Citica8

I must have glanced over the St Aug part. Thatch is not typically an issue with St Aug unless excessive thatch is contributing fungal "brown patch" issues. You're going to be better off aerating than dethatching

Generally its not recommended but dethatching can still be done on St Aug, if very careful. Time of year and after care becomes super important, but using a verti-cut with 3" spacing, and only in a single direction rather than a power rake with 1" spacing

Mechanical dethatching allows air to get into enough area to wake up the existing microbes that will feed on the existing thatch that is there. A chemical dethatch just feeds those microbes already there, but its more of an instant thing vs a time released long term deal.

Doing both is definitely not going to hurt the turf. The question is, if mechanical alone improves the turf 50%, where chemical alone improves the turf 15%, does doing both yield a 60%, 65% or 80% improvement. Could be a "fun" experiment.

Fertilizing with something like milorganite after a mechanical dethatching will also feed the microbes, and is more time released/longer term option. This is the route I would take.

I don't know about Home Depot, but I rented from AAA rent all a few years back, was partially self propelled, worked well. All I did was fertilize after.

This is 2/3 steps above 'minimal as possible' minimal would be a few bags of milorganite or bonus S and turn the sprinklers on every so often.

Do you pay someone to cut your yard? Did you rent a core aerator?

Bermuda is easier to explain then zoysia, it will grow anywhere. Zoysia is pretty difficult to get to grow from a seed comparatively, especially in established lawns. It's possible they were short a partial pallet and grabbed it by mistake.

The person who told you could also not really know what they're talking about too. Can it be fixed? Sure. Is it worth it? Probably not.

No pesticides are good for any plants that have not established itself.

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He said don't use anything that ends in ZINE that it was not good for the trees.

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Simazine is used almost exclusively on fruit trees.

Randy Lemmon lost me at the title when he's recommending weed and feed in general.

I made Atrazine for 12 years. I'm not smart enough to know what makes Atrazine any worse for the environment than MSM, 2-4-D, Dicamba, or Pendimethalin, but I don't think the list of people who are smart enough, are on garden radio, peddling weed and feed.

If you want your yard to look like Augusta National you're going to need some help chemically, don't like chemicals, then plant your yard with native prairie grasses and wildflowers for pollinators.

Absolutely, I don't think it looks too terrible. Under the tree in the front yard, it needs more day light, the ground looks compacted, so need some method of aeration, without messing with the irrigation or getting too close to the tree roots.

I've never been a fan of using grass plugs, but you have the perfect set up to do it, and you can try different grasses for relatively cheap and see which one thrives, whether its different grasses all together or different varieties of the same grass. How to Use Grass Plugs to Test Shade Tolerance

My costas broke 2 years ago right before vacation, bought a pair of bajios while on vacation, wore them for a year and a half before I got a scratch right in my line of sight, ended up going back with the same costas as before

I definitely don't want a 40 horse tractor with an A/C cab that I'm going to pay double for, rutting up the yard to rearrange our raised beds and move some flower bed mulch around. I'd be fine taking half scoops of whatever dirt or limestone I'm potentially moving if it means I don't have to shovel it. We've made out fine the last 5 years getting trees moved around after storms dragging stuff with trucks or even the zero turn, worst case a tree gets cut smaller with the chainsaw for the tractor to handle it if I go that route.

I've got a list of things I'd like to get done that would absolutely be easier with a scoop and grader box, but I also know I can pay someone to take care of that as well. I also know I can rent or borrow one to get all of it done, but long term it would be handy to have around. If I can do that below $20k for something new, I can see the value in it, once I get above that I feel like I'm better off just grabbing one on a need to use basis.

One major benefit to the subcompacts, is you don't need a special trailer for them, a regular 6' utility trailer isn't going to be over loaded with one

This was just a starting point for research before I go check them out in person and get real pricing, if its not possible to get a subcompact for under 20k with minimal attachments/implements, but I can get a used compact for 20k with what I'm looking for that's obviously the route to go, but I figured with as many as I see on lots someone on here had to have some real world experience with them.

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The Kioto/Bobcat tractors are considerably cheaper than deere or kubota

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those along with Mahindra, bad boy, yanmar, and LS were where I was looking.

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Minka H2O OutDoor. These bad boys move some serious air and they are affordable.

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on my second one in 5 years, have not been impressed with them.

I’d buy an evaporative/swamp cooler rated for* 2x the size of your sitting area, preferably one that oscillates, and you’ll be way more comfortable.

ETA*