We built our new home in 2018, and moved in Jan 2019. We live in mid-south Florida new Apollo Beach. We have St Augustine grass.
From 2019 till about 2022, we had the lawn. I was the guy on the block everyone ask "how the hell do you keep your grass so awesome!?". We had a fertilizer/weed/bug services coming by monthly.
By 2023, I noticed the grass was struggling and now, it looks like the photos below. Bumpy, uneven terrain and I can see straight through to the dirt. I stopped the lawn care until I get this sorted out. I push mow my 1/2 acre myself. Always have. I have 9 watering zones and water twice a week for a total of 12 hours of watering (6 hours twice a week).
My house is elevated and I have a pretty decent slope for run off, almost considered "steep". I feel like all the watering, raining, and hurricanes and wasted away my soil.
Do you think I need to hire a lawn crew to deliver a bunch of topsoil and spread it around my yard? How do I fix this?
The last 3 photos is how my grass USED to look….. 🙁
by DCar777
10 Comments
Topdressing.
I’m in N. Texas and my St. A is still somewhat dormant. Yours looks like it’s coming out of dormancy.
EDIT: I didn’t say “it is”, just that is “looks like”.
Get a soil test, the county extension office usually will do that. There are a bunch of references in the stickies up top. Top dressing, might be what you need, but it could be any number of other things too.
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Aeration, top dressing. You need some beneficial bacteria to help break that down.
You just need fertilizer dude. Go buy some and throw it down. Repeat 5-6 weeks later. It will be thick and green in no time.
Feel free to top-dress, but I doubt you need it. Just use plain old sand to level out any uneven spots.
Also don’t de-thatch as other comments have said. That’s a cool season grass thing. St. Aug doesn’t need it and it will damage the turf if you do.
It’s called “Topdressing” but you don’t need it.
Unless you have a giant pile of dirt on the street in front of your house, you haven’t washed your soil away =)
That’s pretty normal looking grass this time of year. If it’s thinning out and getting scraggly, it’s probably not being properly fertilized.
Florida is sandy. Most of this new construction, they just stand up the houses and put sod down. If you’re lucky, they’ll put sprinkling of decent top soil down first. It’ll grow well for a while, but it will eventually use up the available nutrients. The yard service isn’t testing your yard to give you exactly what you need. They’re just hitting it with a standard plan. There’s a pretty solid chance you could use some substantial soil amendments.
Top dressing
Composting if you use compost. Which is very beneficial to the lawn.
33-3-6 nitrogen, potassium and potash are what St Augustine should be getting right now. I’m a trugreen tech in DFW. That’s what we’re putting on lawns currently for SA