First of all it is nice to know which grass you have. If your yard has been installed in the last 15 years, chances are you have Floratam. There is not much difference between the two, except Floratam is more chinch bug resistant than St. Augustine. The chinch bug is very common to either grass and can devastate a yard in a matter of weeks. Most people’s biggest mistake is they think the grass is not getting enough water and they increase the water times instead of treating the pest. They seem to attack at the times of year when we have the least rainfall, the spring and fall.
Fertilizer
I recommend a fertilizer application with an insecticide in the spring and fall. Changing the insecticide choice from time to time is always a good idea so the insects to not build up an immunity to any one insecticide. This application twice a year will also keep those nasty fire ants under control. You should always try and keep a slow feed fertilizer out there to keep lawn healthy so weeds can not take over your yard. A weed and feed fertilizer one time per year will help in this task. I would do this around late November about 6 weeks after your application on fertilizer with insecticide. Two other applications during the year with organic base fertilizer should keep everything growing proper and ensuring that minimal fertilizer leaches out of the root zone.
Mowing
Your mowing should be done a height of cut you want for your lawn, anywhere from 1 inch to 2 inches is fine for this grass. It is important to try not to remove more than 1/3 of the leaf blade each mowing. This means in the growing months of Southwest Florida (for example) between April and October grass should be mowed at least one time per week. I am always asked if it matters to bag the grass or to let it recycle in the ground and the answer is, it does not really matter. Personally I think if you are having weed issues you are better bagging until they are under control. This will keep the weed seeds from spreading further. Once they are under control let the grass recycle the nutrients into the ground, this will in one years time give you the equivalent of one fertilization application.
Grooming
If you notice after a couple of years your yard is getting spongy, well it is! This is caused by thatch building up. Thatch is organic matter that has not yet composed. Not bagging your grass does accelerate this process, but not too much. What I like to do is scalp the yard going into rainy season. By this I mean mow at regular height and then lower another ½ inch to 1 inch or half of what you normally mow your yard. One time per year after a couple of years if it is not improving then you may need to do some vertical mowing and removing of excess grass. Your grass will look a little rough for a couple of weeks, but in the long run you will have a healthier and safer lawn.
