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With one more month of cold winter weather left in Florida, now is time to begin preparing for a healthy vigorous lawn for spring and summer.
Many areas in Florida have experienced cold weather and freezing temperatures. Where I live, we have not had a freeze but we have had frost occur on our lawns. Cold weather and wind will cause stress and damage on ST. Augustine grasses.
To check to see if your lawn has been damaged by the cold weather, begin by walking your lawn. First sign will be the blades turn purple to black and will become brown. This “Does Not” mean the roots are dead and you will loose your lawn. it should bounce back when warm weather returns.
Areas that have crabgrass will surely turn brown, but unfortunately have not died off leaving just the Saint Augustine grass by itself. If those areas are mostly crabgrass, you might consider replacing it with new sod or Saint Augustine Grass Plugs in March. Before laying down sod or planting grass plugs, treat those areas with Weed Grass Killer such as “Round-Up weed killer”. Remember to watch for over-spraying for the chemical is Non-Selective meaning, the whole treated area will be killed and it will kill everything! If these areas are large, it can be expensive if you have to replace half your lawn. If the areas are small and in spots, this is a good way to keep un-wanted grass from spreading during the summer. Also, the thicker your lawn is, the better chance it has to choke out crabgrass.
Recommended is to use a Vertical Mower for “Verti-Cutting”, which is the most common method for Thatch Removal. A Vertical Mower has evenly spaced knife-like blades, which revolve perpendicularly to the turf grass. The blades slice into the thatch and lift it up. This allows water and fertilizer to reach the soil better. I recommend to hire a professional to do this job to be done correctly. Plus it is strenuous and you will most likely have a truck load or more of thatch to be hauled away.
The end of February is a good time to begin fertilizing your lawn. I recommend using a “Slow-Release Granular Fertilizer”. To begin growing a green healthy turf with a good foundation for the summer, You can apply a Weed ‘n’ Feed at this time of the year to get a jump start on those ugly weeds. But there is a window on when to stop using it. Don’t wait until it is too late because it can burn or kill your lawn. Always follow directions on the label for the rate of application as with any type of fertilizer you use. If you don’t have a lot of weeds, use a “Liquid Weed Killer” for ST. Augustine grass for spot weeding. Once again, Always read the label for proper rate of spraying.
Follow these tips to achieve a beautiful healthy lawn full of thickness and rapid growth. Spring is just around the corner so begin planning now for the lawn you want to have for the whole neighborhood to see.
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Welcome back gardening and landscaping friend... Thank's for visiting!
August 31, 2009
Hi Kurt,
The backyard has some big areas of yellow blades of Floratam. Although, it did rain a lot this past week, and it is more wet in the backyard, but what is it? Is it too much water like over watering a semi-moist plant? Moreover, is there a solution to this issue?
Thanks much–John
September 26, 2009
Hello, John
When St. Augustine grass receives too much water yellowing of the blades is normal and is the same problem that occurs with plants when over watered. An area in a lawn that does not drain as properly as others will turn yellow while the other locations stay green. Too much water causes the nutrients to wash away.
Apply liquid Iron and it will green up. If your lawn has not been treated this summer apply to entire lawn liquid Iron. This is recommended during the summer months.
Thanks, Kurt
December 11, 2009
I think the lawn has a disease. Almost the whole lawn has this thing where the blades turn dark purple and then brown and there’s a big ugly patch in our once beautiful lawn. It’s not cold damage, cause it isn’t the whole lawn, and it doesn’t seem to be happening to anyone else. Why is my St. Augustine turning purple?!!
January 14, 2010
what do you recommend for a weed killer? We have St. Augustine and Floritam and cannot kill our weeds..I have used Image, Scotts weed and feed, and these don’t work….
January 17, 2010
Hello Kiliko,
Usually diseases occur from hot humid weather, shade, and over watering in St. Augustine grass. Sometimes lawns can receive frost in spots and not the entire lawn. When this type of turf has cold damage the blades do turn purple and then brown. Also St. Augustine grass around a pool area will turn this color if the pool overflowed from rain. If it is happening only to your lawn it might not be treated properly, like over fertilizing, too much water, high rate of weed control.
Kurt
January 24, 2010
Hello Barbara,
I understand how you feel about weeds taking over your lawn. They can be difficult to control. Chemicals that are available treat only weeds that are listed on the label of each product. Therefore it is important to identify the type of weeds in ones lawn before purchasing a weed killer. If you continue to have little success using products only available to the consumer, I recommend hiring a state certified lawn spray company. The chemicals that they use produce better results and can only be purchased only by them.
Thanks,
Kurt
January 27, 2010
Kurt,
Please help. I live in Tampa Fl. and recently we experienced some of the coldest weather a few weeks back. My Floratam sod I put down 3 months ago has turned yellow all over. Is it dead? I see a few green blade throughout. I’ve read elsewhere brown mean dead but can’t find out what yellow means. What should I do I raked it yesterday which removed a mound of dead yellow grass and leaves. Should I fertilize? Water more (we have been getting rain here and there and in the morning I feel the grass and its damp.)
Please help
January 27, 2010
Hello Jason,
When St. Augustine grass is damaged from extreme cold weather it will turn yellow with purple tips, and then will turn brown. Almost everyone in Tampa has brown lawns now. That does not mean everyones lawn is going to die.
St. Augustine is capable of bouncing back when warm weather comes back in the spring. The fact that you have some green blades is a good sign it is going to be o k. It was good that you raked out the leaves because too many leaves can suffocate a lawn, and keeps sunlight from reaching your grass which can turn it yellow. Wait until springtime to fertilize. Do Not water more, only water every two weeks during the winter. Since you are getting rain and the ground is wet, stop watering until it completely dries out. Too much watering also turns St. Augustine grass yellow. By the way I live in Clearwater.
Thanks,
Kurt
February 4, 2010
Thank-you Kurt,
I’m still curious why everyones grass in my neighborhood turned brown first not yellow and mine turned yellow and never turned brown. It wasn’t a lot of leaves that I raked out preventing sun light. My neighbor put the same kind of sod a few weeks after mine. After the cold his lawn turned completely brown but now its looking pretty good with lots of green blades everywhere. I spoke with him and he said he hasn’t been watering nor have I. Well I guess the grass is always greener on the otherside. Sorry to be a pain.
Can’t thank you enough you eased my worries,
Jason
March 14, 2010
Hi Kurt,
We put down sod a week ago, and it is still pretty brown. We were told it would take a week or two to green up but are still a little concerned. There is a little bit of green everywhere but not a lot. We were given a “guarantee” but would still not want to have to put down another 18 pallets if this does not take. Is this something we should just be patient for where it will most likely turn more green as time goes on? How much would you recommend watering? (We have been watering twice a day early morning and late afternoon/early evening.) Is there a fertilizer that would be helpful? Any advice would be a big help.
Thanks,
Jo Hill
May 23, 2010
Hi Kurt
I live in Florida,west coast, west of tampa.
I keep the grass cleared away from my irrigation sprinkler heads, do you think
that this is necessary ?
Can I allow the grass (St, Augustine) to grow over the sprinkler heads ?
Thank you
June 6, 2010
Hello Grady,
I would not let the grass grow over your sprinkler heads. The reason for that, the sprinkler heads will not pop up correctly which may cause them to break under the pressure of the water. I recommend to use “sprinkler head donuts” which will help prevent the grass from growing over them.
Thanks Grady for your great question.
Kurt Kmetz
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