St. Augustine Grass
St. Augustine Grass – The Perfect Addition for More Beautiful Lawns and LandscapesPerfect Leaf Management uses only the best grass choices for your lawns and one of our favorites is none other than St. Augustine grass.A tropical grass found in various countries and different islands from Australia to Africa, St. Augustine grass is one of the turfs of choice of many lawn owners.A grass with coarse texture and spread by stolons, St.
Augustine grass does not produce rhizomes. Stolons can grow several feet in length and root at their nodes. Due to the grass’s coarse texture, this grass is not ideal for sports fields due to its low wear tolerance which makes it a primary option for both residential and business lawns.
Why Plant St. Augustine GrassWhen your lawns are adorned by St. Augustine grass, you will enjoy seeing stunning turf of light to dark green color. This can form a dense turf which can grow pretty well in majority of soils. St.
Augustine also boasts of good shade tolerance which is perfect in case there are big trees in your lawn. This amazing shade tolerance is the very reason why this is most preferred as compared to Bermuda grass that has poor shade tolerance and can only grow several feet when there is moderate to heavy shade.The best way for establishing this grass is through sod, giving you a great yard in an instant.
The roots will not take hold in the soil for several weeks but make sure that you water it carefully so that it will not dry out. Also, you can establish this from sprigs and plugs. The sprigs are the stolons, usually referred to as runners. The stolons are those stems above the ground growing horizontally.
These stolons are going to sprout and root at their nodes, forming several inches along their length. Daughter plants are going to be the mother plant’s clone. The moment the stolon takes on a secure rooting, you can already cut it and force the daughter plant into taking the role of mother plant that will send out more stolons.
It will then lessen the spread time.This type of grass will become dormant once the temperature of the soil goes lower than 55 degrees. In case the soil stays warmer than 60 degree throughout the year, St. Augustine grass is going to stay green. However, its growth will be slower once there is a drop in the soil temperature.
Caring for and Maintaining St. Augustine Grass in Your LawnMowingMajority of this grass’ varieties can do well at 3-4 inches. In case you have not planted yet and you know that a lower cut suits you better, you can go for its dwarf species, a good example of which is Amerishade that can handle a mowing height of 1.5-2 inches. An extremely level surface is needed so that you can avoid scalping the turf. However, you have to take note that there are
Core aeration
several dwarf varieties that are prone to winter damage, insect problems and thatch.At Perfect Leaf Management, we will help you determine the best variety based on your location.IrrigationThe cheapest irrigation method is to water every time the turf needs it. Make sure that you deeply wet the soil to 3-4 inches depth. The grass is going to tell you if you need to water it again.
Once the grass starts turning bluish green in color, you know that deep watering is needed again. One more way to determine this is through walking across your lawn and checking whether your footprints go away immediately. If your grass failed to return to their original state, it is water time again. Avoid watering the grass at night and rather, water during morning hours for the surface of the soil to have sufficient time to dry before nighttime. Damp
soil and grass is the perfect condition for specific diseases to develop.
Sodding
For an instant yard, sodding is the fastest but also the most expensive method to do it. You can either do this on your own or you can hire us at Perfect Leaf Management to handle the job for you. Proper grading and soil preparation is a must to make sure that a good surface will be created. When there is no smooth surface, lows and highs will happen during mowing, leading to a scalped lawn.
Because it will be weeks before the roots finally anchor to the soil, daily watering is needed so that the grass will not dry out. Never water heavily since water logging the soil is not something that you want to happen. Avoid mowing until the turf already has enough root and is properly anchored to the soil or it can already be lifted and cut by mower blades.
Sprigging and plugging are two more methods to plant St. Augustine grass. Plugging is when you plant grass squares. On the other hand, sprigging is planting the stolons.
Fertilization
This lawn turf will need around 4-5 pounds of nitrogen for every 1000 square feet. If your grass is started with stolons or plug, you can apply 1lb nitrogen for every 1000 square feet every month during growing season. It will promote the fastest spread and growth. For established grass, only 4-5lbs every year is needed. Over-fertilizing the mature turf will only encourage insect, disease, and thatch problems.
Many lawn owners are usually confused with fertilization and if you are one of them, you can trust us at Perfect Leaf Management to get the process completed for you.
Thatch
St. Augustine is among those few grasses which can create thatch, with over-fertilization being among the primary culprits behind this problem. Core aeration is among the best methods to avoid this issue in your lawns and we at Perfect Leaf Management are experts in this process.
St. Augustine grass is certainly a great grass for your lawns and we will make sure that your turf will be properly treated and cared for. Contact Perfect Leaf Management today for your inquiries on St. Augustine grass!
For more information about St. Augustine grass please contact Perfect Leaf Management. PLM Environmentally Proactively Smart® programs will insure the health and protection of your St. Augustine lawn exceeds your expectation!