lawn

Certainly, the products to achieve the same results as paying the lawn spraying guy exists at the local Home Depot or Lowes. But many people choose to pay for lawn spraying for various reasons - they simply find value in the service greater than the desire to "DIY" (Do It Yourself).

The trick to keeping tender plants safe from cold weather is knowing the limitation of your plants and your options to protect them from cold weather. Most plants grown in Pinellas County require temperatures below 28° for several hours to be damaged. Why? It is the freezing of water in the plant cells that kill plants – not the actual cold weather. The water in the plant cells freezes at 28° - not 32°...

Dollar Spot is a very common disease of St Augustine lawns in Pinellas County. I see it on nearly every lawn. Dollar Spot is not a serious threat to your lawn - it is more cosmetic - effecting the appearance of your lawn. Dollar Spot is a low fertility disease and is certainly increased because of the fertilizer ban forced on Pinellas County by SWFWMD.

St Augustine grass always looks better when mowed with a sharp mower blade. The St Augustine grass leaf contains rigid cells made of a very tough plant material that is difficult to cut. Mowing St Augustine grass with a dull mower blade creates a frayed tip

When a St Augustine lawn or a section of a lawn fails – for whatever reason – you have several options. The most turned to option is replacing the lawn with St Augustine sod – sodding is stripping St Augustine turf from a field and planting it on your lawn. Sodding a lawn brings instant gratification – the failed lawn is preplaced by a successful lawn within hours.

After heavy rains, high humidly and warm nights, it is not uncommon to have large white mushrooms growing out of your lawn in the morning. Often these mushrooms form a circle or an arc on the outer edge of a circle of darker greener turf. This is a fairy ring.

Every home in Pinellas has a lawn – granted not every lawn is a great lawn but every home is surrounded by an open space called a lawn. The best lawns in Pinellas County are St Augustine lawns.

But few homeowners know much about the care and maintenance of St Augustine grass. And what little they do know is often “that’s what we did up north…” type of knowledge. What you did up north, ain’t going to work down here – different climate, different soils, different grass. What we need is a simple St Augustine grass owner’s manual.

The turf/soil complex is like a water filter –when it rains, the fertilizer is filtered out by the turf and rain water is purified. Now, I admit, that is a simplification but simple or complex explanation aside, the results are the same – fertilizer does not “run off in rain water” – it is trapped and held by stems, roots, microbes and other organic matter.

Cool air and soil temperatures suspend normal turf growth – a type of hibernation until warmer temperatures arrive in the spring. However not everything is on hold until the next warm spring day. Some weeds and fungus can thrive in the cooler temperatures. Winterizing your lawn is necessary to take care of the fungus and weeds that can attack your lawn during the winter months. I use granular fertilizers high in Potassium and strong liquid herbicides to “Winterize” your lawn.

The best way to reduce pollution in and around your home  is to install a giant filter around your house that eliminates  dust and pollen, filters the rain water, reduces CO2 emissions, purifies the air you breathe and uses no energy. That would be a healthy, thriving St Augustine Lawn!

The spray I use is a blend of plant nutrients (fertilizer), herbicides (weed killer), insecticide and a “sticker” . The sticker is an organic product that bonds the mixture to the grass leaf. The sticker is an important part of the spray because the sticker allows the leaf to become an organic carrier for the mixture. Once I spray the leaf , the mixture bonds to the leaf and as the leaf is wetted, mowed, rewetted, the mixture is slowly released in microscopic layers, constantly feeding the plant and kills the weeds and bugs.

It is the most effective and environmentally friendly method to care for a St Augustine lawn.

Somewhere between Sasquatch and the Tooth Fairy are the urban lawn myths. Urban Lawn Myths have existed since man first let the sheep graze in the front yard to graze it down to close cropped lawn. They range from the subtle to the ridiculous. In this article I try to do a little “Myth Busting” – you’ll find educational and a little entertaining. Enjoy!

Trees, especially the Oaks, have surface roots that can form a thick twisted interwoven mat several inches deep. This is great for the tree: the tree can explore and mine nutrients and minerals from just about every nook and corner of a yard. But the thick mat of roots form a barrier to grass roots reaching the soil below and a physical barrier to water and nutrients. It is like growing grass on a sheet of plywood.