Smith County Master Gardeners provide a range of services to help local gardeners, including plant clinics, community and local school gardens, and educational workshops. Our certified volunteers are dedicated to sharing their knowledge and supporting the growth of healthy gardens in the area.

Smith County Master Gardeners offers a variety of educational resources for home gardeners, including monthly workshops, a plant clinic hotline, and an extensive online library of gardening guides. Whether you’re a beginner or experienced green thumb, we’re here to help you grow a thriving garden.

Getting rid of moss, weeds, and clover requires a two-step approach: treating existing growth and addressing the underlying soil conditions that allowed them to take over.

• Lawn Weeds: For broadleaf weeds (like dandelions or henbit), apply a selective broadleaf herbicide in late spring or early fall when weeds are actively growing. For annual grassy weeds (like crabgrass), apply a pre-emergent herbicide in early spring before seeds germinate.
• Clover: Clover thrives in nitrogen-poor soil. You can treat actively growing clover with a selective broadleaf herbicide containing triclopyr or MCPP. To prevent it from returning, maintain a consistent fertilization schedule high in nitrogen to favor grass growth.
• Moss: Moss indicates poor growing conditions for grass—typically compacted soil, excessive shade, poor drainage, or acidic soil (low pH). Treat active moss with iron sulfate (moss killer), then rake out the dead moss once it turns black.

Long-Term Prevention:

1. Soil Test: Test your soil pH and nutrient levels to correct imbalances.
2. Aeration: Core-aerate compacted soil to improve root depth and drainage.
3. Mowing Height: Mow at the recommended height for your turfgrass species to shade out weed seeds.
4. Overseeding: Plant shade-tolerant or resilient grass varieties in thin areas to crowd out competing growth.

In East Texas, localized lawn issues (especially with St. Augustine and Bermuda grass) frequently trace back to three main culprits:

• Take-All Root Rot (TARR): A fungal disease common in warm, humid East Texas springs and falls. It causes irregular, yellowing patches where the grass roots turn short, black, and rotted, making the turf easy to pull up.
• Chinch Bugs: During hot, dry East Texas summers, chinch bugs drain moisture from grass blades, causing expanding brown, dead patches—most often in sunny areas or along hot driveways and sidewalks.
• Iron Deficiency (Chlorosis): High pH or heavily compacted alkaline soils prevent roots from absorbing iron, leaving grass blades looking pale yellow while the veins stay green.

East Texas lawns typically need 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week during the summer heat, split across two waterings.

Watering Frequency & Depth

• Frequency: Water 2 times per week (e.g., Tuesday and Friday). Deep, infrequent watering encourages deep root growth, making turf far more drought-tolerant than daily shallow watering.
• Best Time to Water: Run sprinklers in the early morning (between 4:00 AM and 8:00 AM). This minimizes evaporation from sun and wind while preventing fungal diseases that occur when grass stays wet overnight.

How Long to Run Sprinklers

Run times vary depending on the type of sprinkler head you have:

• Spray Heads (Fixed heads that pop up and spray continuously):
  • 15 to 25 minutes per zone, twice a week.
• Rotor Heads (Heads that rotate slowly back and forth):
  • 40 to 60 minutes per zone, twice a week.
• Drip Irrigation (for garden beds/landscaping):
  • 40 to 60 minutes per run.

Use The “Catch Can” Test for Exact Timing

Because water pressure and nozzle types vary:

1. Place 4–5 flat-bottomed cans (like empty tuna or cat food cans) around your lawn zone.
2. Run the zone for 15 minutes.
3. Measure the depth of water in the cans with a ruler.
4. Calculate how long it takes to reach 0.5 to 0.75 inches of water per session.

In East Texas, growing grass under mature pine and oak trees is challenging due to dense shade, acidic soil from pine needles, and root competition for water.

St. Augustine Grass (Palmetto or Sapphire Varieties)

• Best Choice Overall: St. Augustine is the most shade-tolerant warm-season grass for the region.
• Key Varieties: Palmetto and Sapphire perform significantly better in low-light environments than standard varieties (like Raleigh).
• Requirements: Still requires a minimum of 4 to 5 hours of filtered sunlight daily.

Zoysia Grass (Fine-Bladed Varieties)

• Alternative Option: Offers good shade tolerance with better drought resistance and disease resistance than St. Augustine.
• Key Varieties: Innovation, Diamond, or Geo tolerate partial shade better than standard coarse-bladed Zoysia.
• Requirements: Needs about 5 to 6 hours of sun per day.

Tips for Success Under East Texas Trees:

1. Prune Trees: Limb up lower branches of oak and pine trees to allow more filtered sunlight to reach the ground.
2. Raise Mowing Height: Mow grass 0.5 to 1 inch higher in shaded areas to give the grass blades more surface area to absorb light.
3. Soil Testing: Pine needles do not make soil overly acidic by themselves, but shade soils can turn acidic over time. Keep soil pH around 6.0 to 6.5.
4. Consider Alternatives: If an area gets less than 4 hours of direct sun, grass will struggle long-term. Consider shade-tolerant groundcovers (like Asian Jasmine, Mondo Grass, or Liriope) or mulched beds instead.