St. Augustine Grass Care

How to Identify St. Augustine

St. Augustine grass has the most distinctive look of any common warm-season grass:

• Color: medium to dark blue-green. Some varieties have a notable bluish cast
• Texture: coarse, much wider blades than bermuda or zoysia (3 to 8 mm wide)
• Growth pattern: spreads aggressively via thick, above-ground stolons (no rhizomes)
• Density: medium to high when healthy
• Common varieties in our region: Floratam (most common), Palmetto, ProVista, Raleigh, Seville

Floratam is by far the dominant St. Augustine variety in the South, and most of the chinch bug resistance research has historically focused on Floratam. Palmetto and Raleigh are more cold-tolerant alternatives.

Service Area:

St. Augustine is most common in the warmer, more southern and coastal parts of our service footprint, where the climate is better suited for it. We see it more often in areas with longer warm seasons, higher humidity, and neighborhoods where St. Augustine was installed as the original turf or chosen for its shade tolerance and thicker blade appearance.

In our more northern or inland markets, such as the north metro Atlanta area, St. Augustine is much less common compared to Bermuda, fescue, and zoysia. When we do see it, it is often in shaded areas, older established lawns, or properties where the homeowner specifically selected it because it can tolerate more shade than Bermuda.

Where St. Augustine Grass Thrives (and Where St. Augustine Struggles)

St. Augustine’s biggest selling point is shade tolerance.

St. Augustine thrives in:

• Light to moderate shade (3 to 5 hours of sun)
• Coastal climates with mild winters
• Sandy or loamy soils with good drainage
• Slightly acidic to neutral pH (6.0 to 6.5)

St. Augustine tolerates:

• Salt spray (coastal areas)
• High humidity

St. Augustine struggles in:

• Deep shade (under 3 hours of sun)
• Heavy clay with poor drainage
• Hard freezes. Extended periods below 25°F can cause significant die-back
• Heavy traffic. This grass doesn’t bounce back from wear like bermuda

Mowing St. Augustine

Fertilizing St. Augustine

Annual nitrogen needs: Up to 3 to 5 pounds per 1,000 square feet, split across applications.

A typical St. Augustine fertilization schedule:

• April through May: Temperature released fertilizer applied (soil temperature controlled release)
• June through July: Second feeding
• August through September: Third feeding (with caution, see below)
  No nitrogen after mid-September in our region

Critical principle for St. Augustine: late-season high-nitrogen applications dramatically increase take-all root rot risk and gray leaf spot. This warm-season grass is more sensitive to fertilization timing than any other.

Soil pH: St. Augustine prefers slightly acidic soil (6.0 to 6.5). Very alkaline soils can lead to manganese deficiency and yellowing.

pH Tendencies:

When we do recommend a soil test, it is usually because we are seeing a lawn that is not responding the way we would expect after ruling out more common issues like watering, shade, mowing, disease, insects, or compaction. Across our service area, most lawns have fairly similar soil tendencies, which is why our program is already designed around the turf types, soil conditions, and climate in each region we serve.

When soil tests do reveal an issue, the most common finding is usually a pH imbalance or nutrient availability concern that may be limiting the lawn’s ability to fully respond to the program. These issues are not something we assume on every lawn, but soil testing is a helpful tool when a specific problem needs to be confirmed and corrected.

The GrassRoots Turf Lawn Fertilization program is calibrated specifically for St. Augustine’s lower nitrogen needs and higher disease sensitivity.