If your lawn is in a region where St. Augustine remains green year-round, such as South Florida, make your first spring fertilizer application in late—March through early-May. This timing will provide fuel for your lawn to jumpstart its growing season. By following this schedule you can easily fertilize your St. Augustine lawn for the best results. This system makes it easy to calculate how many pounds of fertilizer your need to buy and spread, resulting in less work on your part, and better results.
Augustine thrives from several fertilizer applications from spring through summer. Begin applying fertilizer in May. Then, apply fertilizer once per month through August. By applying fertilizer in controlled portions over the course of the summer you feed your lawn gradually. This promotes even growth and prevents fertilizer burn that can kill your grass. Not only is an overload of fertilizer potentially harmful to your lawn, applying too much fertilizer at once causes it to wash out of your lawn before it can take effect.
Several smaller applications yield better results from the same amount of fertilizer. Augustine breaks dormancy in mid-spring. During this greening-up period, the nutrient requirements are fairly low. Fertilizing during this time will encourage weak, unsustainable growth, which is a prime target for cooler-weather diseases like brown patch fungus.
Augustine takes off during the summer. Warm, humid environments are the perfect growing climate for St. This is the time to begin fertilizing. During warm weather, when St. Augustine is actively growing, it needs a consistent supply of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to grow deeper root systems, send out runners, and maintain new leaf growth.
Consistent, vigorous growth helps the lawn resist pests and disease, and also helps it cope with potential drought conditions. Augustine goes dormant once the soil reaches 55 0. As the lawn prepares for winter, nutrient requirements lessen. Fertilizing during this time will encourage weak, unsustainable growth that will be susceptible to disease. Augustine is dormant during cooler temperatures. Dormancy is a means of protection from cold temperatures that would otherwise kill the plant.
Fertilizing near or during this time will make it difficult for the grass to stop active growth, which will make it susceptible to damage from insects, diseases, and cold temperatures. Other nutrients, like iron, calcium, sulfur, etc. Each nutrient has a chemical makeup that determines how well it will bond to the compounds in the soil cation exchange capacity.
It is nearly impossible for so i l to hold on to nitrogen, which is why it is so easy for nitrogen to leach into water sources. Consistent applications of these nutrients maintain a healthy level of plant-available compounds. Nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium are absolutely crucial for plant growth and health and are also the most difficult nutrients to maintain in soil. This is why they are the star players in fertilizer, while the other 13 equally-important nutrients are all but ignored unless plants show signs of deficiency.
If you are looking for a natural lawn fertilizer that is safe for pets and children, be sure to read this article. Augustine grows in warm, humid environments. During the summer, when it is actively growing, it needs consistent nutrition to keep up with growing deeper roots, longer runners, and replacing top growth lost from mowing.
During cooler weather, St. Augustine is susceptible to many different fungi and diseases that thrive in cool, moist environments. These diseases attack stressed lawns. Augustine goes dormant during cool weather, so a shot of fertilizer at the wrong time can force new, green growth when the plant is trying to rest. Nutrition and water go hand-in-hand. Plant roots have to absorb nutrients in order to use them, and then they have to circulate those nutrients throughout their system in order to utilize them.
Roots need an equal amount of water and oxygen in order to absorb and use nutrients. With broad leaves and thick roots, it provides a hardy, weed-resistant ground cover. Augustine grass. Click here for a free lawn care estimate from Frisco Lawn Pros. Augustine grass has a medium to dark green color with dense consistency.
It also has a low, compact growth habit. It grows well in almost all types of soil. Moreover, it tolerates shade, heat, salt and, to a certain extent, drought. However, it does not endure flooded land or prolonged periods of cold weather. If managed correctly, St. Augustine grass forms a dense cover that easily handles light foot traffic.
Also, this thick cover competes well with most weeds, as they have a difficult time taking root. Augustine is the most resistant shade grass in hot weather. Augustine commonly used in the south. For successful, low maintenance lawn care, breeds like this one are a wise choice for North Texas homeowners. The best way to determine when to apply spring fertilizer to St.
Augustine grass is to monitor its growth. A good annual schedule for fertilizing is about every 8 weeks, but there are some specifics to keep in mind. The irrigation interval will vary from site to site depending on the environmental conditions at that site and soil type.
Localized dry spots or hot spots can be watered as needed by hand. The irrigation system should only be run when the entire lawn is dry. Insect Control: There are various insects and related pests that may infest St. Augustinegrass during the summer months.
Mole crickets, chinch bugs, spittlebugs, grubs, ground pearls, and nematodes can cause considerable damage. Each pest problem has its own management strategy and is usually handled with cultural and chemical controls.
However, there can be exceptions. Mole crickets and grub eggs will usually hatch mid-summer. Insecticide applications targeted at the mole crickets in their smaller nymph stage are the most effective controls, even if damage has not yet occurred.
If either of these insects was a problem early in the season, apply an insecticide during mid-July to control the younger immature insects. Chinch bugs can be very destructive to St. Monitor the turf on a regular basis during the growing season, especially during hot, dry periods. Damage is often more severe in sunny areas near driveways, sidewalks, or roadways, where the turfgrass is under more heat stress.
A chinch bug is a small black insect with silver wings that sucks plant juices from the stem. An infestation may cause the turf to die, which will need to be replaced or allowed to grow back in. Chinch bugs are fairly easy to control using general insecticides, but applications need to be made before the population has risen to a level where damage is occurring. Research has shown that an early season insecticide application after the turfgrass has greened-up will reduce the late season activity.
When applying insecticides for chinch bug control during the summer, rotate chemical families or mode of actions to reduce the chance of pesticide resistance. If an insect problem occurs, it is important to positively identify the problem and select the appropriate insecticide to apply.
Disease Control: The most common diseases that affect St. Augustinegrass during the growing season are large patch formerly known as brown patch and gray leaf spot.
Large patch is a fungal disease that is active during warm, humid spring and fall weather. Since it is fueled by moisture, it is important to maintain a rather dry condition in the lawn by employing proper watering practices, as well as providing adequate soil drainage.
If the turf stays wet, circular yellow to brown areas may begin to develop and slowly grow in size. Later, the center of the circle may start to re-green. In heavily infested turf, the rounded areas may grow together and no longer appear circular.
If the turf at the edge of the dying area shows a smoky brown, rotted appearance, it will be necessary to apply a fungicide treatment. Gray leaf spot may occur on St. Augustinegrass during the heat of summer when the turf remains damp for extended periods, usually during rainy periods or on newly laid sod being kept wet.
There will be small purplish spots on the leaves and at an advanced stage, the grass will have a scorched appearance. At this point, a fungicide application will be needed.
Overall, proper water management, fertilization, mowing height, and thatch control are essential to curtail large patch and gray leaf spot problems. To help reduce disease problems, fertilize and lime St. Augustinegrass according to a recent soil test report. Augustinegrass and applied during late winter and spring will reduce many weeds the following summer.
If a pre-emergent herbicide was not applied in the spring, the resulting weeds will need to be controlled using postemergent herbicides. Summer weeds, such as spurge and annual lespedeza can be managed by using a post-emergent herbicide for broadleaf weeds sometimes referred to as a 3-way mix. Three-way herbicides typically contain 2,4-D. Augustinegrass is sensitive to 2,4-D, so follow label directions for mixing and use. Do not apply herbicides unless grass and weeds are actively growing and are not suffering from drought or heat stress; therefore, water the lawn thoroughly the day before application.
Do not mow the lawn 3 days prior or 2 days after application. As with all pest control, proper weed identification is essential for best control options. Renovation: Replant large bare areas in May using sod, plugs, or sprigs 5 bushels per 1, square feet. Mowing: Continue to mow St. Augustinegrass at the normal mowing height until the weather starts to cool in the fall. This will allow the turf to become acclimated by the time the first frost occurs.
Fertilization: Do not apply nitrogen at this time. Lime or sulfur may be applied if recommended by a recent soil test. Potassium, typically known as potash, may be applied to enhance winter hardiness if a recent soil test indicates low to medium levels of potassium.
0コメント