by Mandy Nolen
5 Common Problems with South Florida Lawns
Growing and maintaining a lush lawn should be easy in South Florida’s subtropical climate, right? But it’s not! Lawns require attention and a little bit of expertise to keep them green and beautiful. Here are some of the most common problems people experience with their lawns:
- Fungus will kill your lawn and make it an eyesore. The good news is that lawn fungus is easily prevented by properly watering your lawn. Watering should be done between 4 am and 7 am, allowing 45 minutes of watering to each section. This allows the water to reach the roots of the grass and permits the lawn to dry out during the day.
- Chinch bugs are the most common turf-damaging pest in South Florida. Their presence is usually first noticed as brown spots in the lawn. Keep a close eye on suspect areas and contact a professional to treat the problem locally. Quick identification is key to treating these pests as to minimize both the damage to the lawn as well as the surface area that must be treated.
- Don’t Scalp Your Lawn! St. Augustine grass, the most commonly used grass in Florida, should never be cut shorter than 3 inches. Giving your lawn too short of a cut makes it more susceptible to disease and pests.
- Sharpen your blades. Maintain sharp blades on your lawn mower. Sharper blades give a cleaner cut, which looks more crisp and minimizes damage to the grass blades. Hacking at your grass will drain it of nutrients and tear up the lawn, creating brown tips on each blade of grass.
- Follow Directions. When fertilizing your lawn, read and follow the directions on the fertilizer. Do not overuse, underuse or misuse the fertilizer. Overusing the fertilizers can lead to excessive runoff and burn spots on your grass, while not using enough is not effective. Also, keep the fertilizer on the grass only and off of non-porous surfaces, such as your driveway.
Nozzle Nolen is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). For more information about Nozzle Nolen and its Certified Green Solutions Program, visit www.nozzlenolen.com or call (800) 22-NOLEN.