Fertilize ASAP. Ive already feed my lawn 2x this year and the 3rd time will be around July 4th. So you have some catching up to do. Apply the Milorganite @ 1lb nitrogen per 1000sqft. Which would be 18lbs of Milorganite per 1000sqft. What's easiest to put down for organic fertilizer? I don't know of a feed store around me that carries the typical organics you guys talk about. I like Soy Bean Meal best, Alfalfa pellets second. Just ask the feed store for a 50lb bag of Soy Bean Meal Or Alfalfa Pellets. Its not labeled fertilizer, its livestock food. You said the yellow spots stay soggy, that's why I mentioned overwatering. The rest of the yard may not suffer because of sprinkler overlap. These areas could be getting alot more water than you think. Under watering could also be a cause. The only way to tell is with the tuna can test. Im not sure about fungus or grubs and I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you suspect Fungus you could apply ordinary Corn Meal to these areas @ 20lbs per 1000sqft. Remember SA spreads by runners, so even if you have some trouble areas in your lawn they will fill back in with new grass soon enough. Do the pitchfork thing, its going to loosen the soil if compacted and also help the water flow. Then put some fertilizer down then water in.

I never recommend adding soil to the point of "shading" the grass. Shading grass kills it. Shading is used as a very effective method of killing grass to start a new bed. We use mulch in our gardens to deny weeds sunlight. Here, if we allow a barren spot in the yard to sit for even a week, weeds quickly fill up that spot. I suggest adding a little soil to the low spots, spread it evenly and thinly, and then use your hose to spray the soil down into the grass until the blades appear through the freshly added soil. When it appears that the grass with the new soil is as thick and lush as the grass around it, add more soil. You will have to repeat this process several times until your lawn is level. However, I think it still beats the skull-cramps that follow a weed infestation. Just always keep a few bags of soil on hand. When you have time, throw a couple of bags into the wheelbarrow.... The seeds of St. Augustine grass are "Mules". They cannot reproduce. Mow 'em they are harmless.

Lyn you're talking about corn meal, not cottonseed meal. I almost never mention cottonseed meal. But if I do a search/replace in your post and sub in corn meal, then I would agree. I'm extremely supportive of using corn meal to control fungus. In fact the performance of corn meal in treating fungal disease in turf is the main reason I converted from chemicals to organics. That was in 2002. I've been using it successfully every year since. And yet Texas A&M University is publishing everything they can to squash the idea that corn meal has any effectiveness. To me that's simple misdirection of education. If they can't make it work, they need to come look at my lawn and figure out what they're doing wrong. I have some ideas about what they're doing wrong, but haven't seen their research. The silly thing is that it was TAMU who first published the idea that corn meal was an effective tool against disease (in peanuts). That was back in the 90s and they've been fighting against themselves ever since. Anyway you can't use corn meal once you've used a chemical fungicide. Corn depends on the growth of a predatory fungus for its effectiveness. If you have a fungicide down then that beneficial fungus will not thrive in sufficient populations to do anything. If it has been several weeks since you used the fungicide you could try applying a very light dusting of compost to restore the beneficial microbes and then the corn meal. >>green edge which is 100% organic slow release I just want to comment on the idea that organic fertilizer is slow release. Chemical fertilizers work on several principles but generally those are chemical imbalances forcing the fertilizer into the roots as quickly as the roots will take them in. Organic fertilizer is made from food materials like corn, wheat, soybean, cottonseed, alfalfa, etc. That food becomes food for the living microbes (bacteria, fungi, microarthropods, and others) at the surface of the soil. As the original food/fertilizer decomposes from the microbes, then subsurface microbes decompose the byproducts from the first level decomposers. The process of a succession of microbes decomposing previous decomposers is so complicated it is referred to as the soil food web. At about 3 weeks after the original application of food/fertilizer to the surface, the resulting byproduct of decomposition is actual NPK type of plant food in a form akin to what comes in a bag of chemical fertilizer. So it is not that organic fertilizer is "slow release" so much as it just takes a really long time for the biology of the soil to convert the original mammal food to plant food. But this is the way Mother Nature has designed the process. It has worked for a really long time. On the other hand, chemical fertilizers that call themselves 'slow release' are caused to be that way by coating them in a slow dissolving chemicals.

Here's an easy way to apply a weed killer to St Augustine.It does take 3 weeks to see complete kill. It seems to kill just about everything that is not St Aug. I would spot spray as much as practical. For any atrazine product, read all the directions 3 times. You generally have to walk backwards when applying so you don't walk through it. It's a little on the hazardous side, but nothing else works on St Aug. Watch temps, too. You might have to wait until fall to apply. St Aug will spread about 2 inches per week when temps are in the 70s and low 80s. If you have any patience, just let it spread. Mow at the mower's highest setting every week or two. Stretching out the mowing cycle puts more shade on the other plants (weeds) and will help shade them out. Most broadleaf weeds will shade out the St Aug but the St Aug will shade out most grassy weeds. Water deeply once a week in the summer to keep most weeds. Even nutsedge will go away when you do this. More on watering below. Fertilize in May, September, and November if you're using chemical fertilizers. You can fertilize any time with organics like Milorganite, soybean meal, alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow), corn meal, or corn gluten meal. Application rate for these feed type fertilizers is 15 pounds per 1,000 square feet. You can apply as often as your budget allows - seriously. You can apply every week if you want to without any fear of hurting anything. But if you're using Scott's or some other chemical fert, stick to the 3x per year avoiding early spring and summer. Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall.