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St. Augustine grass looks terrible

8,328 Views | 28 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by TheGreatEscape
jsdaltxag
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My St. Augustine grass didn't make it through the winter very well. Looked great in the fall, but 80% of it looks dead, 10% looks sick, and 10% looks great.

Not sure if that one cold spell got it, a fungus, disease, etc? Anybody know what the deal is. Should I just give it more time and see if come back from the roots/nodules?
murphyag
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AG
Hard to say without seeing pictures.
Gil Renard
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AG
Isn't with a record mild spring hasn't it been in dormancy till the recent weather. Augustine gets heat and sun middle summer it usually is fine
chick79
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AG
Just about all Saint Augustine lawns in the metroplex look bad. Mine included. My landscaper told me that it was a combination of the hot dry summer we had last year plus the temperatures where it got down below 10 for a few days in the winter and then a layer of ice and snow in February. Then we had a relatively cool spring up until now. He told me things should start looking better by the end of May. Mine is a little better than it was three weeks or so ago. At this point be patient.
YouBet
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AG
I would hold. St. Augustine love hotter weather than this.

We are just getting started.
fc2112
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Mine looks bad too. And its not the high heat of the day that helps it - it the LOW temp stay above 60 F. We've has lows around 50 several times in the last few weeks and that just kills it.
jograki
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AG
Give it time and make sure you're raking the dead stuff so it clears space for the runners. Ours looked bad last month, but we threw down some milo and now we are now about 75% green after the recent rain.
planoaggie123
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AG
Just adding on what many have said.

St Augustine is struggling everywhere. Just walking around our neighborhood nobody has a "nice" St Augustine lawn yet...a few are slightly better than others but all have patches etc.

Our treatment company is optimistic that things will turn around in the next few weeks. I hope so...
fc2112
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I fertilized mid April and was probably way too early. I'll bite the bullet and fertilize again in the next week or so.
chick79
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AG
Mine is finally starting to perk up and I think it will be fine. It's probably gonna take another couple of months to fill-in, but I'm pleased with what's happened the last two or three weeks.
planoaggie123
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AG
Finally got around to racking more of the dead stuff from at Augustine today. Overall it's gotten a little better but not perfect. Hoping the next few weeks will see more improvement.
jograki
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AG
The rain this week made a huge difference, we're probably 90% green at this point.
DaveHimself
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AG
Below is an article written in March by Neil Sperry to help understand what many are seeing this Spring.

North Texas' wacky weather has caused serious chaos in our lawns and landscapes BY NEIL SPERRY.
SPECIAL TO THE STAR-TELEGRAM MARCH 17, 2023 6:00 AM

St. Augustine should green up once things warm up. NEIL SPERRY Special to the Star-Telegram I'm a Native Texan, specifically of the Metroplex for 53 years. I have decided that our weather is wacky. The past 25 months have caused some of the most unusual chaos in our lawns and landscapes that I've seen since my wife and I got here. Let me describe a few situations and explain where we're heading as the weather warms and things start to grow (or ought to).

St. Augustine looks like it's toasted, roasted and history. I've had more people asking if they're going to have to replant their lawns this spring than in any spring I can remember. I have St. Augustine, and our yard is in a micro-climate that gets a few degrees colder than most of the rest of North Central Texas. I looked at my turf before I started writing this column, and I can see what people are thinking. It looks pretty pathetic. However, I also see sprigs of green coming up through the browned runners. My bet is that much of the St. Augustine will green up and come out just fine once things warm up.

Have patience and apply an all-nitrogen fertilizer with 30% to 40% of that nitrogen in encapsulated or coated (timed-release) form. It's still a bit cool to do that, so practice your patience. Yes, we had a drought last summer some might say a "biblical" drought.

But I don't believe that was the only cause for the St. Augustine downfall. Concurrent with the drought we also were slammed by a chinch bug invasion. These pests make our lawns look dry, just as a drought will do. People watered their lawns thinking "drought" as they did, but they didn't notice that the grass wasn't responding. Before they knew it, entire sections of the St. Augustine were dying, and the drought was getting undue credit. If you find that your St. Augustine doesn't green up this spring, take note of where the browned areas are. If they're only in full sun, then chinch bugs were probably the cause. In that case you'll want to re-plant, and when you do, you'll need to protect the new grass in those same areas from chinch bugs this summer and for summers to come. Chinch bugs are always going to be in the hottest, sunniest parts of your lawn, so you'll want to start watching for the telltale signs of dry grass that doesn't respond to irrigation starting in mid-June this year. Apply an insecticide labeled for chinch bugs when you see the BB-sized black insects with irregular white diamonds on their backs.
gvine07
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AG
Here's a thread from a month ago. I think I have TARR that has obliterated my St Augustine. It only costs time and money to treat for grub works, cinch bugs, and a fungus/disease.

https://texags.com/forums/61/topics/3372867

Neil Sperry said to be patient with St. Augustine in early March - now it's mid-May. If it still hasn't come back you may have a problem.
riverrataggie
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AG
Put down fertilizer Saturday. St Agustine in front. Zoysia in back.
BosAG06
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After the rain last week and Sunday mine is coming on strong. I was worried a month ago about it. I fertilized in mid April with Scott's + Iron. I still have a few weaker areas but 98% of the lawn is thickening up. I think if we can get some rain here and there with the heat in the next month people will be surprised how much it takes over. If we fall into another drought it's not going to be pretty.
Buford Tannen
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AG
Here in Fort Worth - mine was looking pretty sad until last weekend and it's sprouted up nicely. Low sun, high shade areas and still pretty strong.
FincAg
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AG
About time to start mowing twice a week.
annieag91
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AG
Ours looks great in East Dallas. We had grubs, but treating twice a year keeps them at bay. Aerated our lawn abt 3 weeks ago and fertilized with ironite, after all this rain it looks fab.
YouBet
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AG
FincAg said:

About time to start mowing twice a week.
Seems extreme.

Are you feeding your lawn cocaine?
FincAg
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AG
No, but I do
  • keep to a fertilizing schedule
  • mow the St Augustine at 2.25" and Bermuda at 1.5"
  • water Thursdays & Sundays
  • mow Tuesdays and Fridays
  • edge Fridays

About to put my second dose of fertilizer down Sunday along with second spot treatment of Disease-Ex on my former TARR spots. Monday will be second pre-emergent. Wednesday a spot treatment of 24d for the dandelions the boys keep picking elsewhere and bringing into the yard.
Southlake
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I sprinkle the bare areas with potting or garden soil, water and fertilize and it fills in quickly.
Old Tom Morris
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This spring was rough due to some intermittent cold nights later into the spring. We're just now getting to the point where most will rally and really green up. The magic # is 150: daytime high + nighttime low > 150 consistently
BosAG06
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AG
PSA: Chinch bugs are alive and well in DFW. Found a section of my side yard was infested with them, already did quite a bit of damage before I could spray them. And I had put down granular killer about 2 months ago. Seemed like it didn't last long enough for these things. Be on the lookout if all of a sudden your St Augustine starts dying even though you are watering. If you find tiny black bugs running all over the grass, especially where the dead meets the live grass you've got them too. It's usually in the sunniest hottest part of your yard so a lot of people just assume it's the heat. These suckers can kill off a half a lawn in a week if you get enough of them.
Yesterday
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We're in that part of summer where if your entire yard is green then you're a jerk. Stop using so much water.
Coates
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Yesterday said:

We're in that part of summer where if your entire yard is green then you're a jerk. Stop using so much water.


Not really, just get a good lawn company. I water 2 days a week, 15 min a zone and the lawn has never looked better.
harge57
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AG
Coates said:

Yesterday said:

We're in that part of summer where if your entire yard is green then you're a jerk. Stop using so much water.


Not really, just get a good lawn company. I water 2 days a week, 15 min a zone and the lawn has never looked better.
Agreed. I water once a week and have one of the greenest lawns on the block.

Most people are mowing their St A wayyy to short. Mowing high and a little iron on a well established lawn looks great.
fc2112
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My St. Augustine is damn near 3" tall. It's so thick it holds the moisture in really well.
TheGreatEscape
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Grows great if you have a bunch of trees and shade.
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