Here are some tips on maintaining your Florida St. Augustine grass:
St. Augustine grass requires seasonal care to be at its best – beginning in the spring. When spring arrives (in Florida that can be pretty early), begin watering your St. Augustine grass two to three times a week. Once the grass comes back from its dormant winter period, you can begin mowing once more. During this time, you should not bag the grass clippings when you mow but instead leave them to decompose and become a natural, organic fertilizer to help return nutrients to the soil.
- You should also apply a St. Augustine-safe weed and feed fertilizer to your lawn about two to three weeks before you expect the grass to turn green. Be sure it is St. Augustine-safe, as some types of weed and feed fertilizers can burn or otherwise harm this grass.
- In the summer, your St. Augustine grass will be fully mature, and you should be watering two to four times a week, depending on your soil’s ability to hold moisture. For example, sandy soil drains faster than denser soil, so it will require more frequent watering. Remember to only water in the morning or early afternoon. This helps to avoid lawn fungus getting on your grass from the evening rise in humidity this time of year.
- Avoid using herbicides on your grass if the temperature gets above ninety degrees, as this can stress out your grass. Pull any weeds by hand. Mow as necessary, but at least once a week.
- In the fall, you may choose to add an autumn-blend fertilizer as well as a St. Augustine-safe herbicide to get rid of any weeds. Only water one to two times a week, depending on the rain in your area, and only mow as needed.
- Finally in winter, St Augustine grass reaches a dormant stage once the average temperature of the soil goes below sixty-eight degrees. This means the leaves will lose their pigment and begin to become brown. Depending on your location, the temperature of the soil may never go below this threshold, or may only do so for short periods, meaning you will still have a vibrant lawn most of the year.
While your grass is dormant, reduce mowing and watering to one to two times a month, if your average daily temperature is cool enough to keep the grass dormant for long stretches. If your area does not get cool enough for the grass to remain dormant for more than a few days at a time, you should apply a low-nitrogen fertilizer in the winter.
St. Augustine grass is easy to care for, as long as you install healthy grass in your lawn in the first place. You can get high quality, healthy St. Augustine sod grass from us at Lake Jem Farms. We offer Palmetto, Bitterblue, Seville, Floratam St. Augustine grass. Our St. Augustine sod is perfect for the Florida environment because it is grown right here at our Central Florida sod farm. Contact us today for more information.