Hmm. Switzerland where atrazine came from banned it for 15 years. I may be wrong with numbers but Germany and Italy have banned it since 1991 so almost 20 years. I guess that tells you something... Supposedly toads are very sensitive to them so that explains why I never saw them anymore in large numbers. As a little kid, I'd see hundreds of toads mating with each other in the outdoor pond. All of suddenly, I see very few of them since then. I wonder if Atrazine/pesticide had to do with that.

I'm doing an experiment with unmowed St Augustine. Originally I did not think the grass would get taller than 10 inches, but it is easily 36 inches in one spot under a tree. Here is a picture I took last year. The purpose of the experiment was to demonstrate the benefits that lou mentioned above. I stopped mowing in October of 2011. The location is George West, TX on the edge of the Texas desert. Temps are above 95 from mid May through mid October with humidity running 40-50% most of the time. Since then I have only watered the grass when and where it was calling out to me for water. At no time have I watered more frequently than once per week. There is one spot under a tree on the east side of the house where I have not watered at all since 10/2011. In fact that is where the dog picture was taken. At the time it was about 30 inches high right there. Also since then I have not fertilized and used no insecticide or herbicide. As you can see there is no weed pressure at all - and I am surrounded by fields of King Ranch bluestem. There are places in the yard with plenty of bluestem, bermuda, and other weeds, but those areas are not part of this experiment. So the point of mentioning this is that taller St Aug will resist all the problems you might have with anything else. I always suggest people weld their mower at the highest position to prevent your well-meaning brother in lawn from doing you a favor and scalping your lawn back down "to where it should be." Tall St Aug (4 inches, not 40) is very lush looking and will solve your problems. Another issue you should watch for is drought stress near the sidewalk. Sidewalks take up sunlight all day and remain warm much longer that the soil under the grass. The soil near the sidewalk will get warmer during the day and remain warm until the next day. This tends to drive off the moisture through evaporation near the sidewalk and dry out the grass. The solution is to water more deeply, not more often. Generally I agree that your only problem is the grass roots are not up to speed yet. Give it another month and take another picture to compare. You should see improvement. Set your mower high, water deeply and infrequently, and fertilize and you will have a lawn like your neighbor. I prefer organic fertilizer because I am lazy and don't like to measure, but you can use chemical and get good results, too.

Answers 1a.Excessive irrigation can cause a N deficiency which can cause yellowing. The obvious solution is fertilizing. It may be Fe but my money is on a Mg deficiency. To find out, grab some Epsom salts at the grocery store, mix up in a hose end sprayer and apply to a section of the turf. You may be amazed at the change. Nearly overnight it seems. 1b. I always liked Lesco 32-0-10. Unless you run a soil test and get a known P deficiency, you souldn't be adding more. It also contains 5% Fe I think. 2a. First pic is Live Oak seedlings. The acorns fall on the sidewalk, get pushed to edge, drop in the soil and germinate. 2b a weed tree seedling. 2c Grassy weed of some sort but the picture is really bad. 2d Broad leaf weed. A good pre-emergent like Simazine will go a long way to reduce you weed problem. You can use 2,4-D on SA as long as it has no other additives. I understand your frustration with the weed control company but I suggest you find a reputable one that knows how to take care of SA. Without certain pieces of equipment like a sprayer, it is nearly impossible to do a uniform chemical application. 3. Residual Brown Patch from last year. Use PCNB or any fungicide containing Propiconazole in late summer or early fall this year. 4 Bare spots are the result of inadequate sunlight and root competition from the tree for moisture. Mostly lack of light. If you can't grow weeds, grass surely will not grow. Expand/ new landscapecreate

My Sister in Florida just gave me a formula for getting rid of dollar weed. As follows 1 can beer (any kind) 1 can coke 1-1/2 cups dish detergent 1-1/2 cups amonia She said she sprayed it last week and the dollar weed is turning brown now. Good luck, hope it works for you. Forgot to say, use spray that you connect water hose to. This post was edited by HCMM on Sat, Apr 6, 13 at 14:11