This is kind of funny, because my zoysia lawn hadn't seen fertilizer or sprinkler water in years, and looked great! The only water it drank came from the clouds for years and years, until this summer. My zoysia probably had never ever been fertilized, but was still a beautiful deep green--until this summer when I spot treated the lawn for weeds with a weedkiller that contained 2,4-D and Dicamba. Then my zoysia turned from a luscious deep green to light green, lime, and even brown in spots. So for the first time ever, I'm going to have to fertilize it (organically, of course) this March 15 with Corn Gluten Meal and add compost, too. I've already added a little compost, but will add more when the weather warms again. I had awesome zoysia until it came in contact with synthetic weed killers. I've learned my lesson. Now I simply pull out the weeds and use *Organic* weedkillers like white distilled vinegar and boiling water. These are your 4 best stand-bys for post-emergent weed control: 1. Pull out the weeds by hand 2. White distilled vinegar 3. Boiling water 4. Heat up the weeds with the sun by laying a plastic sheet over them (it's called "solarizing") Don't use that synthetic junk on your lovely soil and grass :-) I read that some places in Canada have banned synthetic weed killers. Our Canadian friends have always been smart. Pick up Paul Tukey's "Organic Lawn Care Manual" at Amazon.com . It helped me a lot. My zoysia's a big fan of Mr. Tukey and of Mr. Hall from San Antonio. You'll learns lots from both of them.

Pepperot: Thanks. Yeah, the soursop is growing very quickly. I planted it in a location where I can easily protect it from temporary winter frosts and freezes. Harry: Yes, I lived in chapel trail, west of 184th and north of pines blvd, close to the Chapel Trail Elementary school. Now, I'm 7 houses east of north douglas, north of johnson street and south of taft. Still in pembroke pines. When I planted the mamey, I mixed in some miracle grow potting soil around the sides of the root ball and filled the rest of the hole with the native soil. I also poored used coffee grounds (bustelo espresso) around the trunk of the mamey on the surface of the soil. It helps, but at the same time it really hurts the drainage. The water would sit on the surface for a while before entering the soil. So I had to make small holes with a bamboo stick to help with the drainage. After a while, the soil was constantly penetrated in and out of the surface by ants, so they really improved the drainage. The mamey stayed the same for about a month without any growth and a few weeks ago, the leaves began to turn yellow after a few days without watering. When the dry weather period came to an end, we got a large amount of rain and the leaf buds at the tip of the branches began to swell. From then on, it kept on growing as we kept on getting nice downpours. Then I thought(if all my trees respond so well to rain water, it could respond nicely with natural well water). I have a well for the sprinklers in the back yard and it has two hose outlets. The back yard sprinklers are busted but the front ones are still decent. So I attach the hose to one of the well hose outlets and water all my trees with well water, instead of city water. They all seem to love it, even more than fresh rain water. Harry, if you have a well, I strongly suggest that you use that instead of city water, if you are using city water. Everyday I wake up, I notice that the new growth has progressed on the mamey and new flower buds are developing where the old ones were. Depending on the variety of mamey, some may give fruit sooner than others. Pace is one of the most precocious, best tasting, and cold hardy mameys. There cold hardiness is 25-30 degrees. Also, make sure the mamey tree gets full sun. Red Sea Me: Thanks! MangoDog: Thanks and yes, it is a blessing. :) Even though the sandy soil is not one of the most fertile soils around, it's pretty decent. The top layer is greyish-black, and further down, it's white.

If you dump a bunch of fertilizer on a possibly diseased, heat/drought stressed lawn in the middle of Summer it may not do so well. I recently replaced a fescue lawn. St. Augustine & Bermuda were suggested. After weeks of attempts I could not source St. Augustine or bermuda sod. I ended up seeding bermuda (never do this if sod is available). This change has helped me regain my sanity. Bermuda is the right grass for our weather. It's 90 - 105 since I started & this grass don't care. It's been 6 wks now & I water 0.25" every 4 days - far less than the recommended 1" per week, and that's with crazy sun & heat. My grass is moist to the touch, never experienced anything like this with the fescue. The bermuda, I fertilize heavy every 2 weeks, it's a different grass and obviously loves the abuse. I just don't find myself worrying about my lawn like I did previously. The correct grass for the environment improved my QOL. My bermuda takes time to fertilize and mow to maintain a low profile, but it's still less than the time/mental energy I had with the fescue.

This is my opinion so take it with a grain of salt Is there any way to tell if I am watering too much or too little by looking at the lawn? I cant tell if its being watered enough but from the pictures but it looks ok to me. If you already have a sprinkler system I would use tuna cans or some other type of measuring cup and measure the time it takes to fill the cans with 1" of water. Use the number you get for each zones and this will become the baseline on what you need to water each week. For me being in east Texas i have very sandy soil and if i water once a week with one inch of water the grass would good at the beginning of the week and then would get dry toward the end of the week. So i broke my watering schedule into half so the soil would retain better moisture through the week, so your mileage will vary. Why is the grass greener when it gets longer? On this relatively new lawn, should I mulch or bag the grass clippings? I would not bag the clippings, leave the side discharge chute closed on the mower. The clippings will break down and give your soil more nitrogen. How often should I fertilize and which fertilizer should I use? I believe the general rule is every 30-45 days with a high nitrogen content fertilizer. The Lesco brand fertilizer is my choice and this can be found at Site One. But I would get soil soil test done in early spring so that you know exactly kind of soil you have and it will tell you what nutrients it is deficient in. Will scalping the lawn be a good idea? If so, do I need to wait until the early spring to do it (considering that "fall" weather is getting closer - highs should be in the low-mid 80s next week)? I would just leave the lawn alone and don't scalp it. Your right fall is right around the corner and your lawn will be going dormant soon. I currently mow at the 3.5 level on my Honda mower. Should I go lower? Higher? Stay the same? This is where i think your problem is at. You stated that your mower setting is at 3.5, i don't know if this is an actual mowing height in inches but for the sake of the argument we will say it is. Bermuda is best maintained at 2" or lower, i think you are mowing the lawn at a tall height and you are letting the rhizomes to grow more vertically instead if more horizontally thus giving your lawn the appearance of looking thin. My recommendation would be to wait until next spring when the grass starts to green up somewhere around 50% and then move your mower setting to the lowest setting it will go to and keep it there and don't even think of moving it higher. This will train your lawn to grow at this level and promote lateral growth which will give you a thicker and fuller lawn. Other than water, fertilizer, and mowing frequency/height, is there anything else I should look out for? I think that your lawn is in better shape than you think. If you water it regularly and get on a fertilizer program as well as mowing it low and often you will be in good shape for next year.