Hello and thanks for looking and helping here.
Let me start by saying that I'm pretty GREEN when it comes to gardening and I need all your help... big time!
A little history...
The grass in the front yard and back were pretty bad with large patches and lots of bloody crabgrass (I hate that weed) I decided to have a go at retrieving the grass and getting rid of all the weeds. Guess who won... It was amazing battle which lasted for 3 months with pulling of weeds in the hundreds (well rooted crabgrass). I finally gave up the battle and retreated to fight another day.
This time in the fight I went right for the jugular and kick it's arse. I simply went ahead and scalped the grass and weeds and prepped the ground for NEW lawn. This is one way to win
I went down to Home Depot and bought a long metal rake and a gardening hoe and then nearly died prepping the ground in 100+ degree weather for 3 days.
After that I went ahead and just watered the ground and waited for weeds. Once the little buggers showed their faces I hit them big time with Round Up. This worked great and I did it again about a week later.
In my attempt to fight the devils garden, I came upon very large water bills which were a big shock to the system! It was costing a lot of money and attention (time). Don't get me wrong here, I'm enjoying going outside and getting into gardening for the first time. I found that fighting this garden was taking up a lot of time.
The only thing that I could come up with was to have a irrigation system put in. This was a time saver and money saver over time.
Now that the irrigation system and preparation work was done I went ahead and ordered the grass. I had 3750 sq ft. in the front yard. In the front yard I had a huge tree which gave out a lot of shade. Because of this I went with St. Augustine grass. I went with Bermuda grass (tif 419) in the back yard which was 8000 sq ft. Needless to say, it cost a pretty penny.
Now that all work is done now I have some questions which hopefully you maybe able to help me with. I will be on this board a lot in the coming weeks, months and years. I felt my first post should give you some idea of what I've been through and what level I'm at here right now.
Here we go then...
The back yard lawn is Bermuda tiff 409 and was installed 4 weeks this Friday. I cut the grass on 13 day and also the cut on the 21st day. The first cut was 3.25" and then the 2nd went to 2.75". What do I cut the next one? Do I keep it at 2.75" . If yes, then how long for? Should I go lower now? Can I go lower? The mower I'm using is a new Honda HRR216TDA. Any good info on this one would most welcomed.
Watering the back yard.
When I put the lawn down I watered 3 times a day. Some the grass was not growing or shocked. The lawn was laid in the 100 degree weather and you know that it's been hot here for about 40 days. I called the company who sold me the grass and he said water well in the morning and then do 4 short watering throughout the day. This really help bring back the grass right away. Now that the grass is almost 1 month old what kind of watering should I do now. Should I water in the morning or night? What's a good time to water? Should I water twice a day once a day? Should it be every day but just once a day? Any info on this would a great help. I have irrigation system rotors in the back yard.
Weeds in the back yard.
I've taken some photos of the weeds I'm fighting right now. I don't now what this weed is put for now I'll call it "scum bag" weed. This bloody weed keeps coming back. I've tried everything.
Ref# in the corner of the photos.....
A - 01 ... shows what the weeds looks like. You can see these weeds popping up above the Bermuda grass. When I cut the lawn, these weeds grow much faster than the grass.
A - 02 ... gives you a close up of the weed mixed in with the Bermuda grass
A - 03 ... shows 3 weeds I pulled
A - 04 ... shows a close up of the weed
A - 05 ... shows a close up of the weed root
Any help with this weed would be a great help - I HATE THIS WEED!
Lastly on the back yard. I have a set of photos to show you on what's happening to some of the grass in parts of the lawn. I think it maybe just some shock or it's simply dying. It also could be shade. I'm having some tree pruning done to help with the shade.
Here's the photos
C - 01 ... this shows the patch I'm talking about. There are about 3 or 4 of these on the lawn. This is the worst one.
C - 02 ... this shows a close up of the damage
C - 03 ... in this photo you can see that the grass is very thin - When looking at this from a angle it looks pretty good until you get up to it, then you see the grass is pretty thin. I have a lot grass that looks like this in mostly shady areas. I don't think the shade is helping the grass and I believe it only gets about 2 to 3 hours of sun light a day. This is why I'm pruning the trees. Will this grass come back when I cut the trees back and more sunlight comes in or is the grass dead and should I think about seeding these area. Any help in this would be a great help - cheers
The front lawn....
The front lawn was laid 12 days ago and is St. Augustine grass. I'm watering 3 times a day right now. I water at 8.30 am 1.30 pm and 5.30 pm - I water 15 minutes on the sprinkler and 30 minutes on rotors each session.
The photos...
These photos shows the St. Augustine grass height and condition
B - 01 ... this photo shows the height of the grass - approximately 5 inches - some grass is taller put most of it is around 5"
B - 02 ... this photo shows the condition of the grass so far which looks like it has a lot of dead grass or thatch (brown straw like stuff) in it.
B - 03 ... this photo gives you a better idea of the grass from distance
My questions are.. Do I keep watering 3 times a day? for how long? Will the grass spread out and get fuller? When will it be time to cut the lawn. Remember it's only 12 days old today. This grass is growing tall. Any help in this area will help a lot - cheers
Well that's it for now and hopefully I did not impose too much on you all.
Every bit of advise is most welcomed.
O yes I forgot - When do I use fertilizer? and what do I buy? do I go organic or Scotts?
Do you have any Ideas what would be good - cheers
anyway. thanks for your help again
BigGreenToes