It's April 11th and my neighbors have greened up 50-70% while mine still looks like its January 1st.
Additionally, I'm committing to an organic program this spring after a brief 1-year stint 2-years ago much in part to finding a copy of Dear Dirt Doctor last month.
Background.
1. I have North Dallas clay under a well established St Augustine lawn, 25% shaded / 75% full sun.
2. Last summer I noticed an iron deficiency (yellow striping within the blades) and Calloways sold me a synthetic iron supplement which helped temporarily.
3. I used a Scott's southern lawn winterizer last October, Scott's pre-emergent in Feb, and Scott's St Augustine GreenMax (Iron boost) fertilizer in March... all part of the Scott's Master Plan.
4. Now I'm pulling Henbit, Dandelion, and Annual Blue Grass weeds out of a gray lawn while cursing "The Official Lawn Care Company of Major League Baseball"
5. Dug up a sqft and only found 1 grub.
Questions.
1. Could a disease have set in over the winter with all the snow & rain? How do I diagnose?
2. Could it be high pH clay that is creating the iron problem rather than just a lack of iron?
3. If so, would aerating and applying a top dressing be a good move immediately?
4. If so, does the pH Balanced Top Dressing from
http://www.soilbuildingsystems.com conform to an organic program?
Any other thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated!