Question for the Houston Area Green Thumbs (Lawncare)

[Spec A!]

So because of Ike, and the destruction of my lawn from the stuff that was ripped up or died because of the clean up piles that sat there waiting for removal, I have areas of weeds and misc "junk" growing now in a few spots in the yard. The lawn is mostly St Augustine grass. My question to those that fertilize and seed and stuff- when is the best time for this area to start fertilizing and putting down a weed preventative, and grass seed? What's the best way to get my grass back in good shape?

Thanks!

[deep_creek]

sounds like a great opportunity to go organic with fertilizers, etc... i started last year and have had very good luck with the yard and garden. there are some really good organic products and techniques out there.

going that route has really taught me alot and gives me a good piece of mind knowing that my kids, family, and pets aren't playing in a yard full of nasty chemicals. Also the healthy aspect of enjoying fresh, chemical free vegetables from the garden is a plus.

[kenw]

we have 2 huge dead spots from stacks of dead trees, and I'm waiting until it warms a bit and will just sod it solid with St Augustine. I will need to til the areas a bit, but I can hopefully just use a garden rake and back muscles to loosen and remove the dead stuff.

You can actually get sod now but I am planning to wait if the neighbors can put up with it for a month or so longer....unless you have bermuda, I wouldn't bother with seed. It's fussy and usually winds up in the storm drains anyway.

In the meantime, good weed-n-feed with a very large 1st # (Nitrogen) will be the plan about Late March/Early April for a quick green-up.

[Spec A!]

Late March- sounds good. Organic stuff sounds great- we don't have a lawncare service like Scotts, and we've never put any chemicals down in the 3.5 yrs we've been here but I like the thought of not making whatever's in the ground already any worse for the kids.

And my patches have all grown in with weeds and junk, and a little bit of the St Augustine. I'd like to be able to treat the whole yard because I know some dollar weed and other little things pop up here and there, plus I want it just look nicer than it had last year. It would be nice to put something down that doesn't harm the grass but kills off the unwanted stuff. Sod's cheap so I guess I will probably go that route- won't need too much thankfully!

[Abel]

my only advice o nthe patches is to pull up the stuff growing in the patches, till it up a little and drop some sod in there. or just keep it tilled and in the spring time the grass runners will quickly fill in those spots..

st augustine seed is not available like bermuda seed is etc... at least it hasnt been in the past several years. so the only way to plant is sod or grass plugs.

i can tell you... on a fertilizer note. ive been using the Nitro-Phos brand of fertilizer and man that stuff works miracles! Ive been using that brand for about 7-8 years now and it always does a great job on our south texas st. augustine. first couple of mows in the springtime i bag the clippings so that all of that dead stuff from the winter is picked up. then every time after that i just let the mower mulch it and let it fall back onto the lawn to help give back nutrients etc. another thing i do is set the mower to the tallest setting and water every other day or so. my lawn is always thick and green! mowing the lawn very short often burns it in the summer and is not a good look. hehe. plus having the grass nice and thick helps to drown out those pesky dollar weeds. hehe

nitro-phos can be bought at houston garden centers
http://www.houstongardencenters.com/...e.php?idCat=45

[Paulo]

Good thread! Was curious myself about the same topic.

[gardener]

Be careful with weed and feed type fertilizers or treatments, the chemicals used for weed control in those products are rather noxious for pets and kids.
If you want to go full organic, using alfalfa pellets is a good source of nitrogen and while Bradford and other suppliers make a product specifically for yard use, you can do the same thing with rabbit pellets obtained from your local feed store at about half the price. I also shoot mine down with a horticultural molasses and water mix two to three times a year to add micronutrients and provide some small amount of drought and freeze protection.
I you go organic, you'll have to realize that it's a slower process than using chemical additives but much healthier in the long run. Make your dirt happy and that in turn will make your plants happy.

[chamstra]

A pre-emergent fertilizer is good to put down now. It will help keep weeds from taking off in those areas lacking grass, and in the yard in general. Now is the time to do that.

[picman]

Follow Randy Lemmon's lawn schedule and you can't go wrong.
Links on the left side of this page: www.ktrh.com/pages/gardenline2.html