2022 Lawn and Landscape

[cactusflinthead 27,627]

3 minutes ago, markstanco said:

Curious, agronomy classes? Degree? Or self learned? I took some agro classes and you seem well read on it.

A peculiar journey of work and finally getting a degree. I started at Texas and had way too much fun and then spent the next years working. It finally dawned on me that I should go back to class. I got the degree at Tarleton and got paid. I've spent more than 30 years doing something with plants. The last ten or so have been mostly dealing with chemicals and what gets called agronomy. 

I still get spotted as the lone Longhorn in a room full of aggy.

 

[troph 25,224]

Well our yard project ended up being a bit of a disaster. We never got our rain water system to fill enough to have the water we needed coupled with the extreme heat and we planted it in the spring, it ultimately died from a lack of water and stupid extreme heat. Or died enough. 

side rant, septic systems are designed for old style water use and arcane number of bath rooms. all the low flow appliances make it a total mismatch. And on top of that you’re not supposed to have a sprinkler system over a septic field. and on top of that you have to have a yard for the septic discharge. It’s super stupid.

we replanted in November, we have plenty of rain water now but we added a sprinkler system and hooked up to the local water supply - for profit company not the city and not a MUD. So we can now water over and above the septic subject to restrictions.

take two…

 

Edited February 16 by troph

[Chapo 104]

My St. Augustine yard (in Houston) has been a disaster since the drought and water restriction last summer.  There are many patches where all I see are grassroots.  Is this salvageable or should I just go ahead rip everything out and put down new turf? 

[UTGrad98 2,332]

We are in the process of redoing our grass. Our St Augustine just cant handle year after year of the drought and 60+ days of 100+ temps without constant watering which I refuse to do for both conservation and monetary reasons.

I live in the DFW area. I want to use a seeded grass and want to water once a week. Which seeded grass can we use? What is the best way to plant it?

[cactusflinthead 27,627]

On 2/22/2024 at 5:56 PM, Chapo said:

My St. Augustine yard (in Houston) has been a disaster since the drought and water restriction last summer.  There are many patches where all I see are grassroots.  Is this salvageable or should I just go ahead rip everything out and put down new turf? 

Oof. Yeah it might be a good idea to reboot. Bermuda is a lot more forgiving than St A.

1 minute ago, UTGrad98 said:

We are in the process of redoing our grass. Our St Augustine just cant handle year after year of the drought and 60+ days of 100+ temps without constant watering which I refuse to do for both conservation and monetary reasons.

I live in the DFW area. I want to use a seeded grass and want to water once a week. Which seeded grass can we use? What is the best way to plant it?

Growing from seed is tricky in the first stage of germination. It has very little root system. Frequent, short duration watering is best, morning, noon and night. Once it gets some roots going you can do the longer less frequent watering, but it's touch and go for the first month or so. As far as kind of turf, it's bermudagrass, buffalo, or zoysia. St. A has a very low germination rate which is why you don't see it anywhere. Zoysia or bermudagrass would be my recommendation and of those two I'd call bermudagrass the more forgiving of cutting back on water in drought conditions. 

[cactusflinthead 27,627]

Added

The reason I left out buffalograss is because Houston. It is very very tolerant of low water conditions but it will suffer from too much. Again it's a change from germination to turf maintenance level watering. Once it gets established it's really tough. A pound of N per year is the standard rec. That's next to nothing. 

 

For the record I water once a week. Maybe twice if I am feeling generous. Bermuda doesn't give a shit. It did fine with the drought last summer.

[kmac30 416]

I just tore up my front yard to put in a driveway. We had St A and I was considering making a change. The problem is I start looking at cost. I would need roughly 21-24 pallets to cover the area I really want done. I could get away with St A and only need 10 pallets (there is still some st a alive I believe). My backyard is all St A as well but I’m going to hold off until I put in a pool. The driveway went over budget, so I’m trying to keep costs in check. Could I seed and be successful with Bermuda?

I’ll add that my sprinklers run off a well so if I need to water heavy to start that’s not an extra expense.

[Catpfish 618]

17 minutes ago, kmac30 said:

I just tore up my front yard to put in a driveway. We had St A and I was considering making a change. The problem is I start looking at cost. I would need roughly 21-24 pallets to cover the area I really want done. I could get away with St A and only need 10 pallets (there is still some st a alive I believe). My backyard is all St A as well but I’m going to hold off until I put in a pool. The driveway went over budget, so I’m trying to keep costs in check. Could I seed and be successful with Bermuda?

I’ll add that my sprinklers run off a well so if I need to water heavy to start that’s not an extra expense.

I would suggest a hybrid bermuda as opposed to straight bermuda.  The drawback is that many don't grow via seed, so you have to sod them, which you've already seen the price.  They tend to be more traffic and drought tolerant (at least according to what I read on the internet).  I have TexTurf 10 and watered once a week during the drought.  The yard was finally starting to brown when the heat broke and I mow it fairly short with a powered reel mower.

 

 

[Chapo 104]

7 hours ago, cactusflinthead said:

Oof. Yeah it might be a good idea to reboot. Bermuda is a lot more forgiving than St A.

Growing from seed is tricky in the first stage of germination. It has very little root system. Frequent, short duration watering is best, morning, noon and night. Once it gets some roots going you can do the longer less frequent watering, but it's touch and go for the first month or so. As far as kind of turf, it's bermudagrass, buffalo, or zoysia. St. A has a very low germination rate which is why you don't see it anywhere. Zoysia or bermudagrass would be my recommendation and of those two I'd call bermudagrass the more forgiving of cutting back on water in drought conditions. 

I will have to go seeds all the way here as I'm not gonna spend money on sod. We might have another drought this year and I'm back at the same place next February.

[cactusflinthead 27,627]

This is a pretty good rundown for planting seed. 

https://storables.com/garden/when-to-plant-bermuda-grass-seed-in-texas/

[cactusflinthead 27,627]

Utah

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/turf-buyback-program-utah-lawn/

In January, the state legislature proposed earmarking $12 million to continue paying residents to give their thirsty, high-maintenance grass the old heave-ho.

Since 2019, Utah’s turf buyback program has helped homeowners pull up over four million square feet of lawn. In return, participants get cash to landscape with climate-approved plants or hardscaping.

[cactusflinthead 27,627]

Gonna drop this in here if anyone in the Austin area needs some fences built

 

[Mother mopar 3,383]

Has anybody had experience with MSM turf on Bahia grass? Besides measuring it out in grams like a drug dealer, reviews seem positive...assuming correct dosing.

Follow-up
So mixed .062 of a gram to 2 gallons and sprayed, nothing happened. Then I redid my math...again and forgot to move the decimal over. So remixed this morning at .50 of a gram to 2 gallons of water and sprayed. Rounded down for a safer margin of error.

For spot spraying, it is 1 gram per 4 gallons of water. So, it should be good. If that works in the next few weeks, I'll broadcast spray at a lower rate, say .33g to kill my buttonweeds, dollarweeds, broadleaf, etc.

[The Royal We 3,100]

10 minutes ago, Mother mopar said:

Follow-up
So mixed .062 of a gram to 2 gallons and sprayed, nothing happened. Then I redid my math...again and forgot to move the decimal over. So remixed this morning at .50 of a gram to 2 gallons of water and sprayed. Rounded down for a safer margin of error.

For spot spraying, it is 1 gram per 4 gallons of water. So, it should be good. If that works in the next few weeks, I'll broadcast spray at a lower rate, say .33g to kill my buttonweeds, dollarweeds, broadleaf, etc.



 

The guy who works on my yard swears by MSM turf and said he used it at his own house to knock out Bahia. I used it last year in my yard for the first time and had good results after bumping up the mixture on my 2nd batch. I used a 15 gallon sprayer in the back of my side by side and think I did .3 oz per gallon of water. It worked so much better than relying on weed and feed.

[freyguy 4,368]

Even though the oak leaf shit drives me crazy, I do love being able to rake it all up, break off all the dead plants in the garden, and then burn the shit out of everything in the fire pit.

[cactusflinthead 27,627]

[BottleRocket 659]

PSA:  Lowes is having their yearly sale on mulch.  50% off.  $2 / bag.

[Tailgate 3,074]

Landscaper friends- how can I tell what type of Bermuda grass I have? I called to get some delivered for a backyard area I need to sod. They said they had three different kinds…when I look online it’s difficult to tell.

[cactusflinthead 27,627]

29 minutes ago, Tailgate said:

Landscaper friends- how can I tell what type of Bermuda grass I have? I called to get some delivered for a backyard area I need to sod. They said they had three different kinds…when I look online it’s difficult to tell.

I can tell between common and hybrid but that's about it.

[troph 25,224]

Fingers crossed I annihilated yucca bugs with my homemade insecticidal soap mix. It’s dark but earlier today I sprayed a whole infestation and tonight I shook the branches and they all fell to the ground with no resistance. 
 

let’s hope troph versus bugs round one went to the trophster. 
 

[BurntOrange&White 41,857]

Anyone in the San Antonio area ever use zoysia? How is it in the shade/sides of house? I don't want to invest a ton of money up front so was thinking of just getting some zoysia all in 1 seed and spreading after trying to get weeds under control. 

 

[Post Oak 20,564]

On 2/29/2024 at 2:51 PM, cactusflinthead said:

Utah

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/turf-buyback-program-utah-lawn/

In January, the state legislature proposed earmarking $12 million to continue paying residents to give their thirsty, high-maintenance grass the old heave-ho.

Since 2019, Utah’s turf buyback program has helped homeowners pull up over four million square feet of lawn. In return, participants get cash to landscape with climate-approved plants or hardscaping.

What a great idea.  Texas needs to do something like this on a statewide level.

[troph 25,224]

On 2/16/2024 at 7:33 AM, troph said:

Well our yard project ended up being a bit of a disaster. We never got our rain water system to fill enough to have the water we needed coupled with the extreme heat and we planted it in the spring, it ultimately died from a lack of water and stupid extreme heat. Or died enough. 

side rant, septic systems are designed for old style water use and arcane number of bath rooms. all the low flow appliances make it a total mismatch. And on top of that you’re not supposed to have a sprinkler system over a septic field. and on top of that you have to have a yard for the septic discharge. It’s super stupid.

we replanted in November, we have plenty of rain water now but we added a sprinkler system and hooked up to the local water supply - for profit company not the city and not a MUD. So we can now water over and above the septic subject to restrictions.

take two…

 

Well take two is kicking it emerald green style! Palisades zoysia - had a hard go with the freeze in January only planting late fall but it’s roaring back. Organic fertilizer, no herbicides, I’ve done 1000 squats pulling spring weeds while the grass established even used vinegar solution some for some weed patches that broke out where the grass was initially barren, but now here we are! grade high enough for septic approval too so that nightmare is over (8 mos ago). Gonna treat it to some compost either fall or next spring and then it’s on like Donkey Kong.
 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 18 by troph

[troph 25,224]

On 4/23/2024 at 10:01 PM, troph said:

Fingers crossed I annihilated yucca bugs with my homemade insecticidal soap mix. It’s dark but earlier today I sprayed a whole infestation and tonight I shook the branches and they all fell to the ground with no resistance. 
 

let’s hope troph versus bugs round one went to the trophster. 
 

Took about 10 days of vigilance but troph won with no harsh chemicals! 

Three of the four in this pic…

 

Edited May 18 by troph

[troph 25,224]

Ok last landscape post today…

For those thinking about outdoor lighting … we also installed (ourselves) Phillips Hue outdoor lighting. It’s not cheap but it’s a super easy install which makes it a money saver on labor (DIY in a weekend). you don’t need any fancy controllers or set ups and all connectors, transformers and plugs are water proof if installed correctly (which is intuitive and fool proof). so you don’t need a contractor. Operates on the Zigbee platform which creates a mesh network. We use Zigbee all over our house so the outdoor network just picks it up and spreads the mesh easy. The system is super reliable (so far), has a dimmer and infinite color options. Operates on your phone. It’s pretty spectacular imo. You do have to be a little techie (that’s not me). Probably spent $2000 on parts for what you see here, and saved easily that on labor and probably more if we hired a company that specializes in outdoor lighting. 
 

 

full disclosure we turn off ALL outdoor lights at 11pm to give the bugs and nocturnal creatures a break.  

Edited May 18 by troph

[AUinHsv 584]

On 5/10/2024 at 12:30 PM, BurntOrange&White said:

Anyone in the San Antonio area ever use zoysia? How is it in the shade/sides of house? I don't want to invest a ton of money up front so was thinking of just getting some zoysia all in 1 seed and spreading after trying to get weeds under control. 

 

Not in SA or even Austin anymore but first question is what type? I put in Palisades in Austin and saw Troph did the same. My research came back with Palisades was the best option for the heat. I did not have shade worth anything and the back yard faced west. I let the #$&!!!! St Augustine die in the previous summer inferno and put zoysia in April. Here are a couple of pictures from June/July. Also added 10 feet of gravel to avoid maintenance on that section. Also no comments on why I had a rain gauge - optimistic.

Edited May 18 by AUinHsv

[troph 25,224]

Palisades is doing well in the shade, longer blades not as thick but it’s working. I’ll let you know in 3-4 months if it’s totally legit but that side yard pic gets a lot of shade, a lot.

we also have a ton of rock/gravel space to reduce the turf square footage. That side yard and the front small square probably 10x10 is the only turf not on top of a septic field.

Edited May 18 by troph

[BurntOrange&White 41,857]

On 5/18/2024 at 4:22 PM, troph said:

Palisades is doing well in the shade, longer blades not as thick but it’s working. I’ll let you know in 3-4 months if it’s totally legit but that side yard pic gets a lot of shade, a lot.

we also have a ton of rock/gravel space to reduce the turf square footage. That side yard and the front small square probably 10x10 is the only turf not on top of a septic field.

Yeah I've nailed my list down to either emerald or palisades zoysia. My front yard is well shaded because we have some big trees and I really don't want to cut them until they start getting close to hitting sides of our house/front porch. I found a place here in SA that does pallets of palisades for $365/ea.

 

I initially thought Texas St Augustine but I don't like the runners of St Augustine nor do I like the mow length. 

 

@AUinHsv

Edited May 22 by BurntOrange&White

[cactusflinthead 27,627]

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/emerald-ash-borer-fort-worth-botanic-garden-treatement/3575821/

Ash borers strike again.

If you haul firewood from a quarantined area to anywhere else you are an asshole.

That's how it got to Ft. Worth and Arkansas. Someone loaded up FUCKING FIREWOOD and moved it with the rest of the household. The Arkansas outbreak was hunters hauling it to the camp because dumbassery.

Oak Wilt can spread by firewood getting moved to a new area because the vector beetle lays eggs and then they hatch and pass on the pathogen after a quick nibble on the transport. That's how it got to Glen Rose. It's now a primary reason why outbreaks of Emerald Ash Beetles appear far beyond their current range. 

 

 

[SquishMitten 10,497]

Having trouble finding a good answer about dealing with whatever this is. I’m guessing it’s a kind of fungal/mold problem, but the solutions I’ve read all seem to be scrubbing the shit off by hand. This is a huge fucking cactus and ain’t no way I’m doing that. Any suggestions on a spray or something?

[McFly 606]

I don't know what that is but I'd try some neem oil first. Spray it on after the sun is down or not shining on it. If that doesn't start to clear it up you might look at a systemic fungicide.

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2,779]

Tif 419 lawn and I’m getting some spots like this.
Plenty of water so what gives?

[NoName 17,148]

22 hours ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

Tif 419 lawn and I’m getting some spots like this.
Plenty of water so what gives?

Fungus or localized dry spots maybe? 

[3adays 454]

Does anyone have a recommendation for killing spotted spurge on a Bermuda lawn? I keep seeing this stuff recommended, but for some reason Amazon won’t ship it to me in the Austin area. Anything else that would work? 

Also, any thoughts on fertilizing right now? Normally I’d be hesitant to do it this time of the year, but with a good amount of rain and cooler temperatures I’m thinking of doing it. 
 

[TexEx15 17,939]

For the love of god what is this shit? It happens during the heat of the summer sporadically around the yard. Then during the spring everything grows back and looks great only for new patches to pop up during the summer. I can’t figure out what to do.

[cactusflinthead 27,627]

8 minutes ago, TexEx15 said:

For the love of god what is this shit? It happens during the heat of the summer sporadically around the yard. Then during the spring everything grows back and looks great only for new patches to pop up during the summer. I can’t figure out what to do.

Fungal. The damage is being done when it looks fine in the spring. The best times to spray is coming out of dormancy and going into it 

Which product is a matter of debate. I prefer to start with T-methyl. 

[troph 25,224]

On 5/18/2024 at 4:22 PM, troph said:

Palisades is doing well in the shade, longer blades not as thick but it’s working. I’ll let you know in 3-4 months if it’s totally legit but that side yard pic gets a lot of shade, a lot.

we also have a ton of rock/gravel space to reduce the turf square footage. That side yard and the front small square probably 10x10 is the only turf not on top of a septic field.

Update on shade… first two pics are the side yard, it gets more sun in the summer than I expected but that cedar tree and up against the house in the shade there is pretty heavy shade (the cedar tree shade cover moves through the day). you can see it's hanging in there pretty well, even thriving. It's a tad thinner than the moderate sun areas but it's more than acceptable.

The third pic is under the pool overflow / zero edge basin which does not go down to the ground so there is essentially a 2-2.5 foot ledge that shades over the grass under it starting around 11:30am or so and it's shade for the rest of the day. So less than 4 hours of direct sun light and it's very happy.

The fourth and last pic is full sun.

 

Edited July 31 by troph

[troph 25,224]

On 7/14/2024 at 8:41 AM, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

Tif 419 lawn and I’m getting some spots like this.
Plenty of water so what gives?

We have something similar it’s odd though it follows the outline of the sod squares to an extent… and it was the first to fry at the beginning of the summer in the part of the yard that is full sun from start of the morning until after 5pm. At least 10 hours maybe as much as 11 or 12 of full summer sun.

 

 

Edited July 31 by troph

[Tailgate 3,074]

Having similar issues here. Thought is was lack of water as irrigation and grass are 4+ months new…but irrigation team said it’s something else.

[Viper 12,219]

Is this Botrytis on the rose buds of my knockout rose?

Edited August 9 by Viper

[Mother mopar 3,383]

Update after 3 applications of MSM, I've gotten the yard looking much better. Still have a few weeds and couple of clumps of Bahia grass, but better than before.

[HiggyBaby 2,617]

So I’d like to train this ivy to grow up the brick. Any tips to help it along?

[kmac30 416]

I need to level my yard. It’s St Augustine. I’ve seen a ton of videos with Bermuda or zoysia, can I cut it short and do the same thing? I would replace it all and start over, but I’m looking at ~3 acres. Do I need to wait until spring?

[InkaUtexas 26,869]

On 8/19/2024 at 8:08 AM, HiggyBaby said:

So I’d like to train this ivy to grow up the brick. Any tips to help it along?

Could start with a bamboo trellis with wire to hold it up. Or get one of the metal trellis at home depot/lowes. Just needs some help to get going.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10,803]

Might have more meaning over here vs celebrity deal pool thread, but saw long time This Old House alum Robert Cook passed away this week. He had stepped back from TOH a few years back due to illness.  His Massachusetts accent was an iconic part of the show.

 

 

[Post Oak 20,564]

I've never missed an episode of TOH. It's one of my favorite shows ever. Even since I was a kid. Tom Silva is a god. 

I knew Roger was sick but this is a terrible update. Roger seemed like a good guy and was great on the show. 

Rest easy Roger.  Thanks for the memories.

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2,779]

What is getting in our flower beds?
Any help here?

[Classic Rock 291]

Could be an Armadillo.

[thunderlounge 8,409]

Too clean for that. 

[kmac30 416]

Can anyone tell me what this is? St Augustine