Not sure if my text posted so I am posting it again here (see pics of my dead lawn above)

I live in north central Texas, north of Dallas. Last March-April I installed St. Augustine Sod in my 1,350 sq foot front yard. Shortly after I installed the sod I began to notice patches of brown spots. As weeks went by the brown areas got larger and larger until most of the lawn looks dead. I had no idea but my new lawn was rapidly dying. See the photos.

So now I am wondering what I should do. I was thinking of putting down Zoysia sod in the spring but if this is fungus related and I install a Zoysia lawn won't the fungus just kill the Zoysia also?

If I do install Zoysia sod in the spring should I have the dead St. Augustine sod pulled up and removed to take away most if not all of the fungus/disease or just put the Zoysia over the dead and diseased St. Augustine sod?

Please help me figure out what to do.

Hi harmlessfuzzball57, I can't tell if that was take all patch fungus which would still be in the soil, but I know where you can get some advice if you don't get an answer here. They may need some closeup pictures taken on a cloudy day or in shade.

If the fungus was a result of too much water you might have been able to save it by spreading corn meal on the lawn (I guess that it's a bit late for that advice now). Corn meal grows its own fungus that fights off other destructive lawn fungus.

Lawn Care Forum

We have property in z8 east TX, and st Augustine won’t make it there. Dallas is z8, right? It also looks like it has been overwatered. Don’t know what sod is good in your area but don’t think st Augustine is it. I live in Houston where SA does quite well but one can get in trouble w/too much watering or not enough.

People grow Saint Augustine in Austin (z8b). Not me but I see it and it used to grow in patches at my old house in austin. It grew in patches because I did not water it.

I did put down all kinds of fungicides like Scotts and Bayer products and I even used agricultural corn meal but it just kept dying off. I am so bummed out about this happening

PK Ponder, so where should I go for advice on what to do next?

Here are some more photos I took this afternoon

I am no fungus expert, but if you click the green link that I included earlier, you'll be on the Lawn Care Forum.

We have a common St Augustine lawn out back where there is more sun and we are just north of Fort Worth. I let it get to the point of turning bluish and beginning to fold its blades before watering to avoid that type of fungal damage and then put down an inch of water (the dchall_san_antonio mantra for proper watering). I never use any commercial fungicides either, only culinary cornmeal. The chemical fungicides kill off all of your good fungus too.

Here's the link again Harmlessfuzzball57.

Click me to travel to the Lawn Care Forum

What kind of St. Augustine was it?

Raleigh

I think I have a plan for what to do. I think in the spring I am going to purchase 200 sq. ft. of Zoysia and put down 100 Sq. ft. on top of what is there now and then clear away as much as I can and put down another 100 Sq. Ft. in the cleared area and watch it for a year to see what happens. I both die then I am probably out of luck and nothing is going to work. If the cleared 100 Sq. Ft. grow then I will do that approach. If the un cleared area grows well then follow that by just laying down over the old dead stuff or perhaps I will find that it does not matter if it is cleared or not. The fungus if that is what it is may not affect the Zoysia at all but I won't know until I try.

Any thoughts on this approach?

Did you water it through the hot summer so it could take root? If so, maybe it's just dormant for the winter and will green up in spring since that's what St. Augustine does. You can put down some rye grass seed which is what I do and that keeps the yard looking green all winter plus it also nourishes the St. Augustine grass when it greens up again because the rye dies when the heat sets in.

You can't put a new grass on top of an old dead rotting thatch if it is dead. I wouldn't waste the money trying without raking out all the dead stuff and putting down a sandy base to give roots something to grow into.

You probably just have dormant grass. Rake it out and spread the rye seed, you'll be happy you did.

Sorry I have no advice for zoysia. It would be a budget buster for me :-)

My St. Augustine grass is still green when my neighbor's Zoysia is brown.