Sanctuary

Prior to the changes in Florida Statute (See FL Statute 373.185), The Sanctuary mandated St. Augustine grass for all community lawns.  While St. Augustine likely will remain our main turf grass for some time, homeowners are encouraged to consider less grass varieties with lower irrigation requirements and greater pest resistance.  The University of Florida has researched this question extensively and the most widely recommended grass for our area is Empire Zoysia.  Several varieties of Bahia also are acceptable (Argentine and Pensacola), but Zoysia seems to perform best and has a nicer, fuller appearance for lawn use.  Bahia is considered more wear resistance for areas of higher traffic, but is thinner in growth pattern and produces abundant seed heads, which means more frequent mowing.  Beyond the selection of the best grass variety, there are several steps homeowners can take to improve the health of their turf.  

–Mow at the proper height for your grass to promote a healthy root system, which makes grass less thirsty. 

–Use the weather to your advantage—don’t irrigate if it’s rained in the past twenty-four hours or if rain is forecast in the next twenty-four hours.  

–Particularly for St. Augustine, but also appropriate for other grasses, water only as the lawn begins to appear stressed.  By doing so, the turf will grow deeper, stronger roots that are better able to withstand the stress of drought and summer heat. 

–Don’t over-fertilize!  Too much fertilizer is not only bad for our environment, it’s counterproductive, as it promotes excessive growth that weakens your grass and makes it more susceptible to insects and disease.  For a quick green-up of yellowing grass, application of an iron-only spray will usually do the trick.

I met last week with Bob Dallari, our Seminole County Commissioner, along with the President of Riverside HOA, our neighbors across CR 419.  We discussed several options for improving the deplorable traffic safety problem at our main entrance on Sanctuary Drive and 419.  Unfortunately, it’s not looking very positive for a traffic light, but the county will be working with Oviedo to look at funding options–realistically, though, I don’t see either coming up with the cash soon, given the prevailing budget situation.  Other options include activating the existing signal at the fire station and timing it with the light at the school to allow better flow in and out of the two developments and changing the lanes on 419 to limit each side to right turn exits only.  Neither choice does the trick, but I’m sure we would all agree the lane change on 419 would cause more problems than it would solve, so I won’t be supporting that option.  We’ll be meeting with the county folks again at the end of March and I’ll keep you all posted on how things are going.

 Bob Howard, President (3/3/2010)