Houston Grass - How to Buy, Install and Care for Grass in the Houston Area

Thanks for watching the March edition of the Houston Grass Podcast. These are the main points made by Michael during the show.

• March, April and May are the best times to plant grass. Call us at 281-431-7441 for answers to your questions and a quote for your project.
• If you haven't done it already, now is the time to get your spring fertilization done. If you don't have weeds, we recommend the Nitro-Phos Imperial Fertilizer to give your grass a good start. If you do have weeds and you need a weed and feed, we recommend either the Nitro-Phos product with Atrazine for St. Augustine grass or the Nitro-Phos product with Trimec for St. Augustine, Bermuda or Zoysia grass.
• We don't recommend the use of a weed and feed more than once a year.
• Mother Nature hasn't provided much rain to the Houston area recently so it's time to start watering an inch a week. We recommend two half inch waterings. It's best to start watering early in the morning -- 4:30 or 5:00 am. Watering in the evening leaves your grass wet and inviting to fungus overnight.
• It's also time to start mowing your lawn at least once a week. Mowing less frequently during the growing season will cause you to cut off more than a third of the grass blades which is hard on the grass.
• We've been getting calls about grub worms. Grub worms are actually beneficial insects that break up the black soil in our area and encourage your grass to grow. We don't recommend the general use of nonspecific insecticides because they kill off the worms and grub worms needed for healthy soil.
• If you don't water enough you'll invite chinch bugs to attack your grass in the hotter months of the summer. If you have chinch bugs, you can use Cyonara liquid insecticide to treat the affected areas.  However if you water enough, you won't see chinch bugs.
• Your grass needs sunlight to grow. If you have mature oak trees we recommend trimming them every year or at least every two years to get enough sunlight to your grass.

If you have any questions about these topics, please call our office at 281-431-7441.  Thanks for listening!

Here's a summary of the podcast.

• We'll be open Saturday mornings starting March 4. We'll also have several pallets of Palmetto St. Augustine grass at our office for sale by the piece. Normally Raleigh St. Augustine is the only grass variety we sell by the piece. If you want shade-tolerant Palmetto pieces to repair the shady sections of your Raleigh St. Augustine lawn, please stop by. We're selling the Palmetto first come, first served.
• The first mowing of the spring is a good time to drop your mower deck one or two settings, bag up the thatch and remove it. That will help the sunlight reach your growing grass.
• Now is the time to either apply Nitro-Phos Imperial if weeds are not a problem in your lawn or Nitro-Phos Weed and Feed with Atrazine for St. Augustine lawns or with Trimec for St. Augustine, Zoysia and Bermuda lawns.
• It's past time to apply a pre-emergent like Barricade. Wait until May to apply that.
• We haven't been getting much rain lately. If that pattern continues, it may be time to put the irrigation system in operation again.
• Our grass prices will be increasing by relatively small amounts compared to last year. The price increases will be effective March 1.

Call us at 281-431-7441 with your questions. We can often provide a quote for your project over the phone.

• Wait until after the last frost before you apply fertilizers or mow your lawn to remove thatch. We've seen a modest increase in fertilizer prices compared with last year.
• Apply Barricade Pre-Emergent in February.
• We're selling grass. You can lay your grass, water it in, and it will be fine.  You're buying a root system right now. Please keep heavy traffic off of it until the grass greens up and roots to the ground.
• Our grass prices are typically updated on March 1.  There is a shortage of Bermuda grass across Texas so Bermuda grass prices might increase more than the other grass varieties.

If you have any questions about the information in the podcast, please call our office at 281-431-7441. We can help you with answers to your questions or a quote for your project.

Welcome to the Houston Grass Podcast with Michael Romine.

• Cold weather is arriving at the end of the week so make sure your irrigation system is ready.
• The grass will be going dormant with these cold temperatures. So don't apply any herbicides to your grass to kill any weeds that may emerge. The best thing to do is use your mower to knock down the weeds until spring.
• Don't mulch the dead grass if you do mow during dormancy. It's best to bag those clippings and remove them until the grass greens up in the spring.
• If you see ads for Zoysia plugs, we don't recommend using that method to plant grass for homeowners. Zoysia is a slow-growing grass and you would need a chemical applicator's license to apply the herbicides needed to keep weeds out of the bare areas while the Zoysia filled them in.

Thanks for listening and Happy Holidays!

• It's still okay to plant grass this time of year. It's less green than it was as it heads for dormancy. But as long as you keep the heavy traffic off your grass it will green up in the spring. And you won't have to deal with mud in your yard all winter long.
• You should cut back on your watering if you're still watering on your summer schedule. Your grass will do fine on an inch of water -- either from irrigation or Mother Nature -- every two weeks.
• You should still be looking for the bright yellow circles in your grass that are the sign of brown patch. If you see it, we have the Heritage G you need to put a stop to it.
• There's still time to put out Barricade Pre-Emergent until the end of November. But don't use a pre-emergent on new grass during that first year after installation.

Houston Grass will be closed Thanksgiving week, and we wish you all a happy, healthy Thanksgiving!  Call us with your questions at 281-431-7441.

If you haven’t done your fall fertilization, then it needs to be done in the next week. If that doesn’t happen, then you should wait until spring to fertilize. It the temperatures aren’t warm enough, your grass won’t absorb the fertilizer you put out there so you’d be wasting your money.

As the temperatures cool, you should cut back on your watering. You need to continue to water, but you should decrease the amount and the frequency of watering.

If you continue watering as you did during the summer months you invite fungal diseases like brown patch. You should also try to water in the mornings to prevent your grass from being wet all night. That could also invite fungal diseases.

Even though the lack of rain this fall has limited the occurrence of brown patch it’s still a good idea to apply Heritage G to your lawn. Remember to apply again 21 days after the first application.

We are still open and still selling grass. Fall is the second best time of the year to install grass in the Houston area. If you install now and we have a warm November, your grass may take root. If not then your grass will take root in the spring when the weather warms.

If your newly installed grass does not have enough warm weather to take root, you should keep heavy foot and dog traffic off the grass until it does have a chance to root in the spring. You also need to ensure that your new grass gets water, either from the sky or from sprinklers.

Please call us with any questions at 281-431-7441 and visit our website at Houstonturfgrass.com.

Here's a link to the Houston Grass Tip Sheet for Newly Installed Grass.

And here's the Tip Sheet for Established Grass.

Fall is a great time to install new grass because you won't need to water as much during the second week after planting and your grass should have enough time to establish a root system before it goes dormant for the winter.

This is also the time for an application of Heritage G fungicide to prevent brown patch from killing your grass. We carry the Heritage G you need.  Here's a link to more information on our website.

The Nito-Phos Fall Special Fertilizer applied now will prepare your lawn for a quick green-up in the spring. Here's why we recommend it.

If you have questions, please give us a call at 281-431-7441. Visit our website at Houstonturfgrass.com.

In this episode, Michael talks about chinch bugs taking advantage of the continuing drought to invade your lawn and kill your grass. He also talks about the possibility of gray leaf spot if the current rainy period continues. 

If you've been irrigating your grass with city water for long period this summer, you might be noticing some yellowing of your grass.  That could be caused by the chloramines in your water as described in this Randy Lemmon article.

Michael also talks about a fungus called take all patch which might be killing your grass.  We have a fungicide called Heritage G which is effective in preventing and treating take all patch as well as brown patch.  This is a Texas Agri-Life Extension article on take all patch or take all root rot.

Finally, Michael clarifies what a grass square is when ordering grass in the Houston area.  You may be searching Google for "grass squares for sale" but what you're really looking for are grass pieces which are 16" by 24" rectangles.

If you have any questions, please call our office at 281-431-7441.

In this episode, Michael talks about the best way to water your grass during Houston's hot and recently dry summer.  He also talks about spotting chinch bug damage in your lawn and what to do if you see them killing your grass.  You can help your grass by increasing your mowing height during these hot months.  If you're installing grass during the summer, it's absolutely critical that you get your grass off the pallets the day of delivery and that you get two inches of water on that new grass right away.  Michael also compares the irrigation at his family's farm in Bay City to the lack of irrigation at most grass farms supplying the Houston area. If you have any questions, please call our office at 281-431-7441.

In this episode, Michael talks about the best way to fertilize your lawn without causing damage to the grass.  He also describes how you should water your lawn to avoid damage from chinch bugs.  It's time to look for signs of gray leaf spot in your grass, and Michael describes what you can do to prevent gray leaf spot and stop it quickly if it's already damaging your lawn.  Michael also talks about ways to remove common Bermuda grass from your St. Augustine lawn.  If you have any questions, please call our office at 281-431-7441.