St. Augustine Grass

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St. Augustine Grass
Adam Bray Landscape Design 3rd period
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St. Augustine is a warm season, perennial grass
that is widely used in areas with a warmer
climate. A native grass of tropical origin that
extends from water marshes (salty fresh),
lagoon fringes, and sandy beach ridges. Its
bluish-green color persists longer into the fall
than other warm season grasses, and St. Augustine
thrives in high shade beneath tall pines.
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Texture
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St. Augustine is a coarse textured grass. It is a
very robust grass used for both lawns and
pastures.
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Color
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Well watered St. Augustine grass has a luscious
dark green appearance. When St. Augustine doesnt
have enough water or has been exposed to direct
sunlight during excessive dryness, the grass
will turn an ugly yellow.
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Soil Conditions
For Best Growth
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St. Augustine grass grows in a wide variety of
soil. Optimum pH is between 6.0 and 8.5, but
above 7.5 it develops a chlorotic appearance. It
does not tolerate compacted or waterlogged
conditions. St. Augustine is highly tolerant of
soil salinity producing satisfactory levels as
high as 16 mmhos, it also grows well in sandy
soil. This grass can grow on low fertility soil,
which lessens the amount of fertilizer needed.
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Climate
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In the U.S., St. Augustine grass is found from
the Carolinas to Florida and westward along the
Gulf Coast to Texas and in Southern Central
California. Because St. Augustine lacks winter
hardiness, it is restricted to areas with mild
winter temperatures. It will not survive in dry
inland climates without irrigation. St. Augustine
is one of the more cold and frost tolerant of the
tropical and warm temperature grasses.
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Uses
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• High quality popular turf grass
• Low quality pasture grass
• Erosion control
• Cover crop in plantations (coconuts, papaya,
  coffee)

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Ways To Be
Bought
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• Sod
• Plugs
• Stolons (sprigs)
• seeds are not available at the present time for
  St. Augustine Grasses

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Varieties
Common, Floratine, Bitter Blue, Floratam,
Seville, Raleigh, Del Mar, Palmetto,
Dwarf/Variegated
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• Common- The common variety, a fertile diploid
  with a white stigma color, is native to the
  Gulf-Caribbean.
• Floratine- Floratine was released for its
  somewhat finer texture and darker green color
  than the common strain. It also retains its dark
  green color long into the fall and was reported
  to tolerate closer mowing than other St.
  Augustine grass selections.
• Bitter Blue- Bitter Blue was selected as an
  improvement over coarser textured types of St.
  Augustine grass used in Florida for lawns. It has
  a dense texture, good shade tolerance, cold
  tolerance, and grows well in full sun.

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• Floratam- Floratam is a vigorous coarse textured
  St. Augustine grass variety. It has a purple
  stigma color and is sterile. Leaf blades are
  longer and wider than common St. Augustine grass.
  This type is not as cold tolerant as the common
  type found in Texas.
• Seville- Seville is dense with compact foliage,
  chinch bug resistant, fast spreading, grows well
  in full sun, has fair shade tolerance, has
  excellent salt tolerance, is the most recognized
  St. Augustine, and is a superb plugging grass.
• Raleigh- Raleigh is a dense turf grass, is more
  shade tolerant than Floratam, is cold hardy, and
  has a medium green color.

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• Del Mar- Del Mar is very cold tolerant, grows
  well in full sun, has best shade tolerance of any
  St. Augustine available, has a superior emerald
  green color, and maintains excellent winter
  color.
• Palmetto- Palmetto is a densely spreading
  variety, has aggressive growth habits, rich dark
  green color, is cold tolerant, and performs well
  in sun and shade.
• Dwarf/Variegated- Dwarf and variegated are more
  ornamental and novelty grasses than turf grasses.
  One of the dwarf types (Garretts 141) has been
  evaluated for its seed production potential, but
  lacks cold tolerance.

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Advantages
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St. Augustine grass forms a fairly dense turf for
a bold, lush dark green look. It is the most
shade-tolerant warm season grass and tolerates a
wide variety of soil types. St. Augustine is
known to be tolerant of high summer temperatures
and also colder temperatures than other types of
grasses. A healthy St. Augustine lawn effectively
crowds out most weeds which would otherwise make
the lawn look ugly.
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Disadvantages
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St. Augustines growth rate declines in winter
and is susceptible to winter injury, especially
if planted in the upper third of Georgia. The
greatest disadvantage to this grass is its
sensitivity to an insect called the chinch bug.
Under densely shaded conditions, St. Augustine
grass develops thin, spindly turf. It also does
not tolerate traffic as well as other warm season
grasses. St. Augustine is sensitive to iron
deficiency and readily develops chlorotic
symptoms in alkaline or iron deficient soils. No
seeds are available at this time and it is not
effectively propagated by stolons.
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Prices
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St. Augustine Sod 95.00 per pallet (400 Sq
Ft) Bitter Blue Saint Augustine Plugs36 Plugs _at_
3" x 3"Price 11.95 Del Mar Saint Augustine
Plugs36 Plugs _at_ 3" x 3"Price 11.95 Palmetto
Saint Augustine Plugs36 Plugs _at_ 3" x 3"Price
11.95
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Raleigh Saint Augustine Plugs36 Plugs _at_ 3" x
3"Price 11.95 Seville Saint Augustine Plugs36
Plugs _at_ 3" x 3"Price 11.95 Sod Plugger / Plug
PlanterPrice 27.50