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PostPosted: Sat Aug 09, 2003 1:53 pm 
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Location: Dallas,TEXAS
My St. Augustine lawn is turning very yellow and dry and, after reading many posts on this site, I think I need to get Texas greensand. Can I apply it now or should I wait?

Thanks - enjoying this little bit of "cool spell"!

Susan


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 09, 2003 6:15 pm 
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Susan, More help will be on the way soon.

1] You can use Organic fertilizer any time of the year.
2] Green sand will help but remember it stays in the soil for a long time so you don't have to apply each year.
3] Add a 1/4 to 1/2" of good compost to the yard will work wonders.

If I have mis-stated something it will be corrected by others.

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2003 8:31 pm 
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Some of the yellow might be from not fertilizing. I used to think you could go all summer with just a spring dose of corn meal, but this year was diferent enough that I now believe otherwise. My new routine is to continue with the spring fert on Valentine's Day and then give it another dose on July 4th. The reason I think this is I had some places that I thought were being eaten by fungus disease, so I applied corn meal in late June. Those are the only places that are dark green now. Prior to this year, I had apparently adjusted to the entire yard yellowing some and didn't notice it. Now I can see the improvement from the late June feeding.

This is not to say you don't have a problem that would make greensand work for you. If you have had a LOT of rain (10 inches in 6 weeks qualifies), then you might have a problem with the calcium binding up the iron in your soil. Then greensand seems to unlock it and make it available to the grass again.

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 Post subject: Fertilizing
PostPosted: Mon Aug 11, 2003 1:50 pm 
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I put down corn gluten meal and then Texas Tee in spring and something that had chicken feathers in it in early June (can't remember the name). Too much rain hasn't been an issue, unfortunately.


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 Post subject: Re: Fertilizing
PostPosted: Mon Aug 11, 2003 3:31 pm 
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sjthornton wrote:
I put down corn gluten meal and then Texas Tee in spring and something that had chicken feathers in it in early June (can't remember the name). Too much rain hasn't been an issue, unfortunately.


Thornton:
Corn Gluten Meal is an organic herbicide. It keeps seeds from sprouting.
Use Whole Ground Corn Meal on the lawn twice a year when the you have warm days and cool nights. April/May....Oct/Nov Feed Store best bet.

If you want something without the feathers and know the birds have been feed properly, use "Dr. Gobbler's Turkey Compost.

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2003 4:24 pm 
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Yes, I know. I put down CGM as a pre-emergent while my lawn was still dormant. Back to my original question, I think I'll put down greensand, since it won't hurt anything, and see what happens. Right now I'm most interested in greening up my lawn a bit.

Susan


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2003 11:48 pm 
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sjthornton,

If you have never put down greensand, it won't hurt a thing to go forward with that plan. I have had good luck treating smaller areas of yellowing St. Augustine with sugar (both Imperial Pure Cane and dried molasses. I just hand cast over the affected areas.

Hoping we both get some more rain. I broke down and watered my front yard for the first time this season last week. I had to remove the faucet cover from last winter. Maybe I helped the rain along. I'll go and wash the cars again too, if that will help.

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2003 9:08 pm 
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Do you put greensand on just once a year? I had planned to fertilize in Sept. with a combo of lava sand, green sand, dried molassess and corn glueten meal. We just moved here in Dec and with the lack of rainfall in ABilene, the yard needs help. Should I leave off the green sand or anything else? I have just started to foliate once a month also.


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2003 10:06 pm 
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bqdrummer,

I don't put greensand down every year. Some may, I don't. Lava sand on the other hand I will put down a small amount each year.

Foliate :?: Is that foliar feed?

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 24, 2003 7:01 am 
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Yes, foliar feed, I am a little behind schedule. Thanks for the advice. All those things together add up in $'s. but just CGM and Molasses is not bad and will be easier to mix and spread.


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2003 6:36 pm 
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Location: Plano TX
BQDrummer,

I learned alot about your soil when I lived in Winters. Keep in mind that your probably sitting ontop of red clay or caliche. When the rains come the soil may not drain well. Then again depending on the lie of your property it may drain great. Liquid compost works wonders there. Using fully broken down compost is fantastic. I had better luck with the compost than anything else. It sounds like your using enough sand to accomidate any drainage problems that heavy compost might contribute to.

If you go on water rationing and want to do some efficient watering, some folks save their wash water in a 200 to 500 gallon container and use soker hoses. I put my container on a trailer and left it in plain view to avoid a ticket from the athorities. It is easier to explain a nice lawn during rationing that way.

You might want to try drought resistant ornamentals there too. It is tough to keep your grass pretty in the area but it is easy to produce fantastic flowers there. Lantana is a great perennial for that area: it will always come back year after year. Post a question on the ornamentals board and I'll tell you about my successes and failures in your area.


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2003 7:55 pm 
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Zane, thanks for the info, as it turns out, our dirt is acutally black earth. Just in a part of town that has it. My other house had the red clay and with dogs the red clay was both around and in the house. I had not thought of the liquid compost.


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 06, 2003 10:22 pm 
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Susan,
What did you do and what was the results?

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PostPosted: Sun Sep 28, 2003 9:45 am 
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Jim,
I put down greensand and a fertilizer with a combo of minerals recommended to me by the good folks at Southland Feed Store here in Dallas. Sprinkled a little organic cornmeal (it's what I had) on a couple of the yellow spots just to see what would happen. It's all looking a bit better, even the places where I didn't put cornmeal. I'm putting down beneficial nematodes in the next week or so just for good measure. As long as it's getting better instead of worse, I figure I'm on the right track.

Thanks for asking,

Susan


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