St. Augustine Grass Care
One of the most shade-tolerant warm-season grasses, known for its coarse texture, but very sensitive to cold and drought. In Turkey it is suitable only for the humid Mediterranean coastal strip with no frost risk; it requires intensive irrigation and special care.
Monthly care calendar
Timings are for a temperate Northern Hemisphere climate. In warmer areas tasks start earlier, in colder areas later; in the Southern Hemisphere shift them by six months.
- General care: This is the dormancy period; do not create traffic or heavy loads on the surface.
- Frost risk: It is very sensitive to cold; rhizomes can die in frosts below -5 °C. Protect small areas with a cover on nights when frost is expected.
- General care: Collect the leaves and debris without scraping the surface.
- Frost risk: Stay alert for late frosts; newly leafing-out leaves burn easily.
- Watering: If there is no rainfall, water deeply every 10-15 days (15 L/m²).
- General care: Identify bare patches damaged over winter; repair them with plugs or sod rolls in April-May.
- Watering: If there is no rainfall, water deeply once a week (15-20 L/m²).
- Fertilizing: After full greening, apply a nitrogen-rich lawn fertilizer (about 2-3 g pure nitrogen/m²).
- Pruning: Once growth begins, use a higher mowing height of 6-9 cm. Short cutting reduces shade tolerance and root depth.
- Watering: Give a total of 20-25 L/m² of water per week, including rainfall.
- Pruning: Mow every 7-10 days, at a height of 6-9 cm.
- General care: If the leaves yellow in calcareous soil (iron deficiency), apply an iron-containing foliar fertilizer.
- Watering: Give a total of 25 L/m² of water per week, including rainfall; water early in the morning, as evening watering increases disease.
- Fertilizing: Do the second fertilizing (about 2-3 g pure nitrogen/m²).
- Pruning: Mow every 7 days, at a height of 6-9 cm.
- Watering: Give a total of 25-30 L/m² of water per week, including rainfall.
- Pruning: Mow every 7 days; do not lower the cutting height.
- Plant protection: If pests are heavy, consult a licensed plant-protection supplier or an agronomist. Plant protection products are regulated; follow local rules.
- Pests & diseases: In hot, dry periods, patches that turn yellow and dry out along sunny edges can be a sign of chinch bugs; look for small black-and-white bugs among the leaf bases.
- Watering: Give a total of 25-30 L/m² of water per week, including rainfall.
- Fertilizing: The last light fertilization of the season can be done in early August; late nitrogen increases disease.
- Pruning: Mow every 7 days.
- Pests & diseases: In humid, hot weather gray-brown oval spots (gray leaf spot) may appear on the leaves; do not apply nitrogen fertilizer during this period.
- Watering: If there is no rainfall, water deeply once a week (15-20 L/m²).
- Pruning: Mow every 7-10 days.
- Watering: Stop watering when the rains begin.
- Pruning: As growth slows, open up the cutting interval; enter winter with a cutting height of 7-8 cm.
- Pests & diseases: If ring-shaped brown patches (brown patch) appear in cool, humid weather, reduce watering and collect mowing debris.
- General care: Collect fallen leaves regularly; they decompose quickly in the leaf cover under St. Augustine grass.
- Frost risk: With the first frosts, yellowing begins; do not step on frosted lawn.
- General care: Dormancy period; no fertilizing or mowing needed.
- Frost risk: In regions with hard frosts, permanent loss may occur; this lawn is suitable only for the frost-free coastal belt.
The care advice on this page is general and for information only; it is not professional advice. Plant age, soil and your garden’s microclimate can change the outcome. Plant protection products are mentioned only as general information; they are regulated, and the choice, dose and timing must be decided by a qualified professional under local rules. Consult a landscape architect or agronomist before applying.
Want reminders for every plant in your garden? Our garden-care app with monthly task lists and frost alerts is currently available in Turkish; the English version is on the way.
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