How have you been watering and fertilizing the lawn since you took over? Have you applied any chemical herbicide, fungicide, or insecticides?

Do you live in north east Texas or south east Texas?

Smack in the middle Dchall. Palestine, tx to be exact. Its 2 hours south of dallas, 2.5 hours north of houston. I havent laid down any fertilizer, besides the bare shaded spot in the back.

all my research said wait for the centipede to green up fully before applying the first fertilizer, which just happened this week. Using a 1-0-1 slow release. I was going to get some Southern lawn weed and feed this week.

As for watering, Ive been watering once a week for about 2 weeks now. Our soil is compacted clay so ive watered until it just barely starts a little runoff, then moved the sprinkler waited for it to soak up, about 30 mins. Then moved the sprinkler back for second and final application for that week.

We got the house in august so it was already past the recommended time for the second and final application of fertilizer to the lawn when we moved in last year.

Smack in the middle Dchall. Palestine, tx to be exact. Its 2 hours south of dallas, 2.5 hours north of houston. I havent laid down any fertilizer, besides the bare shaded spot in the back.

For any non-Texans looking in, that's pronounced PAL uh steen, not PAL uh stine. So you're not in the soggy part of East Texas.

all my research said wait for the centipede to green up fully before applying the first fertilizer, which just happened this week. Using a 1-0-1 slow release. I was going to get some Southern lawn weed and feed this week.

Almost perfect. Weeding and feeding are best done separately. Feed first and two weeks later do the weeding. Firstly, the healthy grass might choke out some of the weeds so you don't have to waste the herbicide on them. Secondly, healthy weeds die better when they get hit with the herbicide spray. You only have to spot spray the individual weeds, not the entire lawn. Be sure the Weed-B-Gone you use is okay for your grass. Are you SURE it is centipede and not St Augustine? In all the years reading here I've never read about centipede outside of Florida.

As for watering, Ive been watering once a week for about 2 weeks now. Our soil is compacted clay so ive watered until it just barely starts a little runoff, then moved the sprinkler waited for it to soak up, about 30 mins. Then moved the sprinkler back for second and final application for that week.

PERFECT!

We got the house in august so it was already past the recommended time for the second and final application of fertilizer to the lawn when we moved in last year.

Not sure where you heard/read that but here's the schedule I follow in San Antonio. I use organic fertilizer but there are only two differences there. I start fertilizing 3 weeks prior to the last frost date. Reason? Because organic fertilizer is slow and takes 3 weeks to go to work. If I was using synthetic ferts, I would wait until after the grass had been mowed for the second time. Then I fertilize on the federal holidays because they are easy to remember. My second app is on Memorial Day (hmmm, bout that time). Then 4th of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. IF YOU USE SYNTHETIC FERTS, DO NOT FERTILIZE ON 4th of July. The heat stress is enough for the grass. Organic fertilizer does not add stress to the plants or soil.

You need to know what grass you have before setting your mower height. St Augustine grows most densely when mowed at the mower's highest setting. Centipede grows best at the mower's lowest setting. Along with proper watering, dense grass will keep the weeds away. St Augustine must have water every 2 weeks in the heat just to survive. If you want it to look good, it needs more frequent watering than that. If your grass looks dry between your current weekly watering, you should water it again and water a little longer.

I'll have a picture of a lone runner that looks good for you for verification tomorrow dchall, thanx for all your help. I THINK its centipede, my fatherinlaw just got centipede sod, and it looks similar, my stems seem Alot thicker than theirs and their sod is already established and grown together. The pic ill get will hopefully clear this up. Its not too terribly healthy its thin in spots.

as for this moss, do you think i can just pull it up? It is thin and comes up in clumps? I thought yesterday of maybe just metal raking it up and collecting it?

I pulled the fertilizing info off the site below. But if it isnt centipede like you say, well see, then that is moot anyway.

Here is a link that might be useful: Centipede fertilizing

Alright Dchall, rather than continuing to fill this page with pics, i lined up a slide show, with descriptions tagged on the bottom.

My lawn is anything but healthy, and from research i had seen that weeding and feeding seperate was the best thing to do but my lawn is so thin i thought using the weed and feed would both help the grass along and kill the large patches of weeds that i have.

Im pretty sure its centipede as youll see from the pics at the end of the slideshow, the only reason i entertained the thought it may be something else is that the lawn only gets Filtered sun, with about 80-90% coverage, also shown in the slideshow will be the only spot that gets full sun at any time. From what i've read centipede is shade tolerant, but it doesnt do well in it. This grass is fully filtered sun by the two trees you see in the pics along with neighbors trees.

Where the line of shrubs are in the pics that are there, I am planning on putting a lining of those shrubs, and building raised flower beds behind them. There were azelia bushes (spelling) that were there and the previous owner didnt trim them back and so you get the bare spot you see infront of them from where i pulled the roots out.

Dont be mistaken either, all this info ive cited is from research, i am a full n00b on lawn care.

Here is a link that might be useful: Front yard Pics Am & 3p

Centipede looks a lot like St Aug, but it Texas, St Aug is much more common. There is any easy way to tell. Fertilize it like you would St Aug, water it, and wait a few days. If it grows and starts spreading, it is St Aug. If it just sits there, it is Centipede - and you are done fertilizing for the year.

For the moss, rake it up and fertilize. Moss is a symptom of a problem, not the problem itself. It generally signals poor soil with few nutrients. If your soil was in good shape, you would have weeds, not moss. If you improve the soil conditions and get the grass growing, the moss problem will take care of itself.

The link was locked, set as private, i fixed that. The slideshow is viewable now. above link works.

Now that youll be able to see the yard. I would prefer to work with this grass as it is a hardy grass. When we moved in there was a couple of years of leaves layered on the yard, and azelia bushes (sp) against the house, invasive dam bush i hated pulling them up.

Something to be said for it to have that much cover and survive somewhat. I dont have alot of money to sod, thats why i say i would prefer to work this grass back to health. Overseeding i could do, as seed is cheap, if it is centipede. I only work 3 days a week on the weekend. So i have plenty of time to work it, just not the money.

That's a bunch of shade!! I don't think there's any way centipede would grow in that. By process of elimination of all the grasses that look like centipede, I believe you have St Augustine. If so you can work it back to health. It will never become very dense in that much shade, but it is the grass you have and it should work. Water like you are already watering and mow at the mower's highest setting. Fertilize this weekend and then again on Labor Day. If you really feel like doing something in the middle of summer, use alfalfa pellets at a rate of 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet.

ok I did a little more research at the revelation that Centipede could be confused with St. Augustine. I didnt know this at all, i thought st augustines runners were underground, while centipedes were above ground. So with that revelation, i found this link for comparison. (Below)

Now i understand why my father in laws stems look smaller than mine. Here is the pic of my Healthy runner under full shade. You can see one of the leafs is wilting a little.

{{gwi:91146}}

So if yall agree ill call it St Augustine from now on... lol

Now with that decided, and me just going to collect the moss, what do i need to fertilize with, and how much.

Dchall you said if it was st augustine, i should maybe be watering more if its wilting in between waterings? The front grass has those 2 large trees to compete with for saturation?

Here is a link that might be useful: St. Augustine Vs Centipede comparison

If it is St Aug, you cannot let the blades fold together. That's going too long without water. You should see some darkening before that happens. If so, then water immediately. Your watering approach is perfect, but maybe you are not watering long (deep) enough on the second pass. The idea is to grow deep roots that will search for water in the lower realms of the soil.

Your yard, being neglected in the past, is better than being over fertilized, so you're not as bad off as you might think. The leaf mulch you raked off was excellent for keeping the soil relatively healthy but not so excellent for the grass. Next year when you are faced with the leaves, you can probably simply mow them into the grass. If they don't pulverize into dust, then rake them off and compost them.

If you would not be opposed to an organic approach to fertilizing the yard, I would fertilize this weekend with alfalfa pellets applied at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. You can find alfalfa at your local feed store marked as rabbit food. Cost should be around $11 (plus or minus $2) for 50 pounds. Do not be afraid of overdoing it - organic fertilizers are very forgiving even at twice the rate. With your yard you cannot smother it even if you dumped the entire bag in one spot and swept it around with a push broom. Hopefully that will change this season. 20 pounds per 1,000 is all you need but you might want to do that monthly. If not, then do it again on 4th of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving.

If you want to use synthetics, I can't help you. I'm not opposed to you using them, I just don't know any details about them. I get everything I need from alfalfa and/or corn meal without having to learn about the chemicals and -icides in the various fertilizers.

St Aug can send runners 10 feet in all directions in one season, so watch for that. Since you have a thin turf at the present, the runners might go in all directions and fill in nicely with your watering plan and a little fertilizer. More runners will come in the fall.

Your roundish bare spot was likely caused by a fungus. Many fungal diseases cause circles. The disease is over and done so forget about the past there. If you go with an organic approach, that will help prevent and cure fungal disease. The only cure I know of (organic or not) is to use ordinary corn meal (check at the feed store) at a rate of 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. You can usually prevent disease (and fertilize at the same time) by using corn meal every other month at 10 pounds per 1,000 instead of alfalfa.

Again, mulch mow St Aug at the mower's highest setting. In the shade it will tend to flop over, but that's okay.

I treated for bugs with Bayer's Complete Insect Killer, recently for ticks. Luckily for me this also controls 2 of the causes for SAD, chinch bugs and grub worms.

I'm going to go with your organic suggestion, with alfalfa pellets next week. I called the feed store and its only $10 for a 50# bag. The only question i have for that is its labeled as alfalfa pellets for horse feed, does that matter? Also, are the pellets small enough for my drop spreader or will i need to do it by hand? will i need to water after i lay it down? Do this once a month?

Also this past monday i mowed it down to around 2 inches, it doesnt seem to be browning, showing what ive seen of pictures of scalping. Moving forward though i will be mowing at max mower height.