Toucan Lawn Care & Pest Control, LLC
284 Hand Avenue
Ormond Beach, FL 32174
Recommendations/Notes:
What does the note Add Red Sand to bare areas mean? & Where can I purchase this?
When your technician recommends Red Sand, this is going to allow the St Augustine grass to root in and fill in bare areas and it will fill in quicker and most importantly the red sand covers the existing runners so they don’t dry up and die.
Top Soil/Top Dressing –This is not recommended if applied in the summer months. Why? Because it’s black and will burn the runners and the black soil doesn’t breathe or drain as well as the red sand, we do not recommend this.
However, if you wanted to add top soil/top dressing in the early spring or fall you can use either. The only reason we recommend the red sand is because it allows the soil to breath & aerate. Bottom line red sand is highly recommended.
There are various rock and sand yards in Volusia/Flagler County that carry the red sand and you can either pick it up and install it yourself, or sometimes your lawn maintenance company may be able to install it for you. Unfortunately, Lowe’s or Home Depot does not carry Red Sand in bags.
What does the note Add Red Sand to bare areas mean? & Where can I purchase this?
When your technician recommends Red Sand, this is going to allow the St Augustine grass to root in and fill in bare areas and it will fill in quicker and most importantly the red sand covers the existing runners so they don’t dry up and die.
Top Soil/Top Dressing –This is not recommended if applied in the summer months. Why? Because it’s black and will burn the runners and the black soil doesn’t breathe or drain as well as the red sand, we do not recommend this.
However, if you wanted to add top soil/top dressing in the early spring or fall you can use either. The only reason we recommend the red sand is because it allows the soil to breath & aerate. Bottom line red sand is highly recommended.
There are various rock and sand yards in Volusia/Flagler County that carry the red sand and you can either pick it up and install it yourself, or sometimes your lawn maintenance company may be able to install it for you. Unfortunately, Lowe’s or Home Depot does not carry Red Sand in bags.
This is an example of a Bare area in a St. Augustine lawn
with Runners exposed before Red Sanding. |
|
My technician recommended Sprinkler or Irrigation Adjustments/Repairs:
Sprinkler adjustments/assessments are recommended and should be done minimum quarterly.
Why? Because you have weekly maintenance and the lawn mowers that could cause breaking connections underneath heads, or bending the sprinklers heads, or the mowers can push down the heads where the head can’t pop up, or the head can’t rotate, etc.
Gear Drives/Pop-Ups it is recommended to not mix gear drives & pop-ups because they require different run times. If using both either one will be under-watered or one will be over-watered.
Rain-Turning off your sprinkler timer/clock-It’s important to know if by chance we have had rain remember that 2 days after rain your soil is already dried up. It’s never advised to miss or skip 2 days in a row without water during the hottest time of the year. Remember to turn the timer back on to Auto.
When your lawn is severely dry for a period of 5-6 days those areas will die completely or come back patchy after irrigation is fixed. Any longer than that it will not recover, during the hottest time of the year.
Your remedy until an irrigation professional can fix or resolve your sprinkler system is to water the areas manually every other day to keep roots alive. If you don’t manually water you will be replacing those areas with new sod or plugs.
The "hot spots" will more than likely promote insect flare-ups and this can spread into the healthy parts of your lawn.
How do I know if my grass isn’t getting watered?
Blades folding in half, or curling this is an early sign to water immediately.
If you step on the grass and it has a crunchy sensation
Blades bend over and stay matted down
These are the signs and symptoms to water your grass As Soon As Possible.
Sprinkler adjustments/assessments are recommended and should be done minimum quarterly.
Why? Because you have weekly maintenance and the lawn mowers that could cause breaking connections underneath heads, or bending the sprinklers heads, or the mowers can push down the heads where the head can’t pop up, or the head can’t rotate, etc.
Gear Drives/Pop-Ups it is recommended to not mix gear drives & pop-ups because they require different run times. If using both either one will be under-watered or one will be over-watered.
Rain-Turning off your sprinkler timer/clock-It’s important to know if by chance we have had rain remember that 2 days after rain your soil is already dried up. It’s never advised to miss or skip 2 days in a row without water during the hottest time of the year. Remember to turn the timer back on to Auto.
When your lawn is severely dry for a period of 5-6 days those areas will die completely or come back patchy after irrigation is fixed. Any longer than that it will not recover, during the hottest time of the year.
Your remedy until an irrigation professional can fix or resolve your sprinkler system is to water the areas manually every other day to keep roots alive. If you don’t manually water you will be replacing those areas with new sod or plugs.
The "hot spots" will more than likely promote insect flare-ups and this can spread into the healthy parts of your lawn.
How do I know if my grass isn’t getting watered?
Blades folding in half, or curling this is an early sign to water immediately.
If you step on the grass and it has a crunchy sensation
Blades bend over and stay matted down
These are the signs and symptoms to water your grass As Soon As Possible.
My technician recommended the “Tuna Can Method” What is this? & How can I do this?
When your technician recommends The Tuna can method this is a way to find out if your sprinkler system is calibrated correctly and making sure if the water is collecting and being distributed at the same amount and evenly throughout your yard.
Directions:
Place a can or the same size container in an area that is struggling and put another can or same size container in an area that is not stressed or struggling.
Run the zone
See if the cans in each area have the same amount of water and compare the difference of water. In most instances the area that is struggling will have a significant amount of less water. The goal is to collect ¾” – 1” of water for each zone.
What to do if the can with the lesser amount of water? It’s recommended to:
Do adjustments or supplement additional sprinkler heads.
Keep in mind the head does not go where the dry spot is, if adding an additional sprinkler head. It's important that the head that is added lands on the dry area.
In a sprinkler system head-to-head coverage is optimum.
Hiring a qualified & licensed company to help with your sprinkler system can help tremendously.
When your technician recommends The Tuna can method this is a way to find out if your sprinkler system is calibrated correctly and making sure if the water is collecting and being distributed at the same amount and evenly throughout your yard.
Directions:
Place a can or the same size container in an area that is struggling and put another can or same size container in an area that is not stressed or struggling.
Run the zone
See if the cans in each area have the same amount of water and compare the difference of water. In most instances the area that is struggling will have a significant amount of less water. The goal is to collect ¾” – 1” of water for each zone.
What to do if the can with the lesser amount of water? It’s recommended to:
Do adjustments or supplement additional sprinkler heads.
Keep in mind the head does not go where the dry spot is, if adding an additional sprinkler head. It's important that the head that is added lands on the dry area.
In a sprinkler system head-to-head coverage is optimum.
Hiring a qualified & licensed company to help with your sprinkler system can help tremendously.
Weekly Mowing/Lawn Maintenance:
Mowing during the growing season recommended weekly mowing in the summer.
St. Augustine grass should be cut at 4” – 4 ½” high or the highest setting. Edges done with weed eaters should be no lower than 2” – 2 ½” high and on a 45-degree angle, if lower than this it can cause the grass to burn out and die exposing the runners.
Zoysia grass – should be cut at 3 ½” during the summer and weekly.
Best management practices for grass are to not cut more than 1/3 of the blade at each cutting.
If for some reason your grass gets skipped 1 week during the growing season cutting more than ½ of the blade can cause distress to your lawn.
Recommended during cutting:
Alternating patterns to avoid creating ruts in the lawn. Ruts can cause rain/irrigation to pool in these areas and this can cause or lead to fungus.
After a fresh lawn cut there should be no split ends on the end of the blade, if there is this could cause the grass to get a fungus such as leaf spot. This can stress out the grass however the grass will usually recover.
Why do I have split ends on my grass after I cut it?
The mower blades could either be dull, or not spinning fast enough.
Mowing during the growing season recommended weekly mowing in the summer.
St. Augustine grass should be cut at 4” – 4 ½” high or the highest setting. Edges done with weed eaters should be no lower than 2” – 2 ½” high and on a 45-degree angle, if lower than this it can cause the grass to burn out and die exposing the runners.
Zoysia grass – should be cut at 3 ½” during the summer and weekly.
Best management practices for grass are to not cut more than 1/3 of the blade at each cutting.
If for some reason your grass gets skipped 1 week during the growing season cutting more than ½ of the blade can cause distress to your lawn.
Recommended during cutting:
Alternating patterns to avoid creating ruts in the lawn. Ruts can cause rain/irrigation to pool in these areas and this can cause or lead to fungus.
After a fresh lawn cut there should be no split ends on the end of the blade, if there is this could cause the grass to get a fungus such as leaf spot. This can stress out the grass however the grass will usually recover.
Why do I have split ends on my grass after I cut it?
The mower blades could either be dull, or not spinning fast enough.
New Sod:
Important to have new sprayed 1-2 weeks after installed or when new sod is rooted in. New sod can have and come in with active insects.
Cutting New Sod: It’s important to not go past 2 weeks after installed during the growing season.
Important to have new sprayed 1-2 weeks after installed or when new sod is rooted in. New sod can have and come in with active insects.
Cutting New Sod: It’s important to not go past 2 weeks after installed during the growing season.
Here is the bottom line for the best and optimum results in your lawn:
-Weekly Lawn Maintenance
-Lawn & Pest Control - fertilization, insect, weed, & fungus control
-Sprinkler system up to par head-to-head coverage
-Weekly Lawn Maintenance
-Lawn & Pest Control - fertilization, insect, weed, & fungus control
-Sprinkler system up to par head-to-head coverage
Grass Watering Schedule: (updated 8/16/24)
During this time of year the optimal time for watering is at 8:00 p.m.
Sprinkler systems with pop-ups should water 30-40 mins. per zone.
Large gear drives water 1 hour per zone.
Water 3-4 days per week.
Make sure your sprinklers are adjusted accordingly! Quarterly Sprinkler Checks
*If you are on reclaimed water please make sure your timer is set to the correct days to water.
New sod or plugs please water:
After install up to 2 weeks-Water 2x per day for a duration of 30 minutes minimum a.m. & p.m.
2 weeks after installation: Reduce water to 1x per day and water in the p.m.
1 month after installation: Timer can be adjusted to water every other day (evening)
*Please note anytime that you skip 1 to 2 days of watering after installation of new sod/grass this can result in severely distressed & even dead grass.
During this time of year the optimal time for watering is at 8:00 p.m.
Sprinkler systems with pop-ups should water 30-40 mins. per zone.
Large gear drives water 1 hour per zone.
Water 3-4 days per week.
Make sure your sprinklers are adjusted accordingly! Quarterly Sprinkler Checks
*If you are on reclaimed water please make sure your timer is set to the correct days to water.
New sod or plugs please water:
After install up to 2 weeks-Water 2x per day for a duration of 30 minutes minimum a.m. & p.m.
2 weeks after installation: Reduce water to 1x per day and water in the p.m.
1 month after installation: Timer can be adjusted to water every other day (evening)
*Please note anytime that you skip 1 to 2 days of watering after installation of new sod/grass this can result in severely distressed & even dead grass.