re: I sprayed yard with Atrazine/Weedfree Zone/Spreader sticker today

This should not be used on St Augustine turf??? 24-d is hard in St Augustine to my knowledge

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This should not be used on St Augustine turf??? 24-d is hard in St Augustine to my knowledge

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It’s fine as long as as air temps don’t exceed 85 F +, so it’s a late winter, early spring, and fall application concoction. I have a St Aug backyard and never had any damage when applied during those seasons. But there might be a cultivar of St Aug that’s a little more sensitive - Palmetto? - I forget.

Is waiting a few weeks to fertilize the way to go? Should I use just a plain Scott’s Turff Builder fertilizer or would a weed & feed product work well then?

I have a long strip of tall fescue grass that I planted along with centipede back in September where an excavator tracked through for some demo work. Very little centipede is growing (my hope was the fescue would fill in for winter then die back in spring and allow the centipede to grow). I was dumb! I’m planning on killing the fescue and going back to plant centipede there to match the rest of the yard. Any tips for that would be appreciated as well.

Where you located?

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Is waiting a few weeks to fertilize the way to go? Should I use just a plain Scott’s Turff Builder fertilizer or would a weed & feed product work well then?

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For S LA, around April 1 would be good - your centipede should be out of dormancy by then. For centipede I’d suggest a 15-0-15 if you can find it, or if not a lawn fertilizer with the nitrogen in the low 20s. Not a weed & feed. You have many weeds? Considered spraying now them if so. Centipede should be fertilized at 0.5 lb nitrogen (N) per 1000 sq ft per application. Divide the % N of the fertilizer into 50 for the application rate, e.g., 15-x-x fertilizer, 3 1/3 lbs (50 divided by 15) per 1000 sq ft. You can do a second fertilizer application in June/July if you feel you need it. Centipede has low fertilization requirements compared to St Aug and Bermudagrass.

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I have a long strip of tall fescue grass that I planted along with centipede back in September where an excavator tracked through for some demo work. Very little centipede is growing (my hope was the fescue would fill in for winter then die back in spring and allow the centipede to grow). I was dumb! I’m planning on killing the fescue and going back to plant centipede there to match the rest of the yard. Any tips for that would be appreciated as well.

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You weren’t dumb - that was a good plan, weeds would have grown in that damaged area if had you not planted something like rye or fescue. Not surprising it hasn’t filled in, that was September and centipede grows slow. Much slower than St Aug, Bermudagrass. Fescue being a cool season grass will go dormant and likely die when temps hit the 90s. If you want kill it and re-sod rather than waiting for it to fill in that’s fine, just do a light till on the grass after it’s dead (from heat or spraying) so the new sod is in contact with bare dirt, and water the new sod frequently - daily for the first week, every other day the second week, and twice during the 3rd week, and as needed thereafter.

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For S LA, around April 1 would be good - your centipede should be out of dormancy by then. For centipede I’d suggest a 15-0-15 if you can find it, or if not a lawn fertilizer with the nitrogen in the low 20s. Not a weed & feed. You have many weeds? Considered spraying now them if so. Centipede should be fertilized at 0.5 lb nitrogen (N) per 1000 sq ft per application. Divide the % N of the fertilizer into 50 for the application rate, e.g., 15-x-x fertilizer, 3 1/3 lbs (50 divided by 15) per 1000 sq ft. You can do a second fertilizer application in June/July if you feel you need it. Centipede has low fertilization requirements compared to St Aug and Bermudagrass.

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I have a long strip of tall fescue grass that I planted along with centipede back in September where an excavator tracked through for some demo work. Very little centipede is growing (my hope was the fescue would fill in for winter then die back in spring and allow the centipede to grow). I was dumb! I’m planning on killing the fescue and going back to plant centipede there to match the rest of the yard. Any tips for that would be appreciated as well.


You weren’t dumb - that was a good plan, weeds would have grown in that damaged area if had you not planted something like rye or fescue. Not surprising it hasn’t filled in, that was September and centipede grows slow. Much slower than St Aug, Bermudagrass. Fescue being a cool season grass will go dormant and likely die when temps hit the 90s. If you want kill it and re-sod rather than waiting for it to fill in that’s fine, just do a light till on the grass after it’s dead (from heat or spraying) so the new sod is in contact with bare dirt, and water the new sod frequently - daily for the first week, every other day the second week, and twice during the 3rd week, and as needed thereafter.

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I’m in southLA and was planning on spreading centipede seed instead of sod due to the cost of sod. Your advice still stands with seed rather than sod?

I've had success with centipede seeds germinating in the past. I once had a large bare spot where a shed used to be and planted seeds there and had a thick sod within a few months. I may just go that route here again after killing off the fescue.

I never knew sod was so cheap. I feel dumb for using seeds in the past!!

Probably

Yep, after reading your post I found centipede sod at Quality Sod in BR for $159/pallet. Much cheaper than I thought it was. Since I over estimated my taxes for 2019 I will have a decent refund so I plan on using that when I get it to sod the rough areas of my yard.