Turf Talk Outline by Katie Vogel,
Master Gardener, revised 6/06
The
University of Florida Extension Agency has an excellent web site that contains
many useful articles on Florida grass, maintenance, problems, etc. It is: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_Yards
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu will also let you search on all
documents put out by the University of Florida.
Here
are some specific articles dealing with turf:
|
Weed Management in Home Lawns: |
|
|
Homeowner Best Management Practices for
the Home Lawn: |
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP236 |
|
Improving Drought Tolerance in Your
Lawn: |
|
|
How to Calibrate your Sprinkler System: |
|
|
Southern Chinch Bug Management on St.
Augustine grass: |
|
|
A Guide to Environmentally Friendly
Landscaping: Florida Yards and Neighborhoods Handbook |
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP079 |
|
The
Florida Lawn Handbook
contains these articles as well as color pictures of weeds, bugs, diseases,
etc. It can be purchased at : http://www.ifasbooks.ufl.edu/ or
Amazon.com. Look for the Feb 2005 edition.
(3rd ed) |
|
-
Best
done on an as-needed basis (when St. Aug blades fold)
-
Proper
watering practices require less mowing and has little thatch buildup
-
Over-watering
leaches nutrients, increases pest problems, shallow rooting, and water waste.
-
When
the grass needs water, irrigate with ¾” of water in the early morning. Use pie plates in various areas of yard to
make sure that all areas get enough (especially if you have a sprinkler
system).
-
Don’t
water everyday! This encourages shallow
roots. If you have been watering daily,
start watering every other day, then lengthen to just twice a week.
-
Water
in the winter every 7 –14 days; in April-May 3-4 days. June-Sept it rains most afternoons anyway.
-
Some
parts of grass needs more water than others; Hand water near heat prone spots
like sidewalks, driveways, and walls which trap heat (you don’t have to water
entire yard).
Fertilization
-
Proper
fertility is important; planned program:
from low to high maintenance.
Follow the label!!
-
Two
weeks after spring re-growth: apply a
complete 15-0-15 fertilizer at the rate of ½ pound water soluble to 1 pound of
slow release per 1000 square feet.
-
Higher
fertilization rates produce faster thatch buildup
-
More
Fertilizer, More Mowing, More Water
-
Two
to four pounds of nitrogen/per 1000 square feet a year for
-
Keep
it environmentally friendly: keep
fertilizer on grass and not sidewalks and driveways (that’s the way that fertilizer
gets into sewers and makes the river green)
-
In
October, apply a 15-0-15 for root growth to promote quick spring green-up
Mowing
-
Cut
only 1/3 of blade off at a time! This
means cutting more than once a week, especially after fertilizer application.
-
Mower
blades should be sharpened frequently in the summer (sharp blades prevent
stress on grass from disease/bugs)
-
Mower
height should be at highest level
-
Leave
grass clipping (mulched) on lawn – to recycle the nutrients
-
Thatch
builds up when grass is overgrown and cut.
Blades don’t have chance to decompose before next mowing.
-
Dwarf
varieties can be mowed lower
Compaction
-
Prevents
grass roots from getting needed air in the soil (yes they need air down there!)
and encourages weeds that LOVE compact soil!
Stay off of grass! (Step in different areas when leaving sidewalk.)
-
Foot
traffic, vehicle traffic, and water runoff are causes of compaction.
-
Aerator
(removes plugs of grass/soil and drops on top of grass) can alleviate
compaction. Use during April/May of year.
|
Bugs -
Are
attracted to weak dry grass; thus its important to grow healthy grass. -
See
Chinch bug article on web site listed on front side for more info. |
Disease -
Brown
Patch – occurs in warm, humid weather and is encouraged by excessive
nitrogen. -
Gray
Leaf Spot – during summer rainy season. -
Take-all
Root Rot – summer and early fall; proper maintenance needed. -
Water
in morning when dew formation starts -
Don’t
water at night (water will stay on leaf encouraging stress). -
Identify
disease by taking a leaf to store to buy appropriate fungicide. |
|
Specific Weeds -
Use
a pre-emergent weed control before fertilizing lawn in Spring (Atrazine while
avail) -
For
sedges, use Basagran for yellow nutsedge and Image for purple nutsedge -
Dollarweed
is difficult: -
Personal
experience: paint dollarweed with
non-selective weed killer if small patch -
Yard
service (Professionals have access to stronger chemicals.) |
Weeds in General -
Certain
weeds thrive in a continuously wet soil (dollarweed and nutsedge). -
Bare
ground exposes weed seeds (yes they are there even after many years of no
growth). -
Compaction
stresses grass and encourages certain weeds. -
Floratam
St. Augustine grass is more susceptible to herbicide damage -
Resod
if less than 50% coverage of grass vs. weeds -
Overwatering
and Overfertilizing are the two biggest culprits -
A
completely perfect lawn has a price tag; lower your expectations. -
Identify
weeds as one of three types: broadleaf
(has showy flowers like dollarweed, chickweed, clovers, Fl betony), Grasses
(have hollow rounded stems with joints), and Sedges (look like grasses but
have solid triangular shaped stems). |
New
Sod
-
Best
Time to establish new sod is in spring and summer (establish before winter
dormancy)
-
Get
rid of dollarweed first (use a couple of applications (wait 2 weeks between) of
non-selective vegetative killer like Round-up, follow the label)
-
Inspect
sod for weeds and bugs
-
Sod
or Plugs for St. Augustine. Seeds are
not available.
-
Get
fresh sod (less than 48 hours old during summer).
-
Rake
area smooth; remove debris and water before laying down sod.
-
Irrigate
lightly TWICE a day (only new sod) for 2 weeks or until sod growing into soil.
Fertilizer Schedule for North
Florida St. Augustine lawns
|
Maintenance
Level |
January |
Feb |
March |
April |
May |
June |
July |
Aug |
Sept |
October |
November |
|
Basic |
|
|
C |
|
|
Fe |
|
|
C |
|
|
|
Moderate |
|
|
C |
|
SRN |
|
Fe |
|
C |
|
|
|
High |
|
|
C |
|
SRN |
Fe |
SRN |
|
C |
|
|
For
initial spring application, particularly in
3C=complete fertilizer
application (NPK); N=nitrogen application only; SRN=nitrogen only in a
slow-release from; Fe=iron application only.