Weed n feed is NEVER the right product, so you're going to have to forget you ever heard of that product. Even worse is a new 3-way product which adds preemergent to the mix of weed n feed.

You are slightly unique in the calendar applications since you are in SoFlo, so I'm going to write this as if you are the only one reading it. Anyone from the north, or even from Alabama, should read for information just in case they ever move to your area. Here's why you should not use it. I'll do the entire 3-way product. Preemergent should be applied in January (for you in SoFlo). Herbicide should be spot sprayed in April. Fertilizer should be applied in early May (again, for YOU). If you were to apply a 3-way product in January, you might get some preemergent effect, but it would do nothing to fertilize the dormant roots and nothing to kill the living weeds. The solution is to use a preemergent in early January, spot spray the weeds in early April, and fertilize in early May.

If you can find a preemergent, go ahead and apply that now even though it is late. There are still weeds which will germinate with spring rain and irrigation. Follow the directions on the bag for amounts and how to water it in.

In late March, go to Walmart and get a bottle of this stuff...

It is the purple label With Atrazine! If your entire lawn is full of weeds, spray the entire lawn. Otherwise just spot spray the areas that have weeds. Always walk backwards and walk upwind so you don't get any of that stuff on you. Don't wear shorts and flip flops when applying. Cover up. Don't get any on the leaves of plants you want to keep. You might need someone helping with a big piece of cardboard to block the overspray from plants. Don't be tempted to spray and spray the weeds. All they need is a leaf wetting, not a soil drench. You might try spraying water on the dollarweed first to see if water sticks to the leaves or beads up and rolls off. After you spray you will notice some weeds die right away. You will also notice that some weeds seem to survive the spray intact. Give it 3 full weeks and check again. The weeds should be gone.

So from the pictures I'd say you are mowing your lawn at the mower's lowest setting. That is opposite of what St Augustine would like. Mowing low encourages the germination and growth of WEEDS. That is part of your problem. If you switch to mulch mowing at the mower's highest setting, that will lessen the ability of the weeds seeds to germinate.

Also I'm going to ask what your watering schedule is. 90% of Floridians do it wrong which further increases the opportunity for weeds to sprout. So how long and how often do you water? Winter and summer?

You can fertilize for the first time in late April or early May. If you fertilize earlier you'll have to do it again anyway, so save the money early. The grass is going to grow great after awakening from dormancy. If you fertilize too early that will force it to grow too fast and will require more mowing. Follow the directions on the bag for application rate and especially for watering it in. You have to water it in immediately after applying, so don't wait until dark to apply. If you are interested in an inexpensive organic fertilizer, we can help you with that. It would be helpful to know which town you are in to point you to sources to buy the stuff. Organics are less hassle and don't have to be watered in. You can over apply without consequences. I've been using organic fertilizer only on my St Augustine since 2002.

Wow, thank you for the information! I live in Tamarac, FL which is in the most western part of Broward County. You're right about the lawn being mowed too low, unfortunately I pay someone to mow my lawn, but I'll be sure to talk to him about mowing at a higher height. As for watering, in the summer time I don't water my lawn often.. maybe twice a week at most depending on how the lawn looks and how much it has rained. About 10-15 minutes a zone. Definitely less in the winter time I water once a week 15 minutes a zone.

So if I read your post correctly, apply a pre-emergent now (I found Preen herbicide at a local hardware). Wait till late March to apply Spectricide, then wait till Late April to apply fertilizer.

Is that the right course of action?

Yes. That should fix things.

Getting your lawn guy to mow high, every single time, might become a headache for you, but be persistent. They like to set the mower for one height and mow every customer the same. If he doesn't have time to change just for you, or if he throws up arguments about why it is healthier to mow low, then find another mower. Mowing high has several other advantages. The grass will grow deeper roots which find nutrients deeper into the soil/sand.

As for watering I must say, you're much closer to ideal than most of your neighbors. For some reason they like to water a little every day instead of drenching the soil once a week. Try this - place some cat food or tuna cans around the yard and time your sprinklers to see how long it takes to fill them all. If you have a dry spot, be sure to put one there. If some fill faster than others, you might need to adjust your sprinkler spray heads to even it out. Then remember the time it took to fill the cans. That will be your watering time from now on. Get the time for every zone. Here is a guideline for what we call, deep and infrequent, watering. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Infrequent means not every day. There are many factors that go into the lawn's ability to retain and use water. Those include soil type, soil health, grass type, mowing height, temperature, humidity, cloud cover, general shade, wind, and some others. The most important of the factors is the daily high temperature. Here is the general idea. With temps lower than 70 degrees, deep water once a month. With temps between 70 and 80, water once every 3 weeks. With temps between 80 and 90, water every two weeks. With temps between 90 and 100, deep water every week. With temps above 100, water every 5 days. In your case the biggest other factor is humidity followed by rain. If you would start watering now to fit this guide, you will learn how long it takes your soil to dry out and for the grass to look wilted. Your current turf has short roots to go with the short top growth. When the grass gets taller, it will make deeper roots. The taller grass provides more shade to the soil and slows down evaporation. Also when the grass already has short roots, you cannot switch to deep and infrequent watering overnight. You'll have to wean it as the roots grow deeper to find the deeper moisture in the soil. Start with the timing run and consider that your first deep watering. Then use the guide above but start watching closely at about half the recommended time. When the grass starts to look wilted in the late afternoon, water it deeply again. The next cycle should go longer before it looks wilted. Note that the soil will become dry and very firm long before the grass looks wilted. Don't go by the softness of the soil - go by the grass.

Hey dchall, any tips on going organic? I would love to avoid using chemicals as much as possible

(stands back) You just opened a very enjoyable bag of cats from all of us.

Yep, any lawn can be grown organically to the point where most herbicides aren't even necessary any longer (I get about 2 weeds a year because mine is so healthy that there simply isn't room for them any longer). Although I've had the argument with...more recalcitrant people...that this isn't possible...it absolutely is. You can get the same result with synthetics, but not as easily and not, I think, without admixing some organics.

First, get a soil test, preferably from Logan Labs. Time was, I read them here, but circumstances have changed and I don't any longer because I got tired of the push-back. But if you Google both my name and DCHall's with Logan Labs read tests, you'll find a place where I'll happily read them for you and flack is not allowed. If I don't, one of several others (who are as good as, if not better than I am, will do so).

That will whack your soil into great shape to grow a wonderful lawn. Initially. Broward County is probably rather sandy, so regular adjustments may be necessary.

Two, your easiest organic with a good bang to buck ratio is probably going to be cottonseed meal (around 7-1-2) or alfalfa (2-1-2). I do know the feeding rates for St. Aug, but will defer to DCHall on that. :-)

I personally don't recommend alfalfa more than twice per year at 10 pounds per thousand due to the growth hormones in it--above that rate, they can become detrimental. I've had significant trouble with kelp applications myself, which are weaker in terms of those.

But other sources of inexpensive organics are corn (more of a soil conditioner and very weak feed at 0.65-0.4-0.2), your coffee ground (zip, but a good conditioner), if you know a brewer, get their spent grounds, sawdust from untreated wood if you know a carpenter... The list is practically endless.

Click here for a link to feed stores in your area. Note that morph mentioned several fertilizer types which are not normally thought of as being fertilizer. If you read the ingredients on many organic fertilizers they include materials like soybean meal, alfalfa meal, corn meal, cottonseed meal, and other forms of ground up nuts, beans, seeds, and grains. We have found that you can use these materials in raw form (ground up, though) and get equal results. These particular materials are a full diet for the microbes living in your soil. Then the microbes create plant food for the grass. Mother Nature has been perfecting this process for a billion years. Here is a motivational picture from a former forum member, mrmumbles showing the effect of alfalfa pellets on his zoysia grass.

A lot of people are skeptical of organic fertilizer. This picture, direct from the Interwebs of Truth, have put that skepticism to bed. Over the years we've gotten many testimonials to the same effect, but this picture has been the best motivator. Mrmumbles applied the alfalfa pellets in mid May and took the picture in mid June. It does take about 3 full weeks before these grain type fertilizers work, but they definitely do work.

I'm going to cut this short, because we're in the middle of rolling blackouts, and I think our current "on time" is about to end. But I'll be back the next I'm back on.

Stay safe, dchall

Thanks but too late for that, Drew. Right after I posted that previous note I slipped on our icy, slanted driveway and conked my head. At my age I should be taking much better care of myself, but thank the Old and New Gods I didn't break anything. Not even a bump on my head (I was wearing an Eskimo style fur hat). One more night of frigid temps in the low 20s, and then we go back to more normal temps varying from the low 30s to 40s at night. I know a lot of readers are yawning at these cold weather issues, but we're not at all prepared for this weather. The clothes we need for this are simply not available at any time of year in our stores. Snow tires? Ha ha. And y'all are saying, "snow tires for 4 inches of snow, hilarious!!" But the other thing we don't have is salt or even sand for the roads and bridges - or a group of volunteers with the plow attachment for their F-100s.

Thanks again. You stay safe, too.

Ouch! I'm glad to hear you're unhurt, and the hat helped.

I wouldn't've had a chance (I wear an ancient hat that was my grandfather's...a 1940's wool trilby that I've just realized is now eighty years old and probably should be treated as an heirloom instead of a snow hat).

I got the hat at a Target in SoCal, of all places, before we visited Russia to adopt our daughter in 1999. Since then I've worn it about 3 times until this past week when I wore it every day (wind chills in the single digits every afternoon when we walk the dog). But I need to be much more careful. My younger wife has broken her left arm twice, wrist once, and finger in the past 4 years. If I have a fear it is of breaking an important bone or two.

Getting back to the organic part of this topic...the application rate I use for corn meal or alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow) is 15 to 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. In actual practice I eyeball a 10 ft by 10 ft area (100 square feet) and fill a 2-pound coffee can with product. Then I scatter the entire 2 pounds (roughly) of product inside the 100 square foot area simply tossing it by hand. Then I move to the next 100 sq ft area. You can mark things off with a hose or two to help keep yourself honest. Also with organics it doesn't matter if you use too much. You can spill the bag of product, and all you have to do is sweep the pile out so the grass shows through. You could suck up the product with a shop vac and apply it more normally, but even if you do that, you will probably find a dark green spot where the spill occurred. And you don't have to worry about watering the grain type organic fertilizers in. They don't dissolve, so watering doesn't do anything but wash it off the blades of grass and down onto the soil. That's a good thing, but it would happen eventually whether you water it or not. Just don't smother the grass with it. Here's a pic of the right size of alfalfa pellets.

The other typical size is called horse cubes. Those are the size of your entire thumb.

Corn meal has another surprise benefit besides fertilizing. St Augustine is susceptible to some fungal diseases. The one I see most often looks like the brown lesions in the following picture of my lawn from 2013.

This disease can be caused by too much rain or irrigation, or even leaving a toy or piece of cardboard, or pile of grass on the lawn overnight. Yes, one night. If the air circulation is cut off and dew is stuck to the grass for too long, this disease will pop up. Don't count on it going away by itself. Here's where the corn meal comes in. Apply immediately at 20 pounds per 1,000 and the disease should go away in 3 full weeks. I find that this works much better in the spring and early summer for some reason. This disease will take most varieties of St Aug down to the ground with time. Floratam is an exception. You can have the disease in Floratam and all you see is the spots and a slight yellowing discoloration. The reason I got started using organics is that I tried corn meal on a fungal spot in my lawn that had plagued me for 2 years. The corn meal fixed it in 3 weeks. After that I was a convert. That was in 2002, and I've been proselytizing for corn meal ever since. If your feed store does not have it, try a grocery store that caters to the Hispanic food market. I see corn flour, Maseca masa instantánea de maíz, in 25-pound bags for about the same price as a 50-pound bag at the feed store. Still, if you need it you need it.

Hey dchall, question about the Spectricide you recommended. My backyard with is on a canal and lake with multiple fruit bearing trees (the biggest being the Mango, which is the area with the biggest problem with Dollarweed), any reservations about using Altrazine where I am?

Atrazine is a hormone disruptor in fish, amphibians, and...humans. Wear long sleeves, long pants, gloves, and a mask. Fortunately, the latter two are easy to come by these days!

I'd be inclined--if you want to be maximally friendly, to establish a ten foot (minimum) no fly zone where you don't use it against the canal and lake. Avoid use when heavy rain is expected within the next week (if possible).

Atrazine strongly soil-binds, hence the no-fly zone. It's less likely to leach and erosion is going to be more necessary to get it into the water.

While quoted half-lives range from 13 to about 250 days, more active and warmer soils will tend toward the former. Try to avoid use toward your "winter" in the closer areas to the canal and lake. Winter in quotes because that's not a winter. :-)

Overuse might damage the mango with overspray, and certainly don't use it on windy days. I can't find any warnings about consuming the fruit, but I might check this with a local extension office if @dchall_san_antonio doesn't answer. I haven't seen him in a number of days in any of his normal haunts (which we share).

"Morph paints, makes soap, and apparently studies chemistry."

It keeps me off the streets. At my age, hanging around with men named Bruiser and Malice at 3 AM might be a bit indecorous, if enjoyable and thoroughly reminiscent of my teens and twenties.

Did some work on the lawn over the weekend.

This one area had 3 sprinkler heads for such a small area. The rain from the gutters drained right into the side of the house. I rectified this late last year by adding an extension to the downspout so it carries the rain water well away from house past the spa. I just closed off two of the sprinkler heads. Moved the one more towards the middle so it can cover more area. Now the water will be spray away from the house instead of towards. Hopefully this helps with the water that collects at the side of the house.

So it all makes sense why this area is so bad with weeds. When you combine all the water from the rain and sprinkler heads + the huge area of shade provided by the Mango tree, and the areas in the lawn where it dips and allows the water to sit and collect.

The next move would be the level out the lawn and get it on a slight slope so the water moves away from the house. I'm guessing years of water draining right by the house is why it's sunken by almost 5 inches.. other areas are around 2-3 inches.. I think this can be fixed by just adding soil and sand, but for the area by the house I'm probably gonna have to add soil/sand and throw sod on top of it.

5 INCHES? Yikety yikes!

I used to be in the finish grading biz with my brother in law. He was the tractor driving pro with me doing the detail work up against the buildings. Look at your last picture - see the area where the shovel is? There is about 2 inches TOO MUCH soil right there sloping up to 4 inches too much soil over by the concrete slab. The part of the house which sticks outward away from the slab at the base is called the sill. There is supposed to be 4 inches visible below the sill of the house to ensure you don't get rot and a termite invasion. The sill is made of wood, so when it is buried under soil or mulch or what have you, you are asking for moisture and related problems. Just for grins, lets say you have 4 inches too much soil over an area of 60 feet by 30 feet. That amounts to 22 cubic yards too much soil. We're talking about a big 18-wheeler load of TOO MUCH soil which should be hauled away.

I'm going to recommend you get some professional landscapers to come take a look at your situation. You might look for a professional grader also. The grader is not in the landscaping business and might have a different perspective on the situation. In any case, whoever looks at this, the preferred equipment for grading or regrading is a tractor with a box blade on it. Landscapers call it a landscaper's blade. Here's a picture.

They make blades for skid steers and Bobcats, but those machines have too small a wheelbase and too high a center of gravity to do the work quickly. A tractor driver can do 5 acres in a morning while a Bobcat driver might take weeks to do 5 acres.

Dchall, are you sure? All this time I figured that it was way too low because the grass slopes downward towards the house allowing water to collect in the area. I think the weeds near the gutter sort of make it look higher than it actually is. I'm not sure we have the funds, but I'll definitely look to get this checked out if it's serious.

Armed with the information, you should never be tempted to bring in more topsoil. If the water always drains away from the house, you will likely get away with it. I see much worse situations every day, but the life of those houses is limited. At least you can see your sill.

Good call on the Spectricide. I thought maybe I didn't put down enough, but it completely torched one of the weeds after a couple days and now the dollar weeds are finally starting to wither away. The grass looks unharmed as well.

Please keep me up to date on the dollar weed. My SIL in Rockport has a yard full of it.

Will do! I'll give it another week before I see if it needs another application.

Just over two weeks now since I applied the Spectricide. That stuff worked great. The grass seems pretty much unharmed, but most of the weeds are dead or dying. Looks like a couple areas might need a second hit where the Dollar weed is more established, but in the back especially where my lawn was covered in it.. it is virtually gone.

Good news. My SIL does not see the dollar weed as a menace yet. She's lived with it for nearly 30 years.

Don't get tempted to reuse the Spectracide so soon. As you can see it is powerful medicine. If you are thinking you might need it again, I'd wait until early fall, whenever that is for you. For me it would be September, but for you it might be October. At least you'll have the confidence of having something in your pocket that will take care of the problem.