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My wife and I just recently purchased our first home. N one lived in it for almost 2 years so the lawn was highly neglected. These are the place when we first got it a couple weeks ago.





And this is what I have been able to do. I don't know where to go from here! Where do I begin in getting a beautiful lush looking lawn?! Thanks in advance for any advice! I will be installing a sprinkler system very soon so that when I do get grass looking nice so it's irrigated properly. I know it's close to winter and all, I just want to get pointed in the right direction! I live in the panhandle of Florida.

Check with local landscaping companies and your new neighbors. If you like their lawns, ask them how they did it. Good luck.

You need to start by looking closely at the soil that is there. It looks to be sand and very much like it lacks adequate amounts of organic matter. A good, reliable soil test for soil pH and nutrient levels is one place to start and these simple soil tests may also be of some help.
1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains’ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell.

5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy.

Understanding about your soil is a good start but also, you should learn about the different grasses that Florida residents commonly put down.
Some grass types just naturally die-back in the heat but return when cooler weather returns.
Another type should not ever be given an application of weed killer--it kills the grass.
Some types need water--lots of it--to flourish; other types do not need as much so is important where in some jurisdictions, water use is controlled.

Learn about your soil and the grasses that can grow in it and it will be less work and more satisfaction.

I'm going with the --gee, you need organic matter.
I have to agree with Kimm on this one.

I live in SW Ga., but my soil is more clay. A soil test would be good and organic matter would be good but be aware that your sand is going to eat the organic matter in no time at all.
Just PLEASE do me & your neighbors 2 favors...DO NOT put down bermuda grass of any variety nor bahia grass. Bahia is the one that gets the tall seed heads a day or two after you have mowed...looks like you never mowed. Bermuda creeps both above ground & under ground...into EVERYTHING!...including flower beds & neighbor's yards etc.
If I were you, I would pay a visit to your local county extension office & find out what does best in your area & proper care for it, best time to plant, what you need to do to prepare the soil, etc. Your county extension office may also be able to do your soil tests....ask!
I'm also going to ask Florida Farm Girl to stop over here. She also lives in the panhandle...she may be a much better source of info than any of the rest of us.

JMcDonald -- hello there and welcome to the board. Karen has told you exactly what I would say. Contact the county extension office and pick up a "newcomers" packet and get one of the mailers for a soil test. It'll cost you $7 to have the Univ. of Florida do the testing and you'll have the answer in about a week. Looks like you have full sun there, so your options are open. Me? I'd do centipede, but there are several different kinds and you'll have to do some research to see where they can be found. CALL the extension office and talk to the agent who handles residential landscapes. They should be able to tell you a whole lot. The fall is a premier time to do yard work down here. Do you plan to put in sod or were you looking to seed? I've never done centipede from seed, so can't say much about that. Again, best advice is talk to the extension agent pronto and get the sprinkler system in quickly. Unless you do sod, it may take a couple of years to get the yard looking decent. And, with our heat and humidity that "lush" lawn you are looking for may not be realistic. You can have a good looking lawn, but it won't be like those up north or in the midwest. Our sand won't grow stuff like that. Good luck.

Many grass species have evolved over eons to live in very adverse conditions and very few, the annuals, actually die when the weather turns to either too hot and dry or too cold and wet, they do go dormant, however, to cope.
The University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service is a good place to get information about lawn care, in Florida, as is every states Cooperative Extension Service.
No matter which grass species you decide to grow there it will need to have available both water and nutrients and those both will flwo out of sand much too quickly for the grasses to be able to use them. Organic matter in the soil will help hold both water and nutrients in the plants root zone so you can grow a good healthy turf at less cost and maintenance then of you simply poured a lot of synthetic fertilizer on that lawn.

You may also want to visit Growing a Greener World, episode 305, which is about organic lawn care. Joe Lampl interviews Paul Tukey, founder of Saferlawns.
http://www.growingagreenerworld.com/episode305/

While its never a mistake to consult experts...and one can agree that the extension services provided by state funded colleges can give valuable information to homeowners....but so can any full service nursery in your area.
Its in their best interest to know how to answer questions put to them by customers.
Besides, nurseries thrive in particular areas and thus are up on specifics about flora and fauna in the region......grass types included.

They will sell you the type that does best in your area and advise how to keep it healthy.

Extension services might only be able to provide information on the statewide use of the different types common to the state.
The guy next door (the nurseryguy) is more able to cue you in.

Your property --from the pictures you provide--looks like it could use a complete make-over. Dig it up, add lots of organic matter, look to how the property drains when those torrential rains come and what to do to get rid of it.
Understand the best grass for your needs and whether you can maintain it yourself or need expertise in keeping it healthy.
I repeat my suggestion: learn everything you can about the different grass types that abound in Florida, then make a better informed decision.

The people that oversee each states offices in the Cooperative Extension Service all have degrees after having spent 4 years, or more, studying the field their degree is in, as well as access to people with advanced, phDs, in fields of study such as Horticulture, Soil Science, Botany, etc.
People owning nurseries might have a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture or Botany but one around here has a degree in English Lit. Several nurseries around here employ high schoolers during the summer, so any advice they might give most often will not be very good.
The University of Florida has researched Florida soils for many years and has test plots they use to do further research, so why would anyone want to consult a nursery employee, who may well consult with the UFCES anyway, when people with much more information are so readily available?

quote:

Originally posted by KimmSr:
The people that oversee each states offices in the Cooperative Extension Service all have degrees after having spent 4 years, or more, studying the field their degree is in, as well as access to people with advanced, phDs, in fields of study such as Horticulture, Soil Science, Botany, etc.
People owning nurseries might have a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture or Botany but one around here has a degree in English Lit. Several nurseries around here employ high schoolers during the summer, so any advice they might give most often will not be very good.
The University of Florida has researched Florida soils for many years and has test plots they use to do further research, so why would anyone want to consult a nursery employee, who may well consult with the UFCES anyway, when people with much more information are so readily available?

Well said Kimm!

I know more than a lot of the nursery owners in my area. They just get plants from growers & sell them. Few, if any, know anything about turf grasses. Heck, they don't know much about the plants they sell. I printed out a bunch of info for one gal who runs a nursery near me...it was about plants she was selling that she had no idea about!...like stevia & brugmansias.

That could be very true...but to brush off a local full-service nursery as a weekend gardener is maybe putting the cart before the horse---nurserymen are in business to sell plants--to be sure--but its been my experience that some are up on all matters dealing with horticulture.

Local nurseries deal with customers' problems every day and may well be able to satisfactorily solve a dilemma involving grass growing.

The guy answering the phone at the extension service might be a summer job recruit who couldn't handle it at the nursery.

The "guy" or the gal answering the phone at the extension office will be someone that has completed the Master Gardener class, not just anyone, and you can always ask to talk with your county horticulturist if you think that person does not have the answer you need.
One of our nursery owners, with a degree in horticulture, once sold to someone a pesticide to treat for frost. Most often I have found that people at nurseries will try to sell you something whether that is appropriate or not. Nurseries are there to sell things, not offer free advice.

Kimm, it sounds like you just deal with the wrong nursery; some are actually honest to goodness trustworthy people of the community.

Horticulture has gotten to be big business; home gardeners are not content with the postage stamp size gardens of their parents or grandparents; they have witnessed an explosion in all manner of perennial and annual gardens and they want a lawn to look like a lawn.

The local full-service nursery is where they head to buy and get advice.... NOW....not a week or a month from now--they don't want to have to wait for a phone call from some guy who didn't have the time of day to answer one....two...3 dozen questions about starting a garden. Nursery people, far from being uneducated. as has been suggested, they could probably answer more intellectually than somebody who is distant from the specific area.

I mean if, that be the case, that nurseries don't know their stuff... then what degree of knowledge do you give the producers of this journal. Or do you put down HGTV in the same boat.

I know of a few nurseries that hire Master Gardeners for the sales floor but most of those, around here, hire high school students during the season, temporary help because the knowledgable gardeners are busy in their gardens. Most of the nursery owners are too busy during the growing season working in the nursery to have a garden, unless they hire someone to care for it for them.
Nursery employees are not uneducated, but they have an agenda that most likely is not the same as yours. They want to sell you something because they do not make any money if they do not sell you something. How someone could interpret what I wrote above as suggesting nursery people are uneducated is beyond comprehension.

I know this is an older thread but just wanted to add something. The Univ. of Florida operates a research station on turf grasses in the northern end of the county where I live. Folks at our office of the extension service are pretty knowledgeable about turf!! And, they do have direct, personall access to all the research personnel, if they aren't all working int he same office!!! And, I don't talk to a master gardener when I call directly to the extension office. I talk to the agent.