"carol k" wrote in message
...
I recently bought a house as is, and the lawn looks like crap. The
previous owner neglected to water it regularly and keep it maintained,
so half of the lawn is pretty much dead/weedy. It's St. Ausgustine
grass.

Any suggestions on how to redo my lawn? I don't have a lot of money,
so I can't hire a contractor or buy a truckload of new St. Ausgustine.
I'm thinking along the line of renting a tiller and reseeding it with
another kind of grass (What kind of grass can coexist with St.
Ausgustine?)... What's the best way to approach this project? I've
asked people at Home Depot and they weren't very helpful.

(1) get a bag of cheap grass seed. Scarify the soil (rough it up w/ a rake)
where bald. Spread the seed and stomp it down to get good soil contact.
Top dress it with soil or compost to keep the birds from spotting it. Keep
it watered for the next few weeks - every day for short periods will keep
them moist without washing away the seed. This will at least result in
something more or less uniform green in color and probably acceptable enough
if one doesn't look to closely.

(2) Realize that we're going into the time of year that's hardest on lawns,
which aren't really adapted for this climate anyway, and be philosopical
about the fact that the yard will look like crap until you have the time and
resources to replace the neglected lawn properly, perhaps this fall when the
weather cools.

(3) Get creative and replace with something other than lawn. Native grasses
and plants, colored gravels, etc. This can be done piecemeal as you have
the finances, if you start with a well thought out plan. Keep your eyes
open when you drive around your neighborhood, or visit some *real* nurseries
in the area, partial list below. This may not be an acceptable option for
you - you may like the look of lawn, have children, or CCRs that prohibit
anything but that stretch of suburban green. Again, this is not Merrie Olde
Englande where the perfectly manicured lawn is "native." Since you're
fighting nature, lawns here require considerable time and resources to
maintain.

http://www.naturalgardeneraustin.com/index.html

http://www.bigredsun.com/site/tweet.html

http://www.hillcountrywatergardens.com/

http://howardnursery.com/

http://www.itsajungleaustin.com/

http://www.tedstrees.com/


No web site:

Utility Research Garden, 638 Tillery St., Austin TX 78702, (512) 386-9453.

Barton Springs Nursery, 3601 Bee Caves Rd Austin TX 78746, (512) 328-6655

Great Outdoors, 2730 S Congress Ave Austin, TX 78704, (512) 448-2992