- The first thing to do is have the soil from your lawn area tested, which will
tell you
what kind of fertilizer to use and whether you need to apply lime to your soil.
Contact
the County Extension office (535-0885) for soil testing information.
Apply a pre-emergent herbicide to your grass in mid-February, followed by another application in May. "Scalp" your lawn as low as you can in the spring, after danger of frost (usually March 15 in East Texas). Remove the residue. This will help your lawn green up quickly.
Using the fertilizer information from your soil test, apply your first fertilizer in April (after your second mowing). Packaged fertilizers are labeled with three numbers, which represent the amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, respectively, that the fertilizer provides. The typical 3-1-2 ratio fertilizer (for example, the numbers 15-5-10 on the bag) should be applied at a rate equivalent to 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. You should use a 3-1-2 ratio fertilizer unless your soil test indicated otherwise.
St. Augustine grass in sunny areas should be mowed to about two-and-a-half inches tall. St. Augustine in shady areas should be mowed to about three-and-a-half inches. Those lengths will help promote strong root growth but may mean you'll need to mow your lawn more than once a week in the summer.
Keep the blade of your mower sharp. Dull blades leave a dull, ragged cut and an opportunity for diseases to infiltrate your lawn.
Mow with a mulching mower and don't bag the clippings. By leaving them on the lawn, you'll return organic material to the soil.
John Childs, Smith County Master Gardener
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