Randy Lemmon's Lawn Schedule: A Tribute and Current Houston Guide
This post is part tribute, part current Houston lawn guide — and we’d love for the comments to become a place for Randy stories, too. See the very bottom of this post to leave a memory.
If you searched for Randy Lemmon's fertilizer schedule or his GardenLine lawn calendar and landed here, welcome. We want to start by simply saying: Randy Lemmon meant something to Houston gardeners, and his absence is still felt.
Who Randy Lemmon Was to Houston
For more than 25 years, Randy Lemmon hosted GardenLine on Houston's 740 KTRH — a weekend radio program he once called the most-listened-to garden show in the country. For an enormous number of Houston-area homeowners, Saturday mornings meant Randy's voice walking them through fertilizer timing, freeze recovery, pest pressure, and whatever the Gulf Coast was throwing at their lawns that week.
Randy held a journalism degree and a Master of Science in Agriculture from Texas A&M, and he spent years producing agricultural programming before GardenLine ever existed. He authored several books on Gulf Coast gardening, including guidance covering everything from fertilizer schedules to the proper use of mulch. He was the person Houston turned to during hurricanes and hard freezes, when people needed to know what to do next for the plants and lawns they'd spent years building.
Randy passed away in January 2023 after complications from a stroke. He was 61. He's survived by his wife and children, and remembered by an entire region of gardeners who grew their lawns, their gardens, and in many cases their confidence as homeowners, listening to his advice.
If Randy's voice is part of your Saturday morning memories, you're far from alone. We wanted this page to be a place that honors that — not one that tries to replace it.
If You're Looking for a Schedule to Use This Season
We know a lot of people land on a search like this because they're trying to find a fertilizer schedule they can actually use right now — not just reminisce about one. Randy's old pages live on in a few corners of the internet, but the web changes over the years, and we can't speak to what you'll find there today. So we built our own complete version below, in his spirit, for anyone who needs one this season.
My name is Todd Farber. I'm a Texas A&M horticulturist who's been working Houston-area lawns since 1991. The approach I use is called the Texas Two-Step™ — and the core idea is simple: feed your lawn based on what it's actually doing, not a fixed date on a calendar. Houston's weather swings too much year to year for a one-size-fits-all schedule to work perfectly every time.
The Two-Step in Brief
- Step 1 — Fix & Wake-Up: Pre-emergent down before soil hits 55°F. Handle existing weeds. Let the lawn wake up gently — no forcing growth yet.
- Step 2 — Feed & Protect: Once your grass is actively growing — nighttime temps above 55°F for 5+ days, visible new green growth — feed heavily and protect through the season.
A Complete Year-Round Schedule: Fertilizer, Weeds & Disease Together
This covers St. Augustine, Bermuda, and Zoysia — the three grasses we see most in Houston yards. Dates are rough Houston averages; always let your lawn's actual condition be the final call, especially in an unusually warm or cold year.
🌱 Fertilizer
| Timing | What to Apply |
|---|---|
| Late Feb–Early March (optional) | Light "coffee, not a meal" green-up feeding — 15-5-10, only if grass is just starting to show color |
| Late March–early May | Main spring feeding — slow-release 19-4-10 or similar 3-1-2 ratio, once grass is actively growing |
| June–early July | Summer feeding — repeat the same slow-release formula |
| August (optional) | Liquid or granular iron if grass is yellowing despite feeding — common in Houston's alkaline clay |
| October–November | Fall/winterizer feeding — higher potassium ratio (third number) for winter hardiness |
🛡️ Pre-Emergent Herbicide
| Timing | What to Apply |
|---|---|
| By February 1st | Barricade (Prodiamine) before soil hits 55°F — the hard deadline for spring weeds like crabgrass |
| Late September–October | Second application as nighttime temps drop toward 70°F — protects against winter weeds like henbit and chickweed |
🍄 Disease & Fungus
| Timing | What to Watch For |
|---|---|
| Spring & fall, humid weeks | Brown patch — circular brown patches. Almost always tied to overwatering. Fix watering before reaching for fungicide. |
| July–September | Gray leaf spot — small gray/tan lesions on St. Augustine blades, worse with heavy nitrogen and overwatering |
| Spring | Take-all root rot (TARR) — yellowing and thinning, often confused with chinch bug damage |
🐛 Pests
| Timing | What to Watch For |
|---|---|
| Summer, especially St. Augustine | Chinch bugs — irregular yellow/brown patches, often mistaken for drought stress |
| Late summer–fall | Armyworms — can strip a lawn to bare soil in 48 hours; watch for heavy bird activity as a warning sign |
This is the short version. Our full guide breaks down exact products, application rates, and grass-specific timing for St. Augustine vs. Bermuda in much more depth.
👉 Read the full Houston Lawn Fertilizer Schedule guide →
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Complete Texas Two-Step™ Method for St. Augustine & Bermuda grass. Sent instantly to your email.
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Three quick tips, two things to watch for, one reader Q&A — straight to your inbox, timed to what's happening in Houston yards right now.
Have a Lawn Question? A Real Person Answers — Every Time
One of the things people loved most about calling into GardenLine was simple: you asked a real question, and a real person who actually knew Houston soil gave you a real answer. That kind of back-and-forth is harder to find these days.
So here's our offer: send a photo of whatever's going on with your lawn — brown patches, yellow streaks, weird bugs, weeds you can't identify — to askgardenguy.com, and Todd will personally look at it and write back. Not a chatbot, not an auto-reply, not a generic article that may or may not match what's actually happening in your yard. An actual answer, from someone who's been walking Houston lawns since 1991.
It's free, the way Randy's advice always was, and we intend to keep it that way for as long as people need it.
Common Questions We Get Asked This Time of Year
Why is my St. Augustine turning yellow even though I fertilized?
Almost always Houston's alkaline clay blocking iron uptake. A liquid iron application usually fixes it within days — adding more nitrogen won't.
What's eating my lawn overnight?
In late summer and fall, armyworms are the most common culprit — they can strip a lawn to bare soil within 48 hours. Heavy bird activity on the lawn is often the first warning sign.
My grass has circular brown patches — is that a fungus?
Likely brown patch, and it's almost always tied to overwatering rather than a product problem. Fixing your watering schedule solves it more often than fungicide does.
Is it too late to put down pre-emergent?
Once your soil is consistently above 55°F, pre-emergent won't stop that season's weeds — they've already germinated. A soil thermometer takes the guesswork out.
Don't see your question here? Send it to us directly — that's exactly what this is for.
📄 Still haven't grabbed it? Get your free Texas Two-Step™ Lawn Guide here — free, sent instantly to your email.
Garden Guy is owned and run by Todd & Sabrina Farber — real people, real answers. More about us here →
In memory of Randy Lemmon (1962–2023), and in gratitude for everything he gave to Houston gardeners.
Do you have a Randy Lemmon memory, lawn success story, or favorite GardenLine tip? We’d love for you to share it in the comments below. Houston gardeners learned a lot from Randy, and this is a good place to remember that together.
