Question
QUESTION: I
thank you for your help
i purchase my home in December 2003 and ask the previous owner
to fix the ugly yellow grass before i close the deal
she install all new grass and water it everyday
when i move in i did the same for 20 minutes of water every day 4 months later it was all yellow a year later there was no more grass only weeds all over  so i call a company  it took 4 pallets of new grass over $900 for the job i was told to water  every day for a month ,i did that  and it was green for almost 3 months later it just turn yellow  a year later it was all bad again so i didn't  fix it  
but the community association give me a fine so this year April i clean it all pull all the weeds and yellow grass
water the dirt and make clean and even, i also install a sprinkler system with timers and rain sensor
4 pallets of grass again  this time i did my self save $400
water 30 minutes at 5 am and 30 minutes at 6 pm i use my savings to pay the water bill $112.00 the first month $98.00 the next month
last month and this month i save money because it rain almost every day and with the tropical storms we got water for 6 days non stop

anyways my grass is getting yellow again
there is going to be a fine soon of $100.00  from my community,  also the city want to find me $150.00  because i water the grass to much they allow only twice a week

what i am doing wrong ?
why i can not have nice green grass for my kids to play ?
how can i fix my grass ?

thank you and sorry for the long post


ANSWER: Very sorry that you have spent all this money FIRST and you're writing to me LATER.  You could have saved a bundle by doing this right.  Let's save whatever is left of your bank account and credit and get you a beautiful Lawn.

First, this is easy.  Anyone can grow a Lawn.  Grass is very easy to grow.  Not however the way you have been trying.  Watering a plot is important.  There's just a little more preparation before you get to that, and you did not prepare.

That one step is all it took to screw up your Lawn.

Sort of like, if you took all your laundry to the washing machine, and you put it on the top of the machine but didn't put it in, then you added the soap and water and turned the washing machine on, went through the whole cycle, the clothes would not be clean when you're done.  Right?  You never put the clothes in the washing machine.  And that was your mistake.  Not difficult, right?  But it will screw up your whole laundry load.

Let's begin.

Rule #1: You cannot grow great Grass without great Soil.  In your case, you should understand that you cannot grow ANY Grass without ANY Soil.

Where does great Soil come from?

You make it.

Here's how.

Get a Soil test.  Give me your zipcode and I will tell you where to get that.  Follow the directions carefully or you will get worthless results.  Don't worry about your neighbor, your friends, the guy down the street NOT getting a Soil test.  They are growing Grass the old fashioned, difficult, expensive, anti-Earth way.  You can grow Grass better.  Yes, you read that right:  You can grow Grass BETTER.  Won't that be nice for a change?  Get a Soil test.  Zipcode, please.

After your Soil test, you'll know what your Soil HAS and what it DOESN'T HAVE.  This is wonderful information.  If it's missing you add it.  If it's there, you don't spend any money on something you DO NOT NEED.  (The old fashioned way says you buy EVERYTHING and if you don't need it you just hope it will wash away.  Sometimes it does.  Sometimes not.)

When your Soil is ready, you get your Sod or your Grass, plant it, and water it correctly.  That means if your Grass is still moist, you DO NOT WATER IT AGAIN until it dries out.  Otherwise you ruin it.  As you know.

Rule #2: You cannot have a great Lawn without great Seed or Sod.  What kind of Seed/Sod?  That depends on (a) where you live and (b) how much Sun your Lawn gets.  What is the Sun situation at your house, anyway?  Talk to me.  Tell me all about it.  I'll tell you what kind of Grass to get.  Get this right, because the wrong Grass will not grow.

Rule #3: Be pro-Earthworm.  Think I'm kidding?  Earthworms and their mini-microbe friends are little fertilizer factories that generate all the nutrients a Lawn needs.   They also put air in the Soil (Oxygen is SO GOOD for Grass roots) and turn it into a pleasant place to live.  You can be kind to your Earthworms by (a) not using chemical fertilizers or pesticides and (b) making sure they have a lot of Organic Matter to dine on.  Organic Matter is delicious if you're an Earthworm.  We'll go into that later.

Rule #4: Care for your Birds.  Got a Birdbath or water feature somewhere?  Any Trees or fences your Bird population can use to perch on?  Birds are incredible Bug-eaters.  You know how much a Bird loves a big fat juicy Grub for breakfast, don't you?  They eat all those bad Bugs and MORE!  And they leave a little fertilizer behind whenever they come by for a snack!  Do everything you can to make your local Birds feel welcome and wanted.  They'll be part of your plan for a beautiful Green Lawn!

Quick - rsvp!

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: wow thank you
we are in kissimmee fl 34743  very sunny and hot at the moment and there is sun over the grass all day my house cond cover the gras to give a shadow
can i try to save the parts that are green?, or just start over ?


Answer
Osceola County, Florida.  Ernesto, You lucky duck.

One of the benefits of paying taxes is that we sometimes get special services that other people pay for.  In the Orange Juice State, you have a well funded, very active Cooperative Extension Service that arranges Soil Testing for homeowners who live there at a reasonable fee:

osceola.ifas.ufl.edu/mg_faq_1.shtml

Note I said 'reasonable' fee.  This is VERY reasonable -- nice to have the government do things for you for a change, no?  They'll charge you way less than it costs to pump gas at the tank this Memorial Day weekend.

In Florida, everybody grows Warm Season Grass.  You don't have to worry about snow and sleet and ice.  St Augustine Grass winterkills when temperatures reach 16 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit, so we can't use it up North.  In Florida, St Augustine is the most popular Grass in Florida, by far.  'Seville', 'Delmar', and 'Palmetto' are recently introduced dwarf St Augustine Grass varieties, which people like because you mow them even less than St Augustine Grass.  You probably have been rolling out St Augustine sod.  But see if you can confirm this.

I have a good reason for wanting to know what kind of Grass you have.  I'll assume it's St Augustine, but please correct me if I'm wrong, because if it IS St Augustine, I suspect I know what's wrong with your Grass: Chinchbugs.  Blissus insularis.

This creepy crawler favors HOT, DRY WEATHER.  The bug is a Featured Creature at University of Florida Agricultural School:

creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/orn/turf/southern_chinch_bug.htm

Pundits at University of Florida's Agriculture Services take Chinchbugs very, very seriously: 'The Southern Chinchbug displays a dietary preference for St Augustinegrass, and this preference has elevated the Southern Chinchbug to the second most expensive plant feeding arthropod in Florida.'

Yuck!

Here's my favorite part, where you may just get the feeling they are describing YOUR Lawn:

'An infested Lawn displays discolored patches, which are usually circular in shape.  Injury typically occurs first in water-stressed areas along the edges of the Lawn or where the Grass is growing in full sunlight ...St Augustinegrass cultivated on high, dry, sandy or shell Soil is especially vulnerable...'

It gets better.

'Chinchbugs are not evenly distributed in an infestation site; rather, infected plots are scattered throughout the area... Within an infected plot, B. insularis distribute vertically from the turf thatch down into the upper organic layer of Soil, usually to a depth of 38 mm below the surface [that's 1 1/2 inches].  When B. insularis population levels are high, the Chinchbugs are seen running over the Grass blades.  However, their main feeding activity continues to focus on the area of the plant between the turf thatch and the organic Soil level...'

Chinchbugs like to finish the job they've started.  That's why your Lawn is not uniformly damaged.  As the UFAS puts it, 'The extent of injury of infected areas of St Augustinegrass results from the gregarious feeding habits ... Large numbers of nymphs and adults gather at the base of one plant.  As they feed, they drain the sap from the Grass until it withers, turning from a healthy Green color to a Brown-Yellow color, and finally dies ... Once the feeding group has killed one section of Grass stolons, they move as a unit to the next adjacent stolon, continuing their destruction of the Lawn.'

Note, this MIGHT NOT be Chinchbugs.  Your symptoms could point to Nematodes, Drought, Root rot, Fertilizer or nutrient problems, Fungus attack, many other problems.  There are so many reasons grass can be Yellow.  So you have to TEST for Chinchbugs.

From what I understand, the only people who have Chinchbug problems in Florida are the ones growing.... St Augustine Grass!

And I think there's a good chance it may be YOUR problem because it has not rained in MONTHS according to the Weather Underground.  High temps... high drought... That's a perfect life if you're a Chinchbug.

Right now, you're probably beginning to think about what pesticides you have in the garage that can wipe them out asap.  Don't even bother.  There are so many Chichbug predators out there, few Chinchbugs can escape.   The Bigeyed Bug -- Geocoris uliginosus -- is the most important destroyer of the Southern Chinchbug in Florida's St Augustine Lawns.  There's also the Striped Earwig, Labidura riparia.  And there's Xylocoris vicarius and Lasiochilus pallidulus.  
Nematodes, beetles, ants -- it's not easy being a a Southern Chinchbug these days.   Need I point out that using Pesticides to solve this problem will kill all those natural Predators at the same time -- so DO NOT USE THEM.  If you just start using the garden hose and water your Lawn diligently, and those Chinchbug enemies will thrive on your Chinchbug population.

Save whatever Grass you want.  No reason to re-invent the wheel.

That's my opinion.  Your thoughts invited.  Thanks for writing.

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER