Question
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Followup To
Thanks for your help!  I would like to try using organics, it sounds a lot better.  Do you think it is a good idea to put some sugar out now?  I was told not to fertilize newly laid sod, but didn't know if the same applied to using sugar instead.  I think we do water pretty deeply - usually leave the sprinkler on for an hour mid morning, but by afternoon the poor growing grass is crunchy.  The good 1/2 of the yard is soft and green all day, so I don't think it is a watering problem.  Also, after we tilled, brought in fresh dirt and had a couple good rains in between using the round-up and laying the sod, so I think we have a pretty clean lawn at the moment!  So, do you think using sugar now would help the bad part catch up, or should we wait?  If we should wait - when would be a good time to start with th sugar?

Thanks!

Stephanie
Question -
Hi,
We live in Austin, TX and just re-sodded our dead lawn in the backyard 3 weeks ago now, and it is not growing yet. I believe we prepared the right way, we killed everyting with round-up, a week later tilled up the yard, the next week brought in 3 cubic yards of fresh soil from the local landscapers nursery to cover a 600sq ft yard, and layed St. Augustine sod the next day. It has been watered religously, and the dirt underneath has stayed moist. The first pallet we got looked OK, mostly green. However we did not order enough and I had to get an additional 1/2 pallet of grass the following day - it looked MUCH better and took off growing immediately - we've already mowed it and you can't even see the lines anymore. (my husband said it must be a different kind of St. Augustine) But the first pallet of grass is not growing at all, the edges of the squares are brown and weeds are starting to grow through it already! I called the nursery we got it from and they said the first pallet must have came from a grower that got a late freeze and put it back into dormancy so it will take a little longer. I even had them come out and look at it, and they said it was starting to take root, but I would think that after 3 weeks, it would catch up with the other already. I was told not to fertilize it, but I don't know of anything else to do. Will the different grasses ever blend together? If so how long will this take? We re-sodded becasue I wanted an instant green lawn, but now I have a 1/2 thick green lawn and 1/2 barely alive looking. Any ideas? Thanks!

Answer -
Hi staphanie;
The Roundup may be the problem.
Rounduop kills EVERYTHING it touches!!!!
There may be some of it in the soil, and that may have set your grass back some.
St. Augustine likes lots of water, more than other grasses.
Lots of watering in that area where you put the Roundup should help wash it out of the soil if that is the problem.I would suggest you go to an organic program, right away!!!
Of course I suggest an organic program for EVERYBODY!!!
Of, if i had known what I know now about organics, 40 years earlier, I might still have a healthy back and workable joints.
I know for sure i would have a lot more money saved ( The money we spent on lawn products!!!!!), and better knees. I ruined a perfectly good pair, crawling around pulling and digging out weeds.
All it takes to be weed free and have a good lawn, is rich soil, and a good watering program.
God layed it all out to work right, but we just can't seem to do things the easy ways he laid out for us.
I used insecticides and fungicides for the bugs, and black spot, and powdery mildew.
I sprayed them once a month, and even used rose food with systemic insecticide in it, and still the aphids ate my roses.
Now that i don't use thos things anymore, and the lizards eat all my aphids, I spray when new growth starts and again after our rainy season with baking soda disolved in water, and thattakes care of the black spot and powdery mildew complately.
There is no white stuff on my crepe myrtles etc, and no black or yellow spots on my rose leaves, and no aphid damage when the roses open up.
No pesky bugs to try to deal with.
No grubs in the lawn, so no june bugs flying around in the summer. The lizards,toads, and grass snakes and beneficial insects take care of them ALL.
I put 1 pound sugar per 250 sq.ft. of lawn in the spring and again in th fall. Thick dark green St. Augustine grass that is weedfree.
We water, edge and mow.

 If I were you, I would flood the heck out of that yard, especially where it is sickly.
Water till the water starts to run off on the sidewalks, then turn it off and let it soak in for an hour or so, then do it again, till it is wet down to at least 6 inches.
When the top 2 inches are pretty, do it again.
Set your mower blades on the lowest setting, and mow every time there is 1 inch of growth height.
That will make all the nutrients go to establishing roots, and more roots send out more runners to thicken up the grass.
Instant lawns DON'T happen!!!
It takes at least the first year to get it established.
If the second year, you have a beautiful lawn, THAT is as instant as it gets.
When the temperature gets up in the middle to upper 80, set the mower blades up another inch at least, and when the temp is up in the 90s to stay, pretty much, set them as high as they will go.
After that;
Mow when you will cut off no more than 1/3rd of the blade height. If you let it grow to say 8 inches and cut off 4 or 5 inches, your grass will look reedy, and sickly.
You cut off the wider part of the blade.
Your grass will tell you when it is badly in need of water.
St. Augustine will fold it's leaves horizontally to minimize the exposed surface to the heat and drying. That tells you it needs water NOW!!
Always water to a depth of at least 6 inches to establish a deep root system. a deep root system helps protect from heat, cold and drought damage. shallow watering makes the roots come close to the surface or to the surface to get water. they are then exposed to heat and drought, and die. then they trap other dead lawn debris and you get a thatch buildup, and you have to do the BIG job of dethatching.
Deep roots, and your earthworms, cockroaches and other beneficial insects tunneling through the soil keeps it aerated, so you don't have to bother with that.
Organics is more about what you DON'T do than what you do.
Do you go to Calloways nursery?
If not, i highly recommend you go there.
they have a degreed nurseryman at each store, and they can answer your questions on the sopt. You can take a piece of sod or a sprig off a plant to them and they can tell you what you need to do.
They will tell you the chemical way, unless you tell them you are using an organic program.
Also, you can buy Howard Garrett's books there.
He is Texas' resident organic guru, and his books are full of how to organically.
He has all kinds of organic teas he gives you the recipe for, tells you just how to go about everything.
I watched his TV program a couple of weeks ago, and he was talking about Alfalfa meal tea to water your blooming plants to encourage more blooms. I went to the feed store yesterday and got a bag of al;fa;fa meal.
Gonna try that. It should help my roses even more.
You can also go to his website. I joined yesterday, so I can get the newsletters and have access to so much more information on organics. Go to    www.dirtdoctor.com
Write anytime you feel I can help. I love to tell people of the benefits of organic gardening. I spend so much less money, do so much less work, and have so much more beautiful lawn and gr=arden with organics, in just a couple of years, than i ever got with chemicals in over 40 years of using them.
I have been on organics for 8 years now, and would NEVER go back to chemicals.
Charlotte  

Answer
Hate to burst your bubble Stephanis, but an hour of the sprinkler on is just teasing the grass. If ALL the water for 1 hour of sprinkling went on the ground, it would probably soak about 1 in down, possible 2 inces.
Just enough to make the roots come to the surface.
If that is the way you are watering, even if you are doing it every day, that is why your grass is not growing.
Using sprinklers you are losing water to evaoration. After the temperature gets up into the upper 80s, you are losing up to 5% of the water to evaporation, but it all registers on your water meter.
Adding new soil and a couple of rians, unless it rained for 2 or 3 days each time, that would not flush out that Roundup. that would bust help it soak up into the root system of the grass.
there is a water meter you can get to measure the watewr in your potted plants etc.
If you get one, and stick it in the ground so the tip is 6 inches below the surface, and then water. You can tell how far down you are wetting, by drawing it slowly up to the surface, so it will measure when the tip hits moisture.
Or you can just stick the shovel in the soil and lift up the soil that deep and see that is is wet or dry, then lay the plug you took out back in.
You might need to put about 1 inch of top soil on that grass that is not doing well, rake it so it fills in between any spaces between the pieces of sod. Burying the roots a little may help them take off better.
The advice I gave you aboue is the best advice i can give you.
The soil is drying out because it isn't wetted down enough.
Mid morning is a little later than you really should water in the climate we have in texas.

Charlotte