Okay back to the original issue. You have brown grass which is likely caused by too much water. It could be a fungal disease that killed the grass. Or it could be drowning by cutting off the air to the roots. In any case that grass is likely dead. Can you post another picture of the brown grass taken at a distance of 3 inches? And can you take it in the shade so we can see the grass with no shadows? Often we can see the fungus if there is any. It will also help identify the grass. I suspect this grass is a type of dwarf tall fescue called Marathon. It is all the rage in SoCal. If so then the grass will not spread by itself to refill the dead grass or the places where you pull out the St Augustine. The only way to get that grass back is to bring in more sod or find Marathon seed. There are three different Marathon grasses. They are Marathon, Marathon II, and III. Each one is dwarfier than the previous one. If you can visit with the people at Home Depot, they might be able to tell you which one they sell - or even if it was Marathon. If you mix Marathon III with Marathon, you'll notice a difference. If you want to be very safe in fertilizing, then use an organic fertilizer. It will be safe no matter what you're doing with the grass. Beyond organic, I cannot advise you. I have not bought chemical fertilizer in over 10 years. Organic fertilizer is hard to find in SoCal. My favorite is alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow). Here is a link to feed stores near you. Call around to get prices and availability before you make the drive. They are scattered around.

Willows - Salix species - are prone to a host of fungal and insect issues but few that bother foliage enough to be a concern. Too often folks freak out about leaf spotting or minor insect issues and rush to spray something........usually unnecessarily. Plants get problems and blemishes - pretty much a fact of life and the natural course of events. At this time of year, as ken notes, there is nothing you need or should do other than clean up fallen leaves and discard.

I don't see the orange either. I do see the brown spots which are quite indicative of Rust appearing on the bottom sides of the leaves. I have generally had good success with Neem oil. I buy the concentrate at 70% solution and mix 1 oz per gallon. Off the top of my head that would be a bit higher than the .5% concentration you stated but not decisively higher. If its older damaged leaves falling off and I still had rust I would continue treatments using all recommended precautions (not doing it in full sun, etc.) until the rust was gone.

The contrast between "people time" and "plant time" can cause the grower some anxiety and frustration until the grower realizes there's a distinct difference and makes the adjustment by giving in to the idea that a plant has its own ideas about how long it should take to bounce back from adversity. Fortunately, the best form of resolution is usually no more complicated than procuring a few more plants so they can work as a team to satisfy your need to nurture. SOIL: I have perlite so I will add in more of that. Not sure if this is a bad idea, but I do have gravel I could mix in If you decide to include some gravel, use it in the bottom 6" of soil where it will displace the organic fraction of your medium that would normally be filled with water. This is a form of ballast. Don't use it as a layer, just mix it half and half with the bottom 6" of soil where the perched water table (excess water) resides. This in itself will reduce the amount of perched water your soil will hold by 1/2), and my neighbor has bark in her backyard that she said I could have some of to mix in if that's a good option for now? Depends ..... all bark is not created equal. Size and type of bark is very important. BALLAST/WICK: In reading through your posts I understand there are several ways to set these up, but I have an extra terra cotta and plastic pot so I figure this might be easiest? You mentioned covering the drainage hole in this post That reference was to the overturned pot you would be using as a form of ballast such that the rim of the pot would be down and the drain hole would face up. You don't want soil to drop through the drain hole in the ballast pot, so cover it. , but I also noticed [here[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/dealing-with-water-retentive-soils-dsvw-vd~1415041) you said another option would be to leave the hole open and put soil underneath so that it acts as a wick. That is the pot-in-pot technique where the main pot is nested into another pot and rests on top of the soil in the lower pot. This soil acts as a wick. If the soil in the lower pot is deeper than the ht of the perched water table, ALL perched water should move from the upper pot into the lower pot. For this application, there should be nothing over the drain hole(s) in the upper pot - the one the plant is in. Would you suggest one over another in my situation? I would go for the pot as ballast + the gravel in the bottom 6" of soil as added ballast, and even a wick if you like (in the lower pot). I have two options for pots to put inside as ballasts, but I'm not sure which would be the best option. The terra cotta pot looks like it may not take up enough room to help with limiting PWT, but the plastic one may be too large? The plastic one is great - cover the drain hole in it. Ideally, there would be an inch or so of soil above the ballast pot. Fill in the sides with the 50/50 gravel soil mixture up to the top (former bottom) of the overturned pot - cover it with an inch of soil with no gravel - set the plant on the soil - fill in around the edges. As long as you're taking steps to eliminate perched water, it doesn't matter how large your pot is. You can put your plant in a 55 gallon drum if you like, w/o concern you'll be over-potting. ...... once I repot the plant into the better mixture and add the ballast, should I water the plant again or hold off given the amount of moisture already present in the soil? Plants do best when the soil is evenly damp/moist - never wet/soggy. Skip watering if your entire soil mass is moist. Keep in mind, with the steps you will have taken to eliminate perched water, over-watering shouldn't be a problem, as long as you're reasonable. You're making a soil serviceable that otherwise wouldn't be considered as such by a very large fraction of effectual growers, so it's best to try to minimize potential limitations. Use a 'tell'. If possible - site your plant away from heat sources, but in a warm spot with plenty of light. If possible, use a room humidifier and keep humidity in the 45-55% range. I keep my basement grow room at 55% by using a combination of home-made passive evaporative set-ups and 2 ultrasonic humidifiers. I have a R/O water system, so almost never have to clean the humidifiers. To eliminate potential for bacterial issues, I add an ounce of H202 (hydrogen peroxide) every time I refill the reservoirs. Al