Does the house always win? Tips for St. Augustine lawns

Q: After reading about your success with St. Augustine grass in your own yard, I decided to gamble and sod my yard with palmetto St. Augustine last June. By August, I had the most beautiful grass in the entire neighborhood and arguably the entire city. It’s now January and there is still unmelted snow all over the place. Should I expect an autopsy report this spring that says “the house always wins” ?

A: St. Augustine grass in Atlanta is always a gamble. My lawn was started from sprigs taken from a lawn in Candler Park that had been a St. Augustine lawn for 20 years. I figured the plants that were most cold-hardy had survived cold winters and thrived and therefore were good candidates for my lawn.

I took a 5-gallon plastic bucket and, with permission from the owners, I pulled sprigs about two feet long that were on the sidewalk on the edge of the street and the parking area. I stuffed them in the bucket, covered the ends of the sprigs with water, and headed home for more work. There, I cut each long sprig in half and used a short mattock to cut a divot in my existing lawn and shoved half of a 6-inch sprig in. The butt end of the mattock firmed the soil around the sprig and I moved twelve inches away and did the same thing again. I watered heavily every other day and lo and behold, most of the sprigs took root and started sprouting.

Your palmetto St. Augustine is an excellent variety, very shade tolerant and deep green. Everybody who has St. Augustine lawn should know about chinch bugs. Eventually they will get to your St. Augustine as they eventually got to mine. I treated for them several years in a row but eventually they, and the deepening shade, caused the St. Augustine to thin, so I moved to mondo grass, which is not a grass, but a lily that looks like grass. It is thriving in deep shade. Mondo grass would not be appropriate for large areas in front of the house in full sun, but in the shadiest spots it sure looks nice. So we’ll just have to see what survives this winter’s cold in your lawn. Parts may be dead and parts may be alive. Take sprigs from there and plant in the dead areas. This will give you the best chance of beating the house.

P.S. Red thread is caused by the fungus Laetisaria fuciformis, and pink patch is caused by Limonomyces roseipellis. All species of grass are susceptible to these diseases, though perennial rye and fescues are most at risk. Check online for controls.