# New House - Back Yard needs some TLC



## feroxjb (Aug 10, 2017)

Hello All! Just closed on my house here in San Antonio. I've been checking out this site for a while, to try and get some good lawn maintenance strategies. I wanted to post some photos of my lawn and maybe get some input on what I need to do right now to really get my lawn going down the right path. Got to start somewhere, right?

The lawn in the front is the same as the grass on the left side the backyard (The lawn in the photos). I believe it's St Augustine. As you can see in the center of the lawn, not really sure what happened but some other grass and weeds have taken over. There is a concrete pad in the back right. I believe this is from a dog house from a previous owner. Not sure.

Tell me what you guys think I need to start with. :nod: 
Backyard:


Backyard - Left Side with St.Augustine (I think)


Weed infiltrating the grass


Spot by back left corner


More grass/weed


The other grass that is in the middle of the lawn


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Welcome to TLF!!! Not sure how much rain San Antonio is suppose to get but stay safe out there!

Looks like the "other grass" is bermuda to me so you will either have to live with it, let it take over the lawn, or spend a lot of money on chemicals to hopefully kill the bermuda.

I am assuming you want to just have a nice thick and green lawn? Does grass go dormant(brown) in the winter in San Antonio? It's getting towards the end of the season to do anything major but I would start with killing and preventing all the weeds that you have. I believe Celsius is safe for SA grass so you may want to look into investing in a bottle and also start thinking of putting down a good Pre Emergent too!

The area by the back fence in the corner will most likely never grow in thick due to the fence. What direction (N,S,E,W) is it when looking at the back left corner?

Please feel free to ask as many questions as you may have as we are all here to help! It would also be good to know what lawn equipment you have so we can recommend products that fit what you have.


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## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

+1 MQ


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## Bunnysarefat (May 4, 2017)

Welcome. Pretty good looking backyard. You might be able to go with any of the warm season grasses back there, so you may have to pick which one you want to go with it first. Bermuda may be a little thin if there are really tall trees around and depending on the direction the sun rises, etc.

I see you have at least one crepe myrtle. They're great trees. I'd just advise really doing some good research on pruning it before you do so, if you decide you need/want to. You don't have to, but if they are pruned wrong they can really look bad and then the only remedy is the cut then to the ground and let them grow back (they will.)


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## feroxjb (Aug 10, 2017)

Thanks guys! San Antonio actually was saved from most of the brunt of Harvey. It was supposed to hit us head on, but it veered East and we only got a few "tails" as they spiraled around. So just some steady rain.

Stuff that I bought:
I bought some Spectricide weed killer today that I plan on spraying out tomorrow. So hopefully that's a good start? I'm going to have to find a place here in SA to pick up the Celsius that you guys mentioned. If the Spectricide is a bad idea, let me know, I can take it back. I just figured I'd grab it in the mean time and ask here later tonight (I work nights and have downtime while here).

I also picked up a mower today as well - Toro Recycler 22 in. I kept going back and forth about that one and the Honda 21 at Home Depot. Hopefully it's a good buy. Seems kinda gimmicky with the fold up "SmartStow" function, but if it's a good mower, then I'll definitely use the fold up functionality in my garage (Which is full of stuff that I haven't unpacked).

Weed Killer:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Spectracide-Weed-Stop-32-oz-Ready-to-Spray-Concentrate-for-Lawns-HG-95835-1/100352322
Mower:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Toro-Recycler-22-in-Personal-Pace-Variable-Speed-Electric-Start-Gas-Self-Propelled-Mower-with-Briggs-Stratton-Engine-20334/100659631

To answer some questions:
I definitely want to help the St Augustine take over. I like the look of St Augustine better than the Bermuda, and my front lawn is actually pretty good with all StA. Is my only option to go out there and use grass killer to try and kill off the Bermuda? If so, I don't mind going that route, just would like consistent type of grass throughout.  Also I read or watched a youtube video or something, that recommended cutting the grass at the highest possible level to try and get the StA to take over the Bermuda... not sure how long that would really take though. :? I, like everyone, want instant gratification. 
Front Yard: 


The back corner that is in my original post is the SW corner I believe. There is some cover in that area from my neighbors trees too. I wasn't sure if it wasn't getting enough sunlight or if it's because of water/runoff or maybe something the previous owner did.

Thanks for the tip about the crepe myrtle trees. I actually have two, I'll have to take some better pictures. I going to start pruning some of the real low branches that are at the bottom of the tree. Wasn't sure about the top but I will have to do some trimming. The one in the picture below is actually pushing up against a fence and I think is what caused the fence to start leaning. See pic:

Also: Kinda curious what the other two trees are. I'll have to grab some pics of the leaves and try and find out.

As far as whether or not lawns go dormant? Not sure to be honest with you. I'd have to research it.

Pre-Emergent - Can you give me some examples of brands? Do I use this in conjunction with the Celsius?

Again, thank you. I know it's not a gianormous yard. I live right smack in the middle of Medical Center, San Antonio, and this is actually a pretty big lot here in this area and I want to make it mine. 

Thanks guys.


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## feroxjb (Aug 10, 2017)

Also, I plan on breaking out my pressure washer in the next couple days and start cleaning the fence so I can put on a stain. I'm assuming stain and fence-wash chemicals are bad for my grass. Should I be extra careful?


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## cnet24 (Jul 14, 2017)

I sealed my fence earlier this year with a hand sprayer and ended up with a nasty yellowing of my bermuda at the base of the fence due to overspray. If you are going to spray, just be careful or put down a barrier to protect.

If you can, I'd recommend rolling on the stain to avoid altogether, but that takes away time from any free time to work on the yard!


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## Bunnysarefat (May 4, 2017)

I would defiantly hold off on spraying that herbicide Spectricide you have, that is not safe for St Augustine lawns. If St. A is what you are going for, this will probably damage it.

If your goal is to eliminate the Bermuda from your St. Augustine, you're going to have to slow your roll. This is not an easy task, and there certainly are no easy solutions. Mowing higher will give you good results but it won't go away.

If that is your goal, I would most likely write that off until next year unless there is just a little Bermuda in some isolated spots. Based on your backyard's sun exposure, I would guess it's mixed throughout. I have a St. Augustine front yard, and there are only a few areas that receive any prime time direct sun and most of them have some Bermuda in them. However, the Bermuda is unable to go into the areas that receive all filtered sun.

If you have a good amount in the yard and want to remove the Bermuda entirely and are committed to a straight monoculture of St. Augustine, the easiest way to accomplish this would be kill the yard this fall and re sod.

Your chemical options for knocking back the Bermuda that won't hurt the St. Augustine are slim to non existent. You can paint the small patches of Bermuda with Glyphosate, very time consuming. It's also rumored Atrazine 4L might work, the professinal strength Atrazine not the Home Depot one. I'd talk to a professional before you tried that route.


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

Pre-emergents http://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=734

They are pre-emptive strikes on weed seedlings. ...to be put down soon. An example would be at depot, in my area has a Lesco 0-0-7 "Dimension"

Celsius is for killing weeds that grew, now.


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## feroxjb (Aug 10, 2017)

Sorry for the delay getting back to you guys-- Been unpacking and everything.

So I took the Spectricide back and went to one of the local Lawn and Garden centers. The guy didn't have Celsius... but he did have Fertilome and Image. I had read about Image someone where else, but not the Fertilome. Of the two he recommended the Fertilome.
Weed Killer


HE actually recommended spraying the yard then cutting... however when I got home, the actual bottle said the opposite. Cut the grass then wait 48 hours for the spray.

So I did cut the grass, at 3 1/2 (3 1/8 maybe-- can't remember, have to look at the mower), and am planning on spraying the yards today.

Question-- Since the Bermuda (and weeds) are actually all much lower than 3 1/2"... would it not be a good idea to try and cut the Bermuda really low (scalp ? Lawn word-I read) to try and hamper it's growth?


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

feroxjb said:


> Question-- Since the Bermuda (and weeds) are actually all much lower than 3 1/2"... would it not be a good idea to try and cut the Bermuda really low (scalp ? Lawn word-I read) to try and hamper it's growth?


I understand where you're coming from, but if you do this you're going to kill the St. Aug, so you better be prepared to #embracethebermuda. St. Aug doesn't tolerate scalping very well, and it's a common practice that owners of bermuda lawns use when you're leveling your lawn and increasing turf density. Take a look at your neighbor's lawns, and see what they've got. I remember watching this video about an owner who had a bermuda lawn that was overtaken by St. Augustine.





Focus on taking off the weed pressure from the turfgrass, and work to encourage the growth of the grass you want to keep. That could be as simple as "starving" the areas that you don't want to feed, but more easily, you could use the Pro Plugger to help those areas that need help with good grass.  I've had great luck using the pro plugger in my yard. 
Here's a couple of still shots from a video I shot on June 9th,
















Here's roughly the same area from a photo that was taken on August 2nd.


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## feroxjb (Aug 10, 2017)

Colonel K0rn said:


> I understand where you're coming from, but if you do this you're going to kill the St. Aug, so you better be prepared to #embracethebermuda. St. Aug doesn't tolerate scalping very well, and it's a common practice that owners of bermuda lawns use when you're leveling your lawn and increasing turf density.


Sorry, I should've been more precise. The bermuda is literally in the center of the yard and completely separated from the StA. When I was talking about scalping the area, I meant only the bermuda. Sorry for the confusion!

I highlighted the boundaries:


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

TBH, judging by the size of the "infestation" of the bermuda, you've got a lot of area to kill. It would be more cost effective to go ahead and try to coax it out for complete coverage. Bermuda can be killed with a few chemicals, but you're talking about multiple applications of this chemical on the order of years, and you're not going to get instant gratification. This can take a LONG time to completely eradicate it, all the while dancing the fine line of finding chemicals that won't harm your desired turf.

If it were me, I'd get some Celsius(incidentally, that's a really good price on it), and pound it with fertilizer for the rest of the growing season. You'd be really surprised at the outcome that you'd have by the end of the growing season. By the end of this month, I'd put down your PreE, and enjoy the winter and gather a game plan for Spring.

You haven't mentioned if you've done a soil test; have you?


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