St. Augustine Grass

St. Augustine Newcomers and visitors to Florida often remark on the coarseness of the local lawn grass. They are referring usually to St. Augustine grass, our main turf. New dwarf varieties have been released since 1975 with lower growth habit, and better shade and cold tolerance than Floratam. While none has yet captured a major niche, Seville, Delmar, and Palmetto are examples of good performing dwarf St. Augustine's.

Despite its shortcomings, susceptibility to drought and the chinch bug, St. Augustine performs very well in the region. It is highly competitive against weeds, usually smothering them, and it does well in diverse soils, under salt stress, and in moderate shade. The superior adaptation of St. Augustine grass extends to low maintenance situations, such as canal embankments, where it generally performs better than bahiagrass, as long as there is a source of moisture.

The widespread expansion of St. Augustine grass in Florida and other coastal areas is partly a function of the widespread installation of fixed irrigation systems, and an efficient turf production industry. Before the 1960's, many lawns were plugged rather than sodded, and bahia grass had been expanded as an escape from the chinch bug problem.

The Floratam variety of St. Augustine grass was released by the University of Florida and Texas A & M University, in 1973, for its resistance to the chinch bug and SAD virus. In Texas, where the virus was a problem, Floratam winterkilled too badly to be widely used, and was replaced in the 1980's by Raleigh. In Florida, where the chinch bug was a more serious problem, Floratam was eventually overcome by virulent race chinch bugs. Nevertheless, Floratam has excellent tolerance to the herbicide atrazine, the main pre- and post emergent herbicide used in St. Augustine grass, and it has aggressive stolons (above-ground runners) that can grow laterally at 3/4 inch per day.