Grass is very high maintenance. There is more to growing grass than just sod and water. If you only contracted with the landscaper to install the lawn but not to maintain it, that is where the problem lies. A well maintained lawn will tend to crowd out weeds. For that you need to water the lawn with at least an inch of water or rain a week. Feed the lawn twice a year. My St. Augustine lawn is much older so I feed around March and September with Sulfate of ammonia or lawn food. I do not give grass phosphorus since it is an older lawn and too much fertilizer will just build up thatch. I aerate, de-thatch and top dress the same time as I fertilize. Mow at the recommended height.
I do have to dig out the larger weeds, nut sedge is here to stay, I just let the grass compete with it. St Augustine hides nut sedge fairly well but I do get mats of kylinga which I do have to dig out. I have used sedge hammer for some of the nut sedge when there is a lot of it. I cannot use regular Image on St. Augustine, but they do make an Image product for St. Augustine now that controls most of the broad leafd herbs. I only use that when I am desperate. Most of the time I do just hand weed or use a spot weed killer for larger patches.
If you do not have the time to take care of the lawn, it would be better to hire a landscape maintenance contractor. Here the contract is usually for a year. They come and mow the grass, trim the hedges, the contract says they will keep the yard 75% weed free, fertilize twice a year. You will also need to negotiate with them to haul away the trash, otherwise, it will be left in your green can or bagged for you. I have a special contractor to de-thatch, aerate and top dress. That can be very expensive, but it only needs to be done a couple of times a year and you could do that yourself if you rent the equipment. It requires a vertical lawn mower which can be rented. There are also aerators for rent. I have a small lawn so I have a de-thatching rake and a foot aerator to do the job. It is a workout even on a small lawn. One bag of top dressing will cover about a 100 sq ft 1/4 inch.
It is better to have the landscaper install a sprinkler system in the lawn. You will need to test it, it should be monthly but I at least try to do it every couple of months and make sure everything works and the coverage is good at least around April, since my sprinkler is off for most of the rainy season. How long you have to water depends on the time of year, the type of soil you have and the grass. Water for 30 minutes and dig a spot in the grass to check how deep the water went, if it got down at least four inches you are done. If the water started running off the top of the lawn to the sidewalk and the soil below is not evenly moist, the ground is very dry. You will need to water for shorter periods more often until the soil is moist about 4-6 inches deep. Walk on the grass, if it bounces back almost immediately, it does not need water. If the blades come up only very slowly or you can see footprints where you walked, the lawn really needs to be watered more often. Where I am, I water the grass every 4 days for 20 minutes in summer. I have very poor water pressure. I only test the lawn and spot water during the cooler and wetter months of the year. Slow deep watering is better than shallow short watering especially hand watering which is rarely long enough or deep enough.
If you want to take care of the lawn yourself you will need to do the fertilizing, watering, weeding, and mowing yourself. Most landscape contractors just spot weed or hand pull large weeds. If you have children and pets weed and feed products are not good and may not be safe for all grasses.
Actually, the landscaper is contracted by our HOA for full maintenance. They promised to come weed and feed multiple times, but they have not shown up since September except for mowing and trimming.
We have a watering system which waters two to three times a week, at night, depending on time of year and the rain that we get here in Miami.
I want to get on top of this before it deteriorates further. So, should I use some product to try to keep it going until they eventually make it back here?
Where do you live? It is better to put it in your profile.
If the maintenance is contracted out and they haven't been around then you should report it to the HOA. If they haven't been around, and the association is paying for the service, they should be checking up on it. It depends what the terms of the contract entailed and the duration. The contract may have ended.
I'm waiting on HOA replies. Unfortunately, we are undergoing changes in management at this time so it's a little craptastic. I want to keep my yard from going totally under while waiting.
The contract should be for all forms of maintenance.
