[acegator]

Hello all and thank you for allow me into the community. I live in Louisiana which is like most of the south gumbo clay soil. The harsh winter combined with bad drainage my lawn had pretty much destroyed my centipede and made me decide to start over with St Augustine (drainage issues fixed)

- April I killed the entire lawn with Glysophate , I then tilled the entire lawn up bringing in River Silt as I can get that cheap here and tilled it in with the remaining top soil and thick gumbo clay. .

- May - Installed St Augustine Sod and kept it well irrigated per everyone's suggestions with deep soakings allowing the soil to dry out between soakings (i have irrigation)

I had already expected to have an infestation of sedge because as much as you try to amend the soil here you can only put so much money into these things .. The soil is better than it was but still needs work and remains somewhat soggy..

Questions:

- The sod has been installed a month would it be safe to spray Blindside or Dismiss? The LCN stated Dismiss was a little easier on St Augustine (I have both) Sedge loves moist soil so I have backed off watering to once a week and measured it at 1.5 inches per week.

- Are there additional steps I can take to continue to improve this soil? I thought about getting some coarse builder's sand and mix it with some compost to help these soggier areas.

Some steps I have taken for new sod

- treated for fungus (had this over the winter)
- fertilized with milorganite
- treated for grubs
- ordered the N-Ext products.. my soil still sucks so I will try anything.

Thanks everyone.

 

[balistek]

not a professional, here but wouldn't sedgehammer be easier on new turf. I'll wait for confirmation. GreenDoc states dismiss can be harsh on St. Aug, Especially with our climate aka hot weather ( I am from Southern Louisiana). Nice to see another fellow Louisiana person. seems to be an influx lately.

Welcome to the forum. IT is a great place.

 

[Movingshrub]

Why not use Sedgehammer or Certainty? Both are labeled for St Aug.

I don't think Dismiss is labeled for St Aug, so I'd double check the label.

 

[Greendoc]

Dismiss is labeled. But not my go to for application to St Augustine. Reason why the LCN found Blindside to be harsh is that the label rate of that product applies the annual maximum of Sulfentrazone and a very high rate of Metsulfuron Methyl. The annual maximum of Sulfentrazone applied in one application will scorch turf. Rates of Metsulfuron Methyl over the equivalent of 0.5 oz per acre as the 60 DF will cause extensive stunting and yellowing even in labeled turf species. Sedgehammer or Certainty are safe. Especially if applied as a broadcast spray. Calibrated broadcast sprays are less likely to cause damage vs a spot spray applying an undetermined amount to each spot.

 

[acegator]

Thanks for the advice here. Would you wait until I get the St Augustine to fully fill in? I have some area's that are not dead as you see in the pic but just look completely flat without any vertical growth I do see the runners are healthy though just stunted growth. My fear is the sedge will continue to get worse though... I did mow and raised the blades to 4" on my toro push.

 

[acegator]

not a professional, here but wouldn't sedgehammer be easier on new turf. I'll wait for confirmation. GreenDoc states dismiss can be harsh on St. Aug, Especially with our climate aka hot weather ( I am from Southern Louisiana). Nice to see another fellow Louisiana person. seems to be an influx lately.

Welcome to the forum. IT is a great place.

Nice to meet you I believe a ton of Louisiana people are on as we had a very harsh winter here with a ton of rain.. I used to completely scalp my Centipede not knowing I was only destroying my lawn by doing so and I got fungus back in March that completely took over the lawn.

 

[Greendoc]

Thanks for the advice here. Would you wait until I get the St Augustine to fully fill in? I have some area's that are not dead as you see in the pic but just look completely flat without any vertical growth I do see the runners are healthy though just stunted growth. My fear is the sedge will continue to get worse though... I did mow and raised the blades to 4" on my toro push.

It will get worse before it gets better. My advice would be to let it ALL emerge while giving the grass a chance to establish then treat it right as it is about to or in the process of flowering. Spraying as soon as you see the first signs of it is actually too soon. You will miss what has yet to emerge unless your application consists of Dismiss or Image. Those 2 products have considerable activity through the soil. But, that soil activity also carries the cost of possible harm to new grass.

 

[CenlaLowell]

I would let all the St Augustine connect before spraying any chemical. Great to.see more people with st Augustine lawns here

 

[Stellar P]

Great to.see more people with st Augustine lawns here

+1 :thumbup:

 

[stakenshake]

I'm a fellow Lafayette parish resident myself. Nice to see that I'm not the only one here struggling with my lawn this year. You could try a light rate of blindside on a portion of the lawn to see if it would have any issues and then do the rest a little later.

 

[balistek]

Greendoc recommended some quicksilver and Image for nutsedges. If any of you locals want to do a split. Let me know. 145 for the bottle is alil pricey.

Hey Stakenshake. I lived in lafayette for about 7 months. Worked at UMC. Nice town. Traffic can suck. But nice place

 

[Ecks from Tex]

Let it grow

Then you mow

Spraying is a no-no

 

[RaginCajun]

Lafayette Parish (ossun) resident here. This weather is crazy. Trying to seed (actually succeeding) has been fun. Good luck and if you are looking to split costs on any herbicide / Pre emergent email me. I'm game to split cost.