Question
I live in south Texas and I have about 1/4 of an acre that is St. Augustine grass.  For the past three or four years now, it seems as if certain areas of my yard is turning like a neon green to yellow color.  I have spent a ton of money on everything that people have told me is wrong with it.  From it has an iron deficiency to a fungus. Nothing has helped! This year my entire yard is this neon green color as opposed to the dark green color carpet grass normally is.  My yard has a lot of trees and someone even told me it is just because the grass doesn't get enough sunlight.  The grass is thick and appears to be healthy otherwise.  Its almost as if I have just bleached the whole yard.  Do you have any ideas of what the problem may be?

Answer
I can tell you exactly what to do, Margaret.  Very simple.  Get a soil test.

That soil test is worth its weight in gold, Margaret.  And it's the one thing that no one ever wants to bother with.

Who in their right mind would bother analyzing their dirt?  Right?

I'll tell you.

If you wanted to bake a cake, you would get out the cookbook and make a list of Ingredients.  Right?  Then you'd check the cupboard and the refrigerator.  Do you have eggs?  Do you have flour?  Milk?  Vanilla?  You'd make a list, and you'd go shopping.

If you have Flour, you don't need to buy any more Flour.

That's important, Margaret.  Because if you already have Flour, and you get more, you'll have TOO MUCH Flour.  You can't expect your cake to come out delicious if it's got too much Flour.

Maybe you already have Eggs.  Scratch those off the shopping list.  You don't have to buy them!  See?  You're saving money!  You didn't need Iron last week for your Grass, and this week you did not need Eggs for your Cake!!!

Now you get home, and you have to set the oven.  Margaret, What's the temperature? Did you test for that?

Margaret, How in the world are you going to set the oven temperature if you don't test it first?  How are you ever going to bake a cake if you don't know how hot the oven is?

You need to find that out!

What's the pH of your soil?

You don't know!

A soil test will tell you what's in the cupboard, what's the oven temperature, how long was the cake in there, if you have Eggs and Butter and Flour... These are things you NEED to know, Margaret.

Because...

You CANNOT grow wonderful green grass without this information.

Not just you, Margaret.  EVERYBODY!  We ALL need to get our soil tested.

I could tell you where to do that.  But you did not mention your County -- I am not familiar with Texas geography, forgive me -- but if you go to the Texas Coop Extension homepage here:

http://tce.tamu.edu/

and click on YOUR county, you will find a place where you can get your soil tested for a very modest fee.

And Margaret, like I said, those tests are worth their weight in gold.  You can't bake a Cake without them!

Now, I'd like to add if I might just a quick note on some of your other remedies.

Iron Deficiencies are VERY unusual.  There are companies that LOVE to sell you Iron for your Grass.  And it is true that 'light green' is a symptom of Chlorosis -- which as you probably know is Iron Deficiency.  If you have VERY alkaline soil, your Grass MIGHT have an Iron Deficiency.  But overwatering will also make your Grass 'light green'.  Certain insects will make your Grass 'light green'.  Lots of things will turn it colors.  If the pH is to blame, giving your Grass Iron won't help!  A soil test will tell you if your soil lacks Iron.  It will also tell you everything you need to grow BEAUTIFUL Grass.

Margaret, How much light does your Lawn get?  If you stand out there, dawn to dusk, how many hours does your lawn get FULL sun, and how many hours is it in LIGHT Shade and/or FULL Shade?  These are important numbers.  We need to know this.  Watch your Grass today.  Then get back to me.  Thanks for writing.  Very nice to meet you.