The University of Florida recommended verticutting Citra Blue St. Aug because of its growth habits. I know this video is a few years old, but I love the in-depth details. Good info for my future lawn. BTW I miss your podcasts!
The Texas heat this yr (2022) and no rain for months and watering restrictions created large areas of matted thatch on my saint Augustine that was growing beautiful before the heat rolled in. I cant seem to find any content on how to treat this dilemma. In most areas the thatch is about an inch thick and in some areas I power racked the thatch up but now there's only dirt and dried up stolens and the grass around that area doesnt seem to be spreading into these dirt areas. I cant seem to figure out what I need to do
Good to know I’m not the only one in the same boat. I have an area beside my driveway that almost completely died and it’s sectioned off from all other lawn. I think I’m going to drop some Bermuda seed. I did see some one using sand / manure on ‘bare’ areas to generate a growing medium.
We inherited a severely neglected lawn when we bought our house. I believe a combination of years of prior owners mowing the lawn only when it was overgrown, never receiving any maintenance otherwise and our tough texas clay soil aided to all the dead material that has been sitting on top of the soil and not breaking down into the ground. Thought of doing a dethatch, but went with a regular malleable leaf rake instead and worked the yard by hand. Made a huge difference and now I think one more pass will get it where it needs to be to really begin a successful recovery of the lawn.
What I do is starting early spring I cut my st augustine low and bag it until around May. Then I raise the height to about 5 inches and cut about ever 4 days bagging ever other cut. I feed it monthly until mid August mostly using milo or medina.
@@guillermoparedes6450 I set my Kobalt mower to level 2 which is just above my thatch. I use pre emergent in February, milorganite in March. Weed and feed early April. Milorganite May through August. The reason I feed my lawn so much is because I bag. I have neighbors that never treat their lawn and this helps to keep their weeds out of my lawn.
New here to FL about a year now. I’ve concluded that because I didn’t know what I was doing I mulch mowed infrequently last year and now there’s a thatch layer of a ton of dead long blades. Choking out the grass. I’m wondering if a thatch rake will do the trick here to get that stuff out of there. I don’t have a huge lawn so manual tools will be fine. I can put my fingers in there and pinch out a hefty cigar load of dead blades each pinch, it’s gotta go!
Hi Allan! I intend to buy a Honda FG110 tiller with the edge digger and the aerator tines. The aerator tines are quite expensive amounting to 50% of the cost of the tiller. Do I need to aerate my remaining Saint Augustine and “sweet grass” here in Costa Rica? I currently have a Craftsman Honda mower in great shape. It has traction and the blade engages with a clutch. It is a three in one premium mower that I purchased 25 years ago in the US! I wish that I could find the weed control and fertilizers that you have in the USA, but I am fertilizing with Yara Complex for what is worth!
I’m in Pensacola, have St Augustine but we don’t get rain every week. I’ll have to use sprinklers about the middle of May. What about mulching? I quit bagging some years ago due to lack of organic matter in the soil.
My parent's 50+ yr st augustine lawn (front and back yard) has never been dethatched nor fertilized and is thick and green. Also, then don't have a water sprinkler system and never water their lawn. Houston TX
@@rickystanton3039 could be the variety of St. Augustine we have here in Texas. my house is about 23 years old, been living here for 13 years. all i do is mow weekly from around April to Sept. we have a thick yucky clay soil with about 4-6" of topsoil, so i do have to have a sprinkler system. i've not dethatched at all, and i've never seen any of my neighbors dethatch. maybe some people fertilize too much, having thatch means your grass is sending runners all over itself, creating layers of stolon, and the bottom layers get covered and die. but even then if you have a healthy ecosystem, the microbes and insects would eat and decompose those dead thatch(I don't spray my lawn with pesticides, i only spot treat fire ant mounds). I don't rake up my leaves (live oak trees in the front, and various fruit trees in the back) or grass clippins. I just mow over everything and let nature decompose.
It doesn't make sense especially in the hot summers..probably has the perfect sun hours and some shade. If it directly in the sun full time it has to be watered or it will get patchy
If I remember correctly st augustine grass doesn't seed as well and is not easily done in terms of collecting or whatever. Either not available to the average consumer or not at all. Gotta buy em by the square/sod. The good thing is that they love to spread out so I'd look into exactly how many to buy vs patience lol
If you have St. Aug you'll either want to lay down some sod which can be expensive but quick fix or install St. Augustine plugs which is slower but more affordable. St. Augustine doesnt produce seed that germinates like Bermuda grass or cool grasses.
Allyn So I am having a really bad time with my Augustine and it’s definitely MY doing . I gave up because I got aggravated nothing I did seemed to work. I don’t know what I’m dealing with with chinch bugs , brown patch ,root rot , thatch and I think the list goes on . What worse is I’m on one income and a limited income so hiring a professional is not in the affordability range for me can you give me some guidance please ?
wow ... 5 minutes into the video before you actually answered the question ... just awful! I just wanted a quick and direct answer to "Can you dethatch St. Augustine?" I'm still not sure you ever answered the question!
You should sit down, relax. Listen up with your ears. There is a lot of good enough. Don’t get your farmer johns in a bunch, jabroni. There’s a little more to the equation then yes/no
That’s usual. He spends several minutes rambling, then doing his Minnesota accent that he thinks is funny, then finally talks about the topic of the video
The University of Florida recommended verticutting Citra Blue St. Aug because of its growth habits. I know this video is a few years old, but I love the in-depth details. Good info for my future lawn. BTW I miss your podcasts!
The Texas heat this yr (2022) and no rain for months and watering restrictions created large areas of matted thatch on my saint Augustine that was growing beautiful before the heat rolled in. I cant seem to find any content on how to treat this dilemma. In most areas the thatch is about an inch thick and in some areas I power racked the thatch up but now there's only dirt and dried up stolens and the grass around that area doesnt seem to be spreading into these dirt areas. I cant seem to figure out what I need to do
Same situation in my yard. I live in the same area. This summer was brutal.
Same here. Staring at my formerly beautiful back lawn now half dead still. Still not sure what to do
Same!
Good to know I’m not the only one in the same boat. I have an area beside my driveway that almost completely died and it’s sectioned off from all other lawn. I think I’m going to drop some Bermuda seed. I did see some one using sand / manure on ‘bare’ areas to generate a growing medium.
Same . Weeds and Spurge are more of a problem since the last summer
We inherited a severely neglected lawn when we bought our house. I believe a combination of years of prior owners mowing the lawn only when it was overgrown, never receiving any maintenance otherwise and our tough texas clay soil aided to all the dead material that has been sitting on top of the soil and not breaking down into the ground. Thought of doing a dethatch, but went with a regular malleable leaf rake instead and worked the yard by hand. Made a huge difference and now I think one more pass will get it where it needs to be to really begin a successful recovery of the lawn.
How is your lawn now?
I recently core aerated Floratam with great success. I used a stand-on unit from TORO and took, on average, 3-4" cores. I'm in SW Florida.
What I do is starting early spring I cut my st augustine low and bag it until around May. Then I raise the height to about 5 inches and cut about ever 4 days bagging ever other cut. I feed it monthly until mid August mostly using milo or medina.
What lawn mower mows at a height of 5”
By low, do you set the mower to its lowest setting?
@@maryjopickett9527 I have a kobalt I sharpen the blades about 4 times a year and I should've said level 5 which is a high cut of close to 5".
@@guillermoparedes6450 I set my Kobalt mower to level 2 which is just above my thatch. I use pre emergent in February, milorganite in March. Weed and feed early April. Milorganite May through August. The reason I feed my lawn so much is because I bag. I have neighbors that never treat their lawn and this helps to keep their weeds out of my lawn.
@@tswej awesome thanks for the tips.
New here to FL about a year now. I’ve concluded that because I didn’t know what I was doing I mulch mowed infrequently last year and now there’s a thatch layer of a ton of dead long blades. Choking out the grass. I’m wondering if a thatch rake will do the trick here to get that stuff out of there. I don’t have a huge lawn so manual tools will be fine. I can put my fingers in there and pinch out a hefty cigar load of dead blades each pinch, it’s gotta go!
Thank you, Sir. Good info.
"The worst day of your life." Clearly you've never been to Kandahar.
or gaza strip for that matter
Hi Allan! I intend to buy a Honda FG110 tiller with the edge digger and the aerator tines. The aerator tines are quite expensive amounting to 50% of the cost of the tiller. Do I need to aerate my remaining Saint Augustine and “sweet grass” here in Costa Rica?
I currently have a Craftsman Honda mower in great shape. It has traction and the blade engages with a clutch. It is a three in one premium mower that I purchased 25 years ago in the US!
I wish that I could find the weed control and fertilizers that you have in the USA, but I am fertilizing with Yara Complex for what is worth!
Thank you for the info. I tried to have my soil sampled by our local agriculture center and they never responded to my request on different occasions.
My issue is 2 large brown patches. They are growing pretty quickly. St. Augustin grass. 1 year old.
"The more you mow" - nice, hahaha
I’m in Pensacola, have St Augustine but we don’t get rain every week. I’ll have to use sprinklers about the middle of May. What about mulching? I quit bagging some years ago due to lack of organic matter in the soil.
Don’t be hating on the Aug!!!! 😎👍🏼
that's right!
Was the answer Yes or No ?
5:01 No, Verticut/Vertimow instead.
My parent's 50+ yr st augustine lawn (front and back yard) has never been dethatched nor fertilized and is thick and green. Also, then don't have a water sprinkler system and never water their lawn. Houston TX
Why do you think that’s so
@@rickystanton3039 could be the variety of St. Augustine we have here in Texas. my house is about 23 years old, been living here for 13 years. all i do is mow weekly from around April to Sept. we have a thick yucky clay soil with about 4-6" of topsoil, so i do have to have a sprinkler system. i've not dethatched at all, and i've never seen any of my neighbors dethatch. maybe some people fertilize too much, having thatch means your grass is sending runners all over itself, creating layers of stolon, and the bottom layers get covered and die. but even then if you have a healthy ecosystem, the microbes and insects would eat and decompose those dead thatch(I don't spray my lawn with pesticides, i only spot treat fire ant mounds). I don't rake up my leaves (live oak trees in the front, and various fruit trees in the back) or grass clippins. I just mow over everything and let nature decompose.
It doesn't make sense especially in the hot summers..probably has the perfect sun hours and some shade. If it directly in the sun full time it has to be watered or it will get patchy
Is there a podcast ?
Thanks from California 👌🏼👌🏼
Sorry for my stupid question, but just learning to care for a St Augustine lawn in Arizona. What do you mean by "bagging"....Thank you
Leave the bag on the mower.
Should you dethatch to reseed? My lawn looks like hell and it's mostly weeds. Live in south Florida.
If I remember correctly st augustine grass doesn't seed as well and is not easily done in terms of collecting or whatever. Either not available to the average consumer or not at all. Gotta buy em by the square/sod. The good thing is that they love to spread out so I'd look into exactly how many to buy vs patience lol
If you have St. Aug you'll either want to lay down some sod which can be expensive but quick fix or install St. Augustine plugs which is slower but more affordable. St. Augustine doesnt produce seed that germinates like Bermuda grass or cool grasses.
Allyn So I am having a really bad time with my Augustine and it’s definitely MY doing . I gave up because I got aggravated nothing I did seemed to work. I don’t know what I’m dealing with with chinch bugs , brown patch ,root rot , thatch and I think the list goes on . What worse is I’m on one income and a limited income so hiring a professional is not in the affordability range for me can you give me some guidance please ?
I recommend a soil test. You can get one for $30. Do you know what all have you done trying to fix it?
Definitely going to watch. My lawn is driving me crazy. 😭
wow ... 5 minutes into the video before you actually answered the question ... just awful! I just wanted a quick and direct answer to "Can you dethatch St. Augustine?" I'm still not sure you ever answered the question!
He answered. He said it’s very rare that St Augustine grass needs to be thatched.
You should sit down, relax. Listen up with your ears. There is a lot of good enough. Don’t get your farmer johns in a bunch, jabroni. There’s a little more to the equation then yes/no
Minute 5:05. Dethatching won’t work, but you can do vertical mowing”
That’s usual. He spends several minutes rambling, then doing his Minnesota accent that he thinks is funny, then finally talks about the topic of the video
It’s gonna be the worst day of your life 😂😂😂