New Water Limitations

SFWMD has new limits on watering: 2x per week. Be sure to check with the table at Pinellas County Water Schedule for your watering days. Interesting note is that SWFMD has not lifted restriction just issued new “limits” on watering, just to let you know that they have a stranglehold on your irrigation water.

St Augustine turf cannot survive without water. It has no capacity to store up water, it cannot move to a wet spot, take a drink and then return and it cannot produce water. St Augustine is wholly dependent upon the soil for all it needs – especially water. If the soil is dry, the St Augustine turf is dry. A dry soil weakens turf, thins the canopy, opens up areas to invasion by weeds and - unless corrected by rain or irrigation – kills turf!

Good Irrigation - Good LawnSt Augustine is, when you know the biology, a simple grass to grow into a nice lawn. Yet many St Augustine lawns fail. Why? It isn’t weeds – weeds don’t kill lawns. Some insects like Chinch Bugs and Grubs can damage a lawn; even kill a lawn if left uncontrolled. Fertility or the lack of nutrients can weaken a lawn but will not kill a lawn.

Anatomy of St Augustine TurfSt Augustine turf that is 4 inches tall or higher is the best looking lawn, very drought tolerant, chokes out weeds – and did I mention it is the best looking lawn. “Tall lawn“ is an oxymoron to most people, because if you grew up anywhere in the world other than the Gulf Coast, you believe lawns are mowed short – that’s what makes them a lawn.

Canopy Height: The Higher the Better

What to Expect this Summer

With the increase in temperatures of the air and soil we get some very good aggressive growth from the St Augustine grass. The turf should heal in damage areas, choke out weeds and be a deep rich green – that is if there is enough water!

Crab Grass in St Augustine LawnCrab grass is persistent, aggressive and there is no effective control. For years there were some very effective herbicides but they are now ineffective because application rates have been cut in half by regulations.

Hydretain: Greener Turf between Waterings

Water is the fuel that runs your grass – no water – no growing. Clearly the water restrictions limit this resource so needed by your lawn to be healthy (for more info go to: Turf Topics on Once per Week Watering). It is very stressful on the turf when it only receives supplemental water every 7 days – the turf will decline.

Hydretain is a product that will help reduce the stress in-between watering days by holding moisture in the soil and making it available to the turf. It is not a cure, but Hydretain does help – it will reduce the deep cycling in-between watering, reduce the stress and allow the turf to recover quickly when it does rain. When every other yard is brown, yours will be greener and greener longer and greener faster when it does rain.

I offered this product to a select few in 2009 and all have given it positive reviews, saying their lawns looked better than the surrounding lawns. Again it is not a cure only a supplement

 Comprable Turf Fertilizer

Which is cheaper – DIY (do it yourself) or hiring a professional company to lawn spray? Good question, and I did some research to find the answer and the results may surprise you.

Basically my lawn spraying services provide three basic services: Keep the fertility medium to medium high, kill the bugs and discourage weeds. Included with those services are the licenses, insurance, expertise, equipment and home delivery.