HELP!! I let my grass go to shit in the last two years. Nothing but mowing on an irregular basis. No water, seed, fertilizer, thatch, etc. You probably get the point of just how bad it is. Now that the fall is here and i have some free time, I would like to spruce it up so it is decent in the spring. And I don't want to totally rip it out and start over although that would probably be best.

Where do I start?? I was thinking about renting a thatcher and aerater and tearing out all the junk until it looks like a Bosley Clinic patient. Then spreading top soil mixed with peat moss. How deep can I go with this? I have a low spot (gully) from the mail-man walking over it every day to my neighbor's house. Then seed. Sound good?? Did I miss anything? Do I need starter fertilizer?All input is greatly appreciated.

 

Any pics to see what condition it's in?

A thatch rake will rip the shit out your lawn. Do you have a lot of thatch? If not, no reason to stress the turf.

You can never go wrong with a good fertilizing program. And an aeration isn't a bad start either.

But pics will help (at least for me) to better understand your situation.

 

I just got home from work. I'll take some in the morning and try to post them up. I really am computer stupid so bear with me. My grass has the normal green grass with a few weeds and some 5 inch round dead spots where leaves sat and killed the grass. But I generally want to raise it up 1/2 - 1 inch all over using the top-soil/peat mix and over-seed. I think thats my best bet.

 

The lawn at my parents house went to shit last year and I spent part of the summer nursing it back to life. Aeration and removing all surface moss was a huge improvement. Probably made the biggest overall difference. in the areas where the grass was not dead. To treat the areas where there was hardly any grass I just took a good metal rake and stirred up the topsoil. Then threw a ton of grass seeds down, then some organic dirt over them. Watered a million times a day. A month later the grass is growing in very well and lawn looks 10x better.

 

What's the size of the lawn? In some cases it's just easier to till up the entire yard and then reseed.

Make sure you remove as many weeds as you can before you till it.

 

^^^ You are 100% right. I was trying to take the easy way out but the more I think about it your way is probably easiest. Do you think I should seed or sod? The thing holding me back is the hard clay soil I have. It is a bitch to work with but the area I want to do is only about 30' x 30'.

 

If it's got a lot of clay, I would till then have a load of top soil dumped on top. Spread that out then reseed.

Sod is a good choice, but it's not cheap. If you want instan lawn, go with the sod.

 

I have a similar problem, although probably not as bad. I probably have probably about a quarter acre. Whenever I mow my lawn, I put my Honda mower on the "mulch" setting. It cuts the grass twice and spits it back into the ground. Is this healthy for the grass? Typically, two days later I have what looks like little clips of burnt grass on my yard. I think that's from the dead grass that I mulched out from my mower.

Also, whenever I look at my grass up close, it looks like the tips are dead or are dying. Could this be a fungus of some sort? I water my Florida St. Augustine lawn twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday.

Finally, I have these damn annoying armadillos that are wandering into my back yard from the preserve we have out front and digging up little parts of my yard? How the hell do you get rid of these little SOBs cheaply?

 

1) I had this problem and my blade was dull. Got it sharpened and the grass looked much better.



2) Sit outside with a rifle.

 

^- I also read somewhere that sharpening the blade makes a huge difference on the quality of cut and the response of the grass afterwards.

We have a mole/gopher problem. Havent been able to kill them all, any suggestions? I've tried the smoke grenades and sound devices, I've heard gum works but havent tried it. Also, I dont have the patience to shoot them.

 

I threw a few mothballs and the little "SOB's" don't come in. Also for the lawn, i bag the grass becuase i used to do what you did and my grass started going to shit. I use blood meal (i'm not sure) and that helps out the dead patches. i water 3 times a week but my f'ed up rain sensor is killing the lawn. I normal use scotts feed and weed (purple bag) every three months along with bug treatment and my lawnis the healthiest on the block. Also i found out that if you water your lawn after you cut it, the grass grows thinly until the next time it is cut.

 

Where did you throw these mothballs? In the yard? I guess I could get some and throw them in the preserve.

 

I should not have to sharpen my blade to the mower as I just got it in the end of June. It's not even three months old yet!

 

I mulch, but over the septic system, I usually have to rake up the grass... I don't mind 'cause I need greens to go into the compost bins

Mulching is prefered by some (me included), because the cut grass will compost into the soil naturally. IT WILL NOT CAUSE THATCH. The clippings will turn brown as part of the natural decaying process, so that's why people bag... I don't really care about the manacured lawn look... (and I can't buy a bagger for my 20 y/o tractor anyways). If I'm having a party over the house, I will pull out the lawn sweeper to pick up the clippings tho' (again, the grass goes into the compost bins).

Having a sharp blade and not cutting the grass too short are 2 ways to insure getting great looking grass... I raised the deck on my mower this year, and the grass looks alot better...

I did have to seed a few bare spots this past spring, and the results were fantastic. I used my compost for fertilizer, and the grass grew in better then I thought... I'll over seed an area in the back this fall where the seeding didn't do so well this past spring.

Garden web's lawn care forum is a good place to pick up alot of info quickly... If you spend 10 minutes a day on there for a week, you'll be an expert

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/lawns/

I'm not familiar with FL grass, so I can really comment on the specifics for proper care....

For gophers/groundhogs, etc... you can try trapping... HavaHart live traps or the blackhole traps have been recommended on gardenweb before. Shotguns and dogs work well too...

Havahart: http://www.havahart.com/

Blackhole: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Hole-Rod.../dp/B0007O24US

 

"Top soil" bought at the local homedepot/lowes is usually just compost with 10-15% sand... It's kinda crappy, but I did buy 6 or so bags of it myself to supplement my homemade compost...

Call your local DPW... some town/cities will give out free compost. They take your yard waste, compost it for you, and allow for you to benefit from the results Not all places do this, but if your town/city does, it's like getting FREE "top soil" w/o the sandy fillers...

Compost also works wonders on clay soil types.. Google for Compost Clay for more info...

 

^^^ Thanks for the info. My area does offer free compost and if I remember correctly it should be next weekend. I'll take a look at their web-site now. Thanks again

 

Oh wow. The mower I use is at least 10 years old, thats probably why I noticed the difference.

 

Every fall I always throw some Scott's Winterizer fertilizer on mine and it helps a lot come spring time.

Yeah those lawns seem to be constant battle.

Good luck!