St. Augustine lawn care schedule

St. Augustine is the dominant lawn grass of the Gulf Coast and Florida, coarse-bladed, lush blue-green, and notably the most shade-tolerant of the warm-season grasses. Floratam, Palmetto, Raleigh, and CitraBlue are the common cultivars. Establishes from sod or plugs (not viable seed), needs more water than bermuda or zoysia, and is vulnerable to chinch bugs and gray leaf spot, but in its zone, nothing else looks right.

Growth habit

Spreads via stolons only (no rhizomes)

Mowing height

2.5–4 in

Season

warm-season

Notes: Most shade-tolerant warm-season grass. Sod or plugs only: no seed available.