“De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

[Seveen]

Re: “De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

i got a letter from the homeowners association "encouraging" me to do something with my lawn

it appears the $600 worth of sod i bought last year - froze during the hard freezes this winter

i called someone to give me an estimate for a xeriscape (ecoscape) - i am going to get out of mowing, watering and fertilizing grass one way or another

i absolutely hate grass!

[Laurel]

Re: “De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

Roots - your funny cracked me up too ...

good fun -

Seveen ... **UGH** ...hope you figure something out -

[Seveen]

Re: “De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

this is what this city girl is dealing with

[sistacaf]

Re: “De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

you could do somethin like this instead:






<span style="font-weight: bold">this one is really cool; it's made with with 'landscaping glass'</span>

[Seveen]

Re: “De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

i like those

gonna make sure they put that cloth down so i don't end up with a front yard full of weeds

i'm excited about it - except paying for it

[23JAM00]

Re: “De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

Seveen grass doesn't freeze. it goes dormant during the cold weather. Your pictures look like something has eaten the grass like grubs or disease type thing, because it isn't the whole lawn, just parts of it.

Mine is few and far between too. I just had someone aerate and now I need weed and feed and some grass seed.

My bamboo died tho and that's what really makes me sad and mad The leaves turned brown and fell off.......so much for hardy bamboo that invades everything (as I was told) The cold here in GA killed it

[Seveen]

Re: “De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

it freezes here - see below

Florida's frozen lawns are chance for do-over and do away with St. Augustine grass
By Dan DeWitt, Times Columnist

Published Tuesday, February 23, 2010


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This winter's frigid weather may have killed not only your palms and tropical shrubs, but also your entire lawn.

&quot;St. Augustine grasses such as Floratam can freeze dead,&quot; said Jim Moll, Hernando County's urban horticulture extension agent.

To which I'm tempted to say, &quot;Hooray!&quot;

I'll refrain because I know how brutally expensive it is to re-landscape a yard, and I know that a lot of people plain can't afford it right now — and that the shabbiest corners of the county would look even worse as miniature dust bowls than they do as St. Augustine prairies.

Still, I hate Floratam.

One of the most common lawn coverings in the state, it was bred to resist chinch bugs. But, as most homeowners know, these insects have evolved to view Floratam the way movie vampires do pale-skinned starlets. Really. Chinch bugs feed by piercing the blades of grass and sucking them dry.

Floratam can't survive drought without regular soakings of, usually, our drinking water. It can't survive flooding. It doesn't really like full sun and definitely can't handle heavy shade.

&quot;It's kind of a Goldilocks plant,&quot; Moll said. &quot;It has to be just right. Not too wet, not too dry. Not too hot, not too cold.&quot;

Too cold, according to textbooks, is the mid 20s. But just because the temperature dropped below that point several times this year — and bottomed out at 14 degrees on Jan. 11 — you don't have to give up on your lawn just yet.

For one thing, the cold approached gradually, giving grasses time to slide into a semi-dormant state before the hardest freezes hit. Look for green grass to sprout starting in mid March. And if you don't see it by early April, then give up … and replant with something other than Floratam.

About the only threat it can stand up to is pesticides, which, along with its otherwise delicate constitution, makes it the perfect base for a chemical-soaked, heavily irrigated, environmentally toxic Florida lawn.

Moll, being a part of the state's agricultural establishment, doesn't hate it as much as I do. (And, having studied this all his life, maybe he's a little better informed.)

Floratam can be ideal for slightly shaded yards with clay-based soil, he said. But in the typical sandy, sunbaked Florida lawn, bahia grass is better, or at least tougher — able to survive droughts, freezes and chinch bugs.

An even better option, said John Korycki, director of the county's Florida Yards and Neighborhoods program, may be to replace the dead grass with mulched beds. Asiatic jasmine is good ground cover, requiring very little water or care once it's established. The same is true of decorative Fakahatchee and sand cord grasses.

As though anticipating the freeze and the subsequent need to replace yards, state legislators passed a law last year that gives you more power to replant responsibly even if you live in a deed-restricted subdivision that tries to mandate that every yard be a plank of Floratam.

Though a Cooperative Extension Service workshop on Friday about this new law and drought-tolerant landscaping has pretty much filled up, you can find information on these topics by visiting its Web site — www.co.hernando.fl.us/County_Extension — or by calling (352) 754-4433. Then, if you have to say goodbye to your Floratam, you can also say good riddance.

[23JAM00]

Re: “De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

Type of grass eh? Well that's a new one on me.....

[R00TS]

Re: “De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

morning all

This is really nice! may as well take advantage of the desert like conditions Seveen
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sistacaf</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

</div></div>
Dont you just love these associations we live in? little goverments

we live under one too

[Seveen]

Re: “De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

yep that is my favorite one - i sure don't have to dig up much grass to get that look

nanceejay - yep the &quot;standard&quot; here is st augustine grass and you can't find any seeds - have to have sod laid - and i'm not doing that again - done it twice since i've been here

isn't grass just a form of weed?

[R00TS]

Re: “De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">isn't grass just a form of weed? </div></div>
yes! technically, hybrids

[23JAM00]

Re: “De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

It must be something like the year I had True Green come once a month. They sprayed and sprayed and the more they sprayed the more weeds I got. I think they do that on purpose so you'll keep having them come and paying them to spread more weeds around...............grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Marilyn]

Re: “De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: nanceejay</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It must be something like the year I had True Green come once a month. They sprayed and sprayed and the more they sprayed the more weeds I got. I think they do that on purpose so you'll keep having them come and paying them to spread more weeds around...............grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr </div></div>I fired Tru GReen...I got their application list and they were coming out too damn many times for me. I gotta hit the sky, and the way I figure it I won't be here much to look at the lawn anyway.

[Laurel]

Re: “De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

Good Morning ...

there you go Marilyn ... you wish to view a pretty lawn ~ you jet off someplace to find one to gaze upon.

You Go Girl - and keep sharing!!

Hope you all have a great day today ..

[Marilyn]

Re: “De house wha’ shelta yuh when a rain, yuh fe look fe ‘im wh

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Laurel</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Good Morning ...

there you go Marilyn ... you wish to view a pretty lawn ~ you jet off someplace to find one to gaze upon.

You Go Girl - and keep sharing!!

Hope you all have a great day today .. </div></div>You know who is going to see my lawn???? Passerbys and neighbors... I don't look at it.