Just about done getting my new sprinkler system complete and I'm going to Roto-Till my entire front yard, its currently a crap ton of different kinds of weeds/sandspurs. After I Till, I want to treat the soil/dirt/sand with something to make sure all bugs/weeds are dead before I lay my sod & I was looking for some recomendations.. Also, what is know to be the cheapest places locally for St.Augustine/Flortam Thanks much

I've been using QuikPro but it's probably not the best thing to be spraying all over the place

Spray round up on the yard before you till. Wait a couple weeks for everything to die, you might have to spray it twice.

Till, rake Milorganite, bug killer and level. Water everything in really good.
Wait a couple weeks after spraying the roundup before you lay anything new down.

Find something else other than St. Augustine or Flortam or you will most likely repeat this process every 5-7 years if not sooner.

I put empire zoysia on my yard 3 summers ago and it's way easier to maintain than St. Augustine. Bahai is not as pretty but it's also cheaper and easier to deal with than st augustine.


Or you can scalp the yard with a mower, round up and rake as best as possible. Zoysia will take like this as well.

Foam got it exactly right. I also did zoysia and really like it. I got mine from Cypress Mulch & Sod north of Port St John on US1, 321-267-4312. Aloha!

I'd love to see some pics of your Zoysia lawns bob/foam if you could post some

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Exotica Tropicals
Plant Nursery
Brevard Florida

Thanks for the response guys, and i agree, what does zoysia look like/behave compared to st.augustine (water requirements, rate of growth, etc) I have two small children and im ready to have a nice lawn for them to play in without sand spurs and weeds. lol

If you have a good sun exposure, I think zoysia is a good choice- its much softer than St. Aug.

I have some patches of it in my yard, and where there is sun it has done well.


Its look is sortof a cross between bermuda and augustine- the blade is thinner/softer than st. aug and it seems to hug the ground more.

I'm not sure how a whole yard looks over the colder months- if it browns out some or what- but in the wet, hotter months it gets a deep green


compared to weeds and spurs, your kids will be in heaven

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Exotica Tropicals
Plant Nursery
Brevard Florida

It has done well both in the sun and partial shade around my house. THe areas that are shaded tend to be slightly thinner and grow slower.
The biggest issue with shade is all the crap that falls from the trees. If not raked up it will cause a thatch and create issues. I personally can't rake up the acorns fast enough at certain times of the year.

I have laid zoysia sod on the front and plugged many bare spots in the back. Plugs work good but they are slow.

It is a dream to to walk around bare footed in, unlike st augustine. It resist chinch bugs and is easier to maintain. Overall a much easier grass to maintain.

Water requirements are about the same even though it is touted as being more drought tolerant. Although it won't die immediatly the leaves will wilt and turn brown. With a bit of water the blades perk up. If you let it go too far the grass blades can die but the the stolons will send up new chutes of grass after a good watering. I tested its tolerance and killed some spots on accident after forgetting to turn on my sprinkler for 2 weeks at the end of last summer Watering twice a week seems to be enough except this time of the year when the humidity is low.

With the freezes it can go dormant and brown. It greens up in the spring.

Use 16-4-8 slow release to keep it green without causing overgrowth and thatch issues.

That's all I know

Here is a picture of the yard a couple years ago.

Looks beautiful, thanks for the input guys. I'm pretty much convinced at this point

Ya, o2flow and myself are sold on the zoysia i believe at this point.. just gotta nuke it and till and im ready, sprinklers are tuned in awsome at this point, ran them on the time at 6am without a hitch this morning! weee

The yard look great foam-

thanks for the pic.


Hows the zoysia look these days?

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Exotica Tropicals
Plant Nursery
Brevard Florida

Foam, your lawn is beautiful. What type of mower (rotary or reel) are you using to cut the zoysia?

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Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.

what kind of tree is that at the top right side of the pic?

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If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

Thanks for the compliments, I wish it looked like this at the moment. It's hurting a bit from neglect and also coming out from a partially brown/dormant winter stage. Having said that it still looks better than 99% of yards I see
The tree in the right hand corner is a crepe myrtle.

Once it greens up a bit I will post another picture so you can compare after a couple years of use. A before and after if you will.

Mowing is done with a normal mower. It might look better with a reel mower but I don't have one.

I'd actually like to see it at its brownest- just to get an idea of what the low point of the year might look like

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Exotica Tropicals
Plant Nursery
Brevard Florida

here is a great empire grass website.

http://www.empireturf.com/



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surf forecast

QuimB -

 

http://www.empireturf.com/where_to_buy.shtml?grasstypes=1&zipcode=32937&type=1&submit=Go

 

Thanks for the link Dave.

Paddleout, I will try to take a picture this weekend. I just got done cutting it a bit low and raking all the thatch out. It can require the occasional raking to keep it healthy.

One of my neighbors has it and his went completely golden brown for the winter two years ago. As Spring came and the temps warm his greened up completely within a month. Mine has never gone completely brown.

As a side note if you use a high nitrogen fertilizer like scotts it will grow a lot faster than it needs to. This can cause excessive thatch, which is what I'm trying to fix at the moment.
I have found the Lesco 16-4-8 sold at home depot to green it without causing a growth flush.


When picking your supplier see if you can see samples. Mine came from bethel farms which suppplies home depot. Their quality at the time I got mine might as well have gone on a golf course.
On the flip side I have seen Empire from Duda and it was ratty, unhealthy looking and weed infested right off the pallet. If you can see a palllet before you buy you will have a good idea of what you are getting.

Thanks Foam-

whats exactly is thatch? and how do tree droppings help form it?

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Exotica Tropicals
Plant Nursery
Brevard Florida