It's so funny to find one's OLD postings when searching for an answer! This was 4 years ago. We just laid the SA sod 3 weeks ago...what can I say? My husband and I operate differently. He's more of a spur of the moment/wing it as we go type (it works for him) and I need time to do my homework. I didn't get the chance to RE-research this project. So, ground was tilled, old grass and weeds removed, top soil spread and leveled with a box blade and sodded. 36 hours later, we had a hard freeze and sleet that covered the ground :( Bought lime yesterday but after finding this thread I'll be going to Lowes to buy a soil testing kit first. Everyone around here is saying to put lime on it but I'll test it first. I didn't ask about the type of SA grass when I bought it. I called today to find out what they sold me...Raleigh (sigh). Could have gotten the Palmetto for $20/palette more. It's a special order. This is a respectable grass and stone business so maybe the stuff grows well here. Monica

Bruce, Have you ever used compost recently? you can't expect quick result from soybean meal. It might take 3 weeks for it to work and it won't be dramatic green up like you'd get from synthetic fertilizer. The point of organic lawn program is to improve soil (nutrient cycling), more disease resistant, keep harmful insects under control and it goes on. You just have to be patient. It could take several years to get to the optimal level. Synthetic pre-em can disrupt nutrient cycling by killing protozoa and nematodes. They act like fertilizer spreader by eating bacteria and fungi releasing nitrogen and other nutrients. You might have to spread good quality of compost at the rate of 1 cubic yard per 1000 sqft to re-introduce fungi, nematodes, protozoa and bacteria into the soil to get the ball rolling. Basically light dusting on the lawn and just water them in. All you have to do is apply soybean meal at the rate of 15-20lbs per 1000 sqft every 3 months to keep feeding the microbes in the soil to continue and improve the soil. Soybean meal is fungi meal. It has good amount of protein that will be used to fertilize lawn, trees, etc. Synthetic fertilizer has salts that can ruin microbes in the soil. it's like pouring salt on snail. The spray application I came up with will greatly help for the first few years to improve nutrient cycling. They are food for microbes in the soil. Molasses is basically food for bacteria. Fish hydrolysate and Seaweed liquid are fungi food. I think the biggest problem is that we lack enough fungi in the soil. it is very easy to grow large bacterial population in the soil but not fungi. It just takes time. Over time, you will notice that you will water significantly less frequently because of larger fungi population. They are like sponge with all the holes in the ground. They will be able to absorb more water and hold them longer rather than letting them drain away. I've routinely gone 10-14 days before I've had to water again during the summer if there's no rain. And that's on rocky soil. I can imagine that I'd go 2-3 weeks easily if I had lived on clay based topsoil since they hold more water. A book called 'Teaming with Microbes' by Jeff Lowenfels is a good book to learn about organic practice. It's just not for lawn but how to maintain trees, garden, etc. They have different needs.

Somehow Turfgrass America picked it up along with Palmetto that I had ordered for my backyard. I didn't notice it till a month later (planted July 2005) when they were establishing more rapidly and started spreading while Palmetto is still slow to establish. They both have different color, blade thickness, etc. Anyway, I contacted Turfgrass america and told them that they delivered wrong variety (probably half-full pallet worth that was mixed in with other 6 pallets of palmetto) so they had a guy come over and look at it. He told me that they do not grow floratam where they are growing palmetto and that it is raleigh. Huh??? my neighbor has Raleigh st aug and they don't even look the same as what I have. Does Raleigh have thick purple reddish stolons? All the information point me to Floratam. I don't know what to say. It grows fine although it seems to suffer winter dieback (I live about 20 miles south of DFW). Does Raleigh suffer winter dieback?

Hi everyone, Adam here, a newbie to these forums, well I've been lurking awhile and this my first post. Hoping someone could answer a few concerns I have. I'll admit I don't know much about turfgrass or gardening but my wife and I bought a house about a year and half ago that had a beautiful St.Augustine lawn, not sure what variation. Anyways last years drought coupled with me messing up by putting weed and feed and fungicided on my lawn (been over a year since) destroyed about half of my front lawn. There is still good St.Augustine everywhere there was shade, so basically the slopes where there is full sun and side yard is dead. I just had a new irrigation system installed, and I'm determined to get my lawn back to looking how it was when we bought it. I've done a lot of research and have pretty much decided Floratam St.Augustine is what I'll go with. FYI I live in the San Antonio - Medical Center Area) I guess some questions I have are...... 1) How and where can I get a soil test? 2) Can anyone recommend a good company that installs sod? Are any sod producers favorable over another I've mostly seen King Ranch and Milbergers? 3) A big question I have as I am in the process of getting bids is what is the best method for extracting old sod and putting new sod in. I've read so many different things, not sure what is best but would be nice to have some info when deciding on a contractor. 4) Being that I have still have good grass in the shady areas and back yard where I have live oak canopies, is resodding even necessary? I've heard from some that I could get some really good quality compost and just top dress and my grass may come back on its own. 5) If I do resod, can I just resod the dead areas or will that look strange as I doubt I have Floratam now. Just curious how mixing different variations of St. Augustine works and what it would look like. I'm willing to fork out the money to completely resod my front lawn if necessary, just curious if people here that know much more than me think I should as I feel overwhelmed and confused honestly. The first bid I got was for $2000 7 pallets of sod to redo entire front. Ok sorry to ramble and for the long post, thanks to everyone for any info for those who have already provided very valuable info in my months of lurking here. It is appreciated.