From the Sperry Garden – October, 2007

The St. Augustine in this part of our lawn has struggled for at least the past 6 or 8 years. However, it’s really gone down hill in the past two summers. Some of that is from gray leaf spot damage. However, I’ve learned not to apply high-nitrogen fertilizers in the summer and that has corrected most of the gray leaf spot issue. Much of this current damage has been due to excessive shading — with a little take all patch stirred in for bad measure.

In any event, I wore out with the turfgrass and decided it was time for a change. These are concrete paving stones we made probably 18 years ago. They were in another part of our landscape, actually surrounding an old vegetable garden that has since gone by the boards (also too much shade — it’s tough living in a pecan forest). Like this part of our landscape, these stones have been given a second chance at life in their new homes.

What you see here is the beginning of a newly remodeled part of our gardens. It’s still a work in progress, but I’m loving the way it’s evolving. Look for other aspects of it in upcoming months as work continues to progress. I’m sure I’ll use it for my On a Personal Note in our magazine as well.

Make no mistake: I still love St. Augustine and we have it in other parts of our yard. However, my goal here is to replace all of the turf with groundcovers, shrubs and other plants that will handle this area better.