# Should I aerate my St Augustine



## carioca100 (Jan 22, 2021)

I've been told by Tru Green that my somewhat newly laid ( last August) St Augustine would look better if it was aerated . they believe the ground is compacted and it need aeration to get nutrients to the grass. I live in SW Florida and use well water to irrigate and that water has high amount of salt that is causing most of the lawn to be brown. Its a bit better now that the winter cool nights are behind us but not great by any means.
Would it be a good idea to follow their suggestion on aeration?

thanks


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## GrassDad (Sep 18, 2019)

Have you tried the screw driver test? Pick a few spots around the lawn and see if you can push a screw driver into the soil.


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## Topcat (Mar 21, 2017)

My uneducated input... aeration can't hurt at all. Especially if the sod was rolled after install, compacted soil could be real. When I put sod down a couple of years ago, I aerated the following spring.


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## mjh648 (Sep 1, 2020)

could also try compost topdressing.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

Agree with screwdriver test.

I am skeptical of anyone selling aeration in Florida.

Knowing that ProVista is a slow grower, I would be looking for any signs of the grass coming out of dormancy. Do you have healthy looking shoots of green popping up among the brown?


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## UFG8RMIKE (Apr 21, 2019)

True Green = Jiffy Lube

Trained at upselling


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## Jeff20 (Jun 30, 2017)

I can't see any harm in aeration anytime, then do your topdressin. You will be fine.


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## mjh648 (Sep 1, 2020)

Jeff20 said:


> I can't see any harm in aeration anytime, then do your topdressin. You will be fine.


IMO you really want to do it when the grass is growing preferably in the beginning of the season.


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## carioca100 (Jan 22, 2021)

Here are some pictures of the lawn. The first one is from the back of the house where there is a bit more shade and that grass looks pretty good. The others are from the front of the house where the sun shines almost all day. This grass looks brown and yellow. Same soil, water and amount all around the house. Nothing different than the sun shine. Can't figure it out and was thinking the high salt in water is causing it but why do some areas look greener than others?
tru Green suggested aeration and for the price they want , I can buy an aerator and tow behind my mower and have it for future use.
I did the screw driver test and some areas it goes in easy and other areas somewhat firm. Not sure what i'm looking for with this test??

very much appreciate your help everyone.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

I see a yard that is coming out of dormancy. Just keep doing what you're doing, maybe make sure you give the front yard extra water if you have a series of sunny and dry days.

Don't waste your money on aeration


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## LoCutt (Jul 29, 2019)

Many years ago I lived in Tampa and decided to start a part-time lawn business. One of my customers had a St. Augustine yard that my crew hated. We used a riding mower primarily and had two trim LawnBoy commercial mowers. They were not self propelled. We could not use the rider because of a fence on this yard. The bottom line is the lawn had so much thatch that it was a struggle to push the mower through it. I guarantee you that this was not from a one year growth.

I recognize the need but can't believe it already needs a dethatch. If you do it, you'll think you ruined the lawn.


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## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

Should you NO


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

@carioca100 Instead of mechanical aeration (on this recently established stand), you may consider the following treatments to alleviate some of the stress caused by high salinity and the process of breaking dormancy:

Liquid: N-Ext Air 8+ RGS 
or
Granular: 3-4 pounds of Humic DG per 1,000 sq. ft.

I would suggest leaving a control area (or two) for any special treatments (cover with cardboard during application) applied to convince yourself if anything you do makes a difference.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Have you pulled your plugs and done your soil test for the year yet? If not, I suggest waypoint analytical. Pull 10-12 plugs with a soil sampler, put into a ziplock back for each area, and do the S3M test - $16.50 a test. I have 4 distinct areas in my yard I test, but certainly you could do two, front and back.


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## Topcat (Mar 21, 2017)

A few years back, I did a severe scalp, then dethatch on my St Aug - it was full of dead thatch and was not very healthy. I figured, I had nothing to lose, either it would recover, or I'd get to put Bermuda down (it was here when I bought the house) Current lines of thought is my St Aug should have died - it did not and in fact it looked it's best ever when it came back. Would I recommend others do as I did? no, only at your own risk. I do think St Aug is more resilient than it is given credit for.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

I can confirm he has the nicest STA (or Bermuda for that matter) I've ever seen in person


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

ProVista St. Aug grows so slowly that it's hard for me to see how thatch could ever become an issue. In any case, this lawn isn't even a year old and it's partially dormant. IMO doing anything mechanical to it is bound to make the situation worse.

From what I understand, the lawn was green until we had a cold snap and/or the dry season when irrigation became the primary source of water.

Given that it was a new lawn, it's not that surprising to me that it went dormant. I vaguely recall that Allyn talked about how you have to really pound the ProVista going into the winter because it just takes so long for the color to come back (slow growing). I suspect this grass will be more resilient in future years.


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## waterboysh (Jun 6, 2019)

ionicatoms said:


> Agree with screwdriver test.
> 
> I am skeptical of anyone selling aeration in Florida.


Depends on how old the house is I think. We've been in a few different homes in different locations now and when we bought a new construction house in Pensacola around 2009, they builders had spread red clay over the entire yard. You had to dig down 6 - 8 inches to find black soil. Baking in the Florida sun, that clay hardened into cement. When we tried to plant a tree in the front yard, the soil was so hard we literally couldn't dig a hole and had to buy this tool (I forget the exact name it's called) that was kinda like a pick axe but one side was more flat for digging. At the time I literally knew nothing about lawn care so I didn't try to do anything to fix it.

Any home we've been in that isn't newish though has had much more natural sandy soil.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

Good ole "Georgia" red clay. Why in the world someone would import that on top of native "Florida" Soil is beyond me. Yeah, there's a bit of it scattered around North Florida, but never seen red clay south of Ocala where OP is.


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## Lem855 (Mar 24, 2021)

I have a similar yard this year coming out of our DFW Texas freeze. I thought of aeration but won't I'm using Humichar to help the soil get what it needs and hopefully have better results at years end. Not sure how many others have used this with some good results, would love to hear your thoughts and feedback for my St Aug.


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