St Augustine grass is real light green / yellow

[00bolt]

Early in the spring, I put down some weed killer in the backyard, along with some fertilizer. I dont know if its a coincidence, but seems like a week or so later, my st. augustine has all turned yellow/light green color. Other than the color, it seems to be healthy? It still grows like crazy. But after a couple months, the color still hasnt returned.

My backyard is kind of a mix of St Augustine and bermuda, and the bermuda portion is perfectly fine. So now it just looks funny. They used to kinda blend in together, but now the different colors make it look bad.

So my question is..

1. is there a way to restore the color back to green?
2. if not, is there an easy way (other than MSMA) to kill off just the st augustine, so i can have a full bermuda yard?


this is the weed killer i put down, except it was the kinda you attach to a hose. The bottle which i still have, says use on st augustine. The fertilizer i put down, was the purple Scotts stuff for st. augustine.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/IMAGE-24-oz-Nutsedge-Killer-3910000/100175861#product_description

[Goku025]

What kind of fertilizer did you put down? How much of it did you use? It sounds like you might have over fertlized it and to much nitrogen is releasing and your grass is stressed. I wouldn't add anything else to your grass besides some water. Just my two cents.

I googled it because im not to familiar with St. Augustine and it does sound like you over fertilized but here was a recommendation from another board.

"If you used an organic fertilizer, you will be fine (or at least over fertilization is not your problem); it is slow release and the grass will only take in the nutrients as it needs them. If you used a synthetic fertilizer, then you got what you deserved...just kidding. If you can still see the granules in the grass, you can get a shop vac and vacuum them up (no I am not joking). Or you can leech out the excess nitrogen (which is what is likely causing the problem) with lots of water. Hopefully you got lots of rain yesterday, which would help. I would also recommend putting down a thin layer of non-manure based compost (watering it in) and spraying the foliage with liquid seaweed.

As long as the stolons are green, the grass will live, even if there is some browning. St. Augustine is pretty damn forgiving."

[Goku025]

Scratch all that, i just saw you did it in the spring. Iron will help in producing the green look you're going after for your lawn. Try adding milorganite to it.

[00bolt]

it was just Scotts Bonus S or whatever in the purple bag and I really dont think i put down too much. Maybe though? But i doubt so much that it would still be doing this months later?
I got a disease in this grass a couple years ago. Just seems alot harder to maintain than the bermuda in my front yard. I wish there was a way to just get rid of it and go all burmuda.

[00bolt]

and i did put down some greensand or whatever. Its supposed to be an organic natural iron. It did nothing.

[Goku025]

Well if you did over fertilize with the scotts bonus s, it is definately high in Nitrogen and will turn your lawn yellow, but i don't know how long the effects of it lasts.
I think the only way to kill st. augustine without tilling is by spraying Roundup X just put it in one of those spraying containers you can mount on your back and go to town. Hopefully you dont have a big yard :P

Then order some good top soil and either plant sod or you can try seeds. I hear though, bermuda seeds are a pain in the ass to keep up with and take about a month to germinate.

My front yard is bermuda/weeds and was nearly brown all of last year. I dont know of the "greensand" you are talking about, but about 3 months ago I put milorganite in the front and man everything turned a deep green. It is a slow releasing fertilizer, but it made a difference. I do still have my weeds though here and there which is my next project after i finish up with my backyard.

[black2002ls]

Well if you did over fertilize with the scotts bonus s, it is definately high in Nitrogen and will turn your lawn yellow, but i don't know how long the effects of it lasts.
I think the only way to kill st. augustine without tilling is by spraying Roundup X just put it in one of those spraying containers you can mount on your back and go to town. Hopefully you dont have a big yard :P

Then order some good top soil and either plant sod or you can try seeds. I hear though, bermuda seeds are a pain in the ass to keep up with and take about a month to germinate.

My front yard is bermuda/weeds and was nearly brown all of last year. I dont know of the "greensand" you are talking about, but about 3 months ago I put milorganite in the front and man everything turned a deep green. It is a slow releasing fertilizer, but it made a difference. I do still have my weeds though here and there which is my next project after i finish up with my backyard.

I am right there with you on the weeds. However, my yard is probably close to 70% weeds and 30% grass (bermuda/st augustine mix). I have had an infestation of yellow bitter weed, clover (?), and crabgrass.

If anyone has seen the picture floating around social media about weed killer made with vinegar, epsom salt, and dish soap, it works. I spot treated for the bitterweed and crab grass and everything I have sprayed was dead within 24 hrs.

[Goku025]

I am right there with you on the weeds. However, my yard is probably close to 70% weeds and 30% grass (bermuda/st augustine mix). I have had an infestation of yellow bitter weed, clover (?), and crabgrass.

If anyone has seen the picture floating around social media about weed killer made with vinegar, epsom salt, and dish soap, it works. I spot treated for the bitterweed and crab grass and everything I have sprayed was dead within 24 hrs.

Man i heard about that home made weed killer but no one confirmed with me if it worked. That is awesome news! Can this be done on about a month old sod without hurting the root system?

[black2002ls]

Man i heard about that home made weed killer but no one confirmed with me if it worked. That is awesome news! Can this be done on about a month old sod without hurting the root system?

I would be careful with new sod. I didn't spray the entire yard, I spot treated to make sure I didn't kill any grass. I need to mix up another batch and get after more stands of crab grass and the rest of the bitterweed

[Chas_svo]

OP, you can go to Ace hardware and get a kit for around $8, that will test soil conditions.

- Complete instructions for adjusting soil conditions
- Includes tests for ph, nitrogen, phosphorus & potassium levels

http://m.acehardware.com/product/ind...ductId=1279439

[zemog]

has st Augustine ever been yellow in previous years, I am guessing not, herbicides can last a long long time , especially if you over sprayed it, and now that I just looked at what you sprayed I would definitely say yes on the herbicide causing the yellow, it fully states with a normal rate application it will cause yellowing. you may just have to wait it out. at what rate did you spray it ? did you use a sprayer or a hose end sprayer. just trying to see what might have happened. Image is a pretty hard herbicide, I would imagine it slowed down the grass growth initially also as it used to be used as a growth retardant.