St Augustine grass problem

Posted by Daremo on July 3, 2005, 4:41 pm

I got a load of compost from my dad's horse ranch, made from Arabian horse
dung and hay and clippings and the like. He warned me that it was very
"rich", but I got it and put it all over my lawn anyway. Well, now it is
all brown, and the areas I put more compost on are the brownest. I guess I
"burned" it. I've been watering profusely (every other day, as we've had
over 23 days of over 90 degrees temp w/o rain) in hopes of bringing it back.
It is St. Augustine, and I live in North Austin Texas. The soil is very
clay-ish, and I can see roots of the grass in runners that evidently have to
place to go. Is there anything I can do to salvage this grass? I cannot
afford to replant or re-sod right now. This is my first lawn (obviously!)
and I need help.

Thanks

Daremo

Posted by Curly Sue on July 3, 2005, 4:57 pm

>I got a load of compost from my dad's horse ranch, made from Arabian horse
>dung and hay and clippings and the like. He warned me that it was very
>"rich", but I got it and put it all over my lawn anyway. Well, now it is
>all brown, and the areas I put more compost on are the brownest. I guess I
>"burned" it. I've been watering profusely (every other day, as we've had
>over 23 days of over 90 degrees temp w/o rain) in hopes of bringing it back.
>It is St. Augustine, and I live in North Austin Texas. The soil is very
>clay-ish, and I can see roots of the grass in runners that evidently have to
>place to go. Is there anything I can do to salvage this grass? I cannot
>afford to replant or re-sod right now. This is my first lawn (obviously!)
>and I need help.

Another place to ask is rec.gardens

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

Posted by JerryL on July 3, 2005, 5:22 pm

>I got a load of compost from my dad's horse ranch, made from Arabian horse
> dung and hay and clippings and the like. He warned me that it was very
> "rich", but I got it and put it all over my lawn anyway. Well, now it is
> all brown, and the areas I put more compost on are the brownest. I guess
> I
> "burned" it. I've been watering profusely (every other day, as we've had
> over 23 days of over 90 degrees temp w/o rain) in hopes of bringing it
> back.
> It is St. Augustine, and I live in North Austin Texas. The soil is very
> clay-ish, and I can see roots of the grass in runners that evidently have
> to
> place to go. Is there anything I can do to salvage this grass? I cannot
> afford to replant or re-sod right now. This is my first lawn (obviously!)
> and I need help.
> Thanks
> Daremo

I'm no expert but I live in South Florida where the only grass that really
thrives is St. Augustine. The grass has gone through droughts, continuous
rain and every other thing that Mother Nature could throw at it and it
always survives. Water it normally and give it a chance. By the way, where
you have clay, we have sand and crushed coral.

Posted by Norminn on July 3, 2005, 5:23 pm

Daremo wrote:

> I got a load of compost from my dad's horse ranch, made from Arabian horse
> dung and hay and clippings and the like. He warned me that it was very
> "rich", but I got it and put it all over my lawn anyway. Well, now it is
> all brown, and the areas I put more compost on are the brownest. I guess I
> "burned" it. I've been watering profusely (every other day, as we've had
> over 23 days of over 90 degrees temp w/o rain) in hopes of bringing it back.
> It is St. Augustine, and I live in North Austin Texas. The soil is very
> clay-ish, and I can see roots of the grass in runners that evidently have to
> place to go. Is there anything I can do to salvage this grass? I cannot
> afford to replant or re-sod right now. This is my first lawn (obviously!)
> and I need help.
>
> Thanks
>
> Daremo
>
>

How large an area is burned? Solid brown where burned, or are there
signs of green growth? Rich fertilizer burns because it dehydrates the
plant, just like when people eat too much salt. Hot summer is poor time
to fertilize with anything when plants are under stress. You can keep
watering 3x week for a while; you will see in about a week whether the
brown patches are greening up. It's a lousy time of year to plug or sod
the lawn, too, but plugs aren't that difficult, spread pretty quickly,
and don't cost. You will need to treat for weeds if weeds take hold in
the damaged areas, but that can be done later. St. Aug. is hard to kill.

Posted by Norminn on July 3, 2005, 5:25 pm

Norminn wrote:

>
>
> Daremo wrote:
>

>> I got a load of compost from my dad's horse ranch, made from Arabian
>> horse
>> dung and hay and clippings and the like.

Great stuff for veggie garden - put on in the fall before spring
planting, till in spring.

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