Alfalfa pellets at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet for front and back. The St Augustine should spread about 5 feet in all directions in April and again in October. By that time you should be watering once per week. Fertilize all the St Augustine and none of the bare or damaged area. When you see runners, fertilize along those lines with alfalfa. You cannot overdo it with alfalfa pellets. Moisten them, let them swell up, let them dry out, and then brush or sweep them down into the turf. This process takes about 24 hours. If your St Augustine is in full sun, then mildly active dogs should be no problem. Wildly active dogs will still be a problem. I have a Catahoula leopard puppy, and he's got my shady back yard very torn up. How are you going to seed the back with dogs? Is there a plan for keeping them out of the mud? The seed needs to be kept moist with 3x per day watering. You have time for this project, because the seed won't do well until May in Houston. The soil needs to be very warm for bermuda. Would you consider sprigging the bermuda? Search this forum for the approach SimonR took for stolonizing bermuda. This, too, would require a plan to keep the dogs off the yard for several weeks.

Thank you for the feedback.. FYI - These are not heat Pumps - Strictly straight A/C units w heat strips. The old unit ran fine in its earlier years and in its later years was nursed along and did not cool as well. I believe 3 tons will work fine as the old unit did the job in the early years and had to work in the summer when the sun came in during the late PM in the later years. There is a lot of heat that scomes through those windows in the summer. The efficiencies in todays units probably deliver much better cooling than I was getting.. Especially if they are sealed. I do have a second unit taking care of the living quarters and the Den area which are alongside this main room - when I sealed the unit 2 yrs ago - what a difference.. Another proposal came in today with 2 different A/C units w strips and 2 different Heat Pump quotes from the current Lennox servce provider who services the equipment. 1. Lennox XC14-036 Condenser unit (14.20 SEER/12.00 EER) using the new 410A refrigerant · Lennox CBX26UH36 Fan Coil with Thermostatic Expansion Valve · Lennox ECB26-10CB Heat Strip with circuit breaker · Manufactures warranty Condenser 10 year compressor & 10 year parts, Fan Coil 10 year - $6986.00 Installed w existing Thermostat 2.· Amana ASX14-036 Condenser unit (13.50 SEER/11.80 EER) using the new 410A refrigerant · Amana ARPF363616 Fan Coil with Flow-rater Valve · Amana HKR-10C Heat Strip with circuit breaker · Manufactures warranty Condenser Life Time compressor & 10 year parts, Fan Coil 10 year $7080.00 Installed 3. · Amana ASZ14-036 Heat Pump unit (15.00 SEER/13.00 EER) using the new 410A refrigerant · Amana ASPF303616 Fan Coil with Flow-rater Valve · Amana HKR-10C Heat Strip with circuit breaker · Manufactures warranty Condenser Life Time compressor & 10 year parts, Fan Coil 10 year $8168 installed - and qualifies for Tax credit 4. · Amana ASZ16-036 2- Stage Heat Pump unit (16.00 SEER/12.50 EER) using the new 410A refrigerant · Amana AEPF30361A Fan Coil with Flow-rater Valve · Amana HKR-10C Heat Strip with circuit breaker · Manufactures warranty Condenser Life Time compressor & 10 year parts, Fan Coil 10 year $ 9,442.00 Installed SEERs look a little low compared to the earlier quotes.. I am not familiar w Heat pumps only straight A/c and Heat strip units.. I feel that running that compressor unit in the winter just creates wear..That is why I'm slanted toward heat strips. Can one get a manual J from an independent source or does it have to be a contractor? I hear they are some work to work up and obviously I will pay for it. How much are they. If you have suggestions on specific units / condensor / air handler combinations I'd be happy to check them out as well. This is a big expense and i want to do this right. Thanks

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Lily09, you will find good things about each of the 3 majors: Pentair, Jandy & Hayward. I prefer Pentair. You will find some PBs prefer a certain manufacturer based on their personal experience with failure of equipment, promptness of service, support they receive, etc. I used one of the other manufacturers originally, but changed because even though the service was excellent I had too many times when service was needed. Others I know in the business have never experienced those problems with the same manufacturer. All of them have some kind of promotional or give back to the PB opportunities, so that can sway a PB to a certain brand. If you are a high enough volume builder, there are some major perks with hooking up with a certain manufacturer. For the most part, follow the advice of your PB. They know best what works for them.