch bugs discover it, which is what happens when it gets too dry. It is dead for good at that point! Some people think the chinch bugs only affect the blades and it will grow back but from my experience they turn everything into dust. Then comes the nasty-grams from the HOA.

Again Scotts really helps you get your lawn green and it doesn't cost to much and you only have to put it on it 2 times a year or when ever it gets yellow. i put also some stuff against the flees, chinch bugs etc. and my yard looks really healthy.
yesterday we had a meeting from the HOA and I was told that new construction in Pasco County can only have Bahia in the back and builders are no longer allowed to put sprinklers in the back

. I have on all my proeprties sprinklers in the back and partly St. Augustine and the rest Bahia, all put in by the builder.
I have heard some complains from people who have used companies to keep your lawns green and it cost them monthly payments and still it isn't as green as you should expect it to be. I bought Scotts at Home Depot but maybe it is cheaper online, I haven't looked at it. Scotts with iron works like a miracle.