Lawn Care Question - TX

Lynn-in-TX-Z8b- Austin Area/Hill Country

6 years ago

Hello,

We are renting a home and have the responsibility of mowing the lawn/lawn care (St. Augustine… I believe). We initially thought of fertilizing the lawn, but doing so would be applying this product to an area that is now 85% weeds. So now, I am thinking that we need to do something about the weeds and then tackle having the grass restored. We are from the desert and neither of us has ever been responsible for the maintenance of grass in the state of TX.

My next thought was to have the weeds mowed on the normal mowing schedule, then deal with ridding the lawn of the weeds, and grass restoration in the Fall. Then it occurred to me that what if the best time of year of dealing with this lawn or weed issue is now??? I really do not know. Please answer the following questions:

1. Am I correct that weeds need to be dealt with prior to fertilization, especially when the majority of what use to be lawn appears to be weeds?

2. What is the proper protocol, timing and products used to rid the lawn of the majority of the weeds and then restore the lawn if this is the appropriate protocol?

TIA

Featured Answer

dchall_san_antonio

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

The window to treat weeds opened yesterday. At least that's how I've been doing it. The products listed by Mindshift are basically what I use. I use the Spectracide version with Atrazine (picture below).

Here are the basics of St Augustine growing in the Austin area.

1. Watering

Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an inch in every zone, all at once. You can determine how long it takes to water 1 inch with some tuna or cat food cans set around the yard. Turn on the sprinklers and time how long it takes to fill all the cans. Then RESET YOUR SPRINKLERS if you have to. My oscillator sprinkler takes 8 hours to fill the cans. Your in ground system will work much faster, so you have to determine your own schedule. Here are the residential Austin water conservation guidelines: Automatic Irrigation - one day per week - midnight to 10 a.m. and/or 7 p.m. to midnight (Residential customers may also water a second day with a hose-end sprinkler). You will not be watering with this frequency until the heat of summer. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. With daytime high temps below 70 degrees, deep water once per MONTH. With temps between 70 and 80, water every 3 weeks. With temps between 80 and 90, water once every 2 weeks. With temps from 90 to 100, water every week. If it get hotter than 100 in Austin, and if you can, water every 5 days.

2. Mowing

Every week mulch mow St Augustine at the highest setting on the mower. St Augustine will grow up to 32 inches tall and then stop growing. It seems to look better and better the higher it grows, at least in my opinion. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush.

3. Fertilizing

Fertilize for the first time in the spring on Memorial Day. Note that you are basically skipping spring feeding and feeding in early summer. I use organic fertilizer, as does most of Austin I think. My preference is straight alfalfa pellets and sometimes corn meal. Get these at the feed store.

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Comments (7)

wantonamara Z8 CenTex
6 years ago
Have you asked the landlord how he would do it? Sorry; I am not a lawn person.I should just keep my typing fingers silent. When I lived in Austin I just let my grass burn up. It always came back in the fall.
Lynn-in-TX-Z8b- Austin Area/Hill Country thanked wantonamara Z8 CenTex
mindshift
6 years ago
Yes, you should deal with weeds before fertilizing. Specifically for St. Augustine lawns I keep seeing recommendations for products such as Image Herbicide for St. Augustine and Centipede Grass, Southern Ag Atrazine St. Augustine Weed Killer, or Hi-Yield Atrazine Weed Killerto kill broad leaf weeds and suppress crabgrass growth, but it takes up to 4 weeks. These products are sprayed on and the grass should not be watered or rained on for at least 3 days after application. Also the best time to apply is January and November when cool season weeds are just sprouting or still small. I have not used these so it might be better to talk to local nursery personnel and see what they would use.

Central Texas always has high humidity, so the best time to water is in the morning and it's best to water deeply once a week. High nitrogen fertilizers can lead to disease during hot, wet weather which occurs most often in mid to late summer with the aftermath of a hurricane bringing extended rain. Generally, don't fertilize after June.

One thing that helps southern grasses grow better is mowing at the highest setting. Recommended St. Augustine height is 2 1/2 to 3 inches. If you never cut it shorter than 3 inches the blades shade the roots better during hot and often dry summers.

I'm thinking your lawn has been long neglected, not watered enough during drought and never fertilized. It's not going to come back quickly. Being consistent with watering and mowing is a good start.
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Lynn-in-TX-Z8b- Austin Area/Hill Country
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Thank you for your responses.

We have had a lawn service for the past year and the contractors basically mow and edges the grass. It has not been fertilized or treated for weeds. Last month I changed service providers and the new guy who was sent out doesn't deal with weeds due to liability issues. The service sent a new contractor, but as I examined the cost for one basic treatment, it was almost as much as purchasing the seed dropper and a bag of weed and feed. So, we/I began researching handling this part of the treatment ourselves. The owner of the home seems to know less about lawn/yard maintenance in TX than we do. He does not seem to initiate any kind of maintenance to protect his investment other than attaching a home warranty plan. (I suspect my husband knows the basics, but not knowledge for here in TX). There is a HOA, so fortunately the problem is only in the backyard.

The lawn is watered via automatic timers per city guidelines and recommendations, however, it looks horrible:(

Am I correct is assuming the window to treat the lawn for weeds has passed if it should have been done during the cooler months, or is there still a window of opportunity if the rain continues to subside for a handful of days?
Lynn-in-TX-Z8b- Austin Area/Hill Country
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Thank you so much dchall… Lawn maintenance right now in a nutshell... and then even more info. provided by all. I am very appreciative of your advice:)

I do not reside in Austin "proper" or Travis County, I am in Williamson County. It appears to be less humid and a little cooler here, but I think our watering restrictions/guidelines are the same. Coming from Las Vegas, we are use to watering restrictions, however we did not have a lawn to maintain (outlawed in the city for front lawns beginning somewhere around 2001) so this is new...
dchall_san_antonio
6 years ago
Sure. My daughter went to school in Georgetown. Williamson County is definitely higher altitude and slightly cooler than Austin.
dchall_san_antonio
6 years ago
I just deleted the redundant second picture of the Spectracide bottle. I should reread better before posting.