# Daddylongtoes Lawn Journal- Texas - St Augustine



## daddylongtoes (6 mo ago)

Moved into my first house Nov 2021 in Manvel, Texas. The lawn looked like to be minimally maintained over the years and growing up in a house where you did your own maintenance, I was determined to bring it back to life.

It was a slow start being my wife and I had our child that took majority of my attention.

My first step was hand pulling weeds and spot spraying with over the counter herbicide from bigbox store.

Here are images from when we first moved in...


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## daddylongtoes (6 mo ago)

Around mid March I put down my first app of preemergent and was probably a but late as soil temps were already above 55 degrees. Around the same time I also put down my first round of fertilizer which was NitroPhos Weed and Feed 15-5-10. I did not have an irrigation system at the time and moving my hose around 6k sqft of lawn was a hassle... especially trying to water 1-2 times a week at 1"- 1.5". I started to pout feelers out for irrigation quotes.... and also convince my wife I'd be inside more if the sprinklers ran themselves....

I got some hate from the HOA that my flower beds needing some tending and early April I pulled dead shrubs and pretty much kept everything else. Next year I may pull some of the shrubs and add some shrubs that pop a little more. Grass was still not fully "greened" up at this time.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

Good start on the journal! Keep it up!


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## daddylongtoes (6 mo ago)

By end of April/early May I put down another round of preemergent and also threw down some Yard Mastery Flagship. This is when I realized I needed a new spreader as I was getting stripes in my lawn. I also had my irrigation system put in around this time which greatly help regulate my watering. I am using a Rachio 3 Pro and have everything programmed just right for .5" of water with each session. It runs about 2-3 times a week.


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## daddylongtoes (6 mo ago)

Soil test was done early June 2022 after I noticed an area in my lawn that hasn't bounced back as well as others. Here is where you can see the stripping from my spreader as well as the lighter color of the grass in this areas. Since I was low on all macros/micros and by the advice of some folks here, I started to be more diligent with my bio stimulants from N-Ext.


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## daddylongtoes (6 mo ago)

On 4th of July I put down Yard Mastery Starter fert 12-12-12 based off my soil recommendation. I also sprayed some liquid Vigoro 20-0-0 July 18th to try and jump start some growth in my lacking areas in my front yard.

I haven't shared much of my backyard which by my account is in a lot better shape than my front. Other than some invading Bermuda, areas where irrigation was ran, and one section of weeds... Last pictures are the area of "weeds" I am referring to. I believe its some type of Dallasgrass or something similar. I tried "painting" with glyphosate and that has worked for some but I can seem to get ahead of this one. One possibly solution is just to roundup that area, till, topsoil, and plug it.


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## daddylongtoes (6 mo ago)

ionicatoms said:


> Good start on the journal! Keep it up!


Thanks! One thing I'm trying to get better out is documented all the work I do in the yard.... and take pictures!


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## daddylongtoes (6 mo ago)

Not as much green up as I hoped in my front/yellowish area. I have to put out some biostimulants this weekend and I belive am do for Starter Fert mid August. My new Brinly Hardy spread is legit! The only downside is the actual spread on this bad boy! Its almost 10ft which makes spreading is some areas like the front strip between sidewalk and street almost impossible. I may have to also invest in a hand spreader for that area. I'm thinking of throwing down some Milo to get the hang of it this weekend... we'll see though as my wife usually books my weekends up with friends/family.


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## daddylongtoes (6 mo ago)

I've been pretty busy the last two months with family and work that I forgot to put any entries in my journal. Back in mid August I put down Yard Mastery Starter Fert at the bag rate for the front and back. I still have some yellowish color in both sides of my front yard that I believe is just lack of nutrients due to extreme soil compaction. I tried using a hand aerator and it was very difficult to get into the ground. Next spring I will be using a mechanical aerator and top dressing with compost. Here are some pictures after my August fert and excessive amounts of rain we got in August. 

I had some brown patch show up along with some grey leaf spot. I put down some Bayer Fungus control and also sprayed some Consan 20. Around this same time my neighbor was suffering from chinch bugs and they were making their way to my side strip where our lawns connect. I sprayer Bifen IT on this side and also the sidewalk strips as I saw a couple bugs and did not want to risk them spreading. I read to treat 3 times within 21 days to also kill the eggs that did not hatch when you are first treating.... I believe I only got 2 treatments in and the area is already growing back great.


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## daddylongtoes (6 mo ago)

I noticed a sprinkler leak on one zone in my front lawn and started to dig and found about 7 grubs in about 2 square foot area. Freaked out, I went to Home Depot and got Bayer 24 Hour Grub Killer which is the same active ingredient that Dylox uses, except at a higher rate. I haven't noticed any real issues with the grubs but figured it wouldn't hurt to put down... unfortunately I did not grab any pictures when fixing the sprinkler line since my hands were full of mud.

I did "paint weeds" with Round Up on Dallisgrass in my backyard and also some sedge in my front. The dallisgrass I basically torched the whole area because pulling the weeds wasn't doing much. After it died I added some compost with the hopes the surrounding St Aug will fill in. Its a slow process so far and I might add some plugs in the coming weeks. The painted the sedge too much in the front area which also killed some St Augustine in an area. I usually wear a cotton glove over my rubber glove so the Round up doesn't drip except this time I didn't have any on-hand (pun intended) and figured it wouldn't drip much....

Pictures are of my backyard.... its hard to see the area I hit with round up but its in there. I'll try to add more pictures later today when I get home.


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## daddylongtoes (6 mo ago)

Current pictures i took yesterday 09/28/22 of my side yard is really coming along from keeping the chinch bugs at bay from my neighbor's lawn.


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## daddylongtoes (6 mo ago)

Some more pictures from 09/28/22 showing where I found grubs. Bottom right hand of photo is where I dig to get to sprinkler line and where I found grubs. I also pulled up some on the bottom left but did not really dig down, I just pulled up on the grass which is why its looking a little rough.

The area were I failed at "painting" some sedge with round up can be seen here closer to the driveway. I raked up all the dead grass and put down some compost. I may eventually add a plug or two to that area and the area in my backyard.


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