As their saliva enters the grass, root moisture cannot move throughout the turf's internal vessels, causing widespread damage. The danger in mowing dormant St. Augustine grass lies in the fact that the grass isnât growing. Water the lawn evenly with a sprinkler to allow the grass to grow back uniformly. However, you can bring back the grass by watering the lawn during winter so that when spring comes, the grass isnât dead. Many lawn fertilizers contain soluble salts. St. Augustine grass grows in the warm southern United States because of its high tolerance to heat and sun. If it goes about 6 weeks without water, it will turn brown and appear to be dormant and dying. If the grass comes out without any resistance, it is dead and cannot be revived. Poor soil quality may be the reason why St. Augustine turf is dying. One tray of St. Augustine grass plugs, or 18 plugs, will cover 32 square feet of your yard, or one pallet of St. Augustine sod measuring four feet by four feet will cover 450 square feet. Thank you! The brown patches of dead grass start to appear in late spring through summer to early fall when Japanese beetles are in their larva stage. You can revive grass that appears dead due to drought stress or frost burn, but you cannot bring back grass if it is completely dead due to grubworm damage or lack of water. CrabGrassLawn is a Wiki for Lawn Enthusiasts by Lawn Experts. Be careful not to overwater your lawn because it can lead to other problems such as fungal infections, yellowish or light-green coloring, and poor growth. You can easily bring back St. Augustine grass that looks dead to a lush green and dense lawn. Augustine likes a lot of water. While watering grass that’s been dead for about 1 to 3 weeks can bring it back, it may be difficult to bring back dead St. Augustine grass that has been in that state for over 5 weeks. Too many grubs in your lawn feed on the grass roots leaving the grass to die and turn into brown patches of dead grass. Your email address will not be published. Could you guys email me so I can email pictures back and see if we can fix my lawn? Required fields are marked *. Examine the yard to make sure you have an adequate layer of potent soil for the roots to grow deeper for a healthy lawn. Oregon State University, OSU Extension Service: Michigan State University, MSU Extension. If you end up applying too much nitrogen fertilizer to make your grass grow quickly, you risk burning your lawn. Please leave your comments below as I try to respond to everyone that has questions. Without proper care and maintenance, a St. Augustine lawn can develop brown dead spots all over the yard. Growing a new St Augustine lawn ⦠Signs of drought are common in summer when temperatures rise and thereâs little to no rain water. I dont know if my grass is dead dead or dying or of i need to rake the dead bits and reseed or what. Because St. Augustine does not grow from seed, sodding is the best way to establish a St. Augustine lawn or fill dead spots. However, for bare spots, rake over the dead grass to loosen and remove it, and then go ahead to fill in the bare spots. Core-aerate the lawn if grass is drying from compaction. Hey Trent, sure thing. A brown St. Augustine lawn can be a sign your grass is still in dormancy, has a grub infestation, or is suffering from frost burn. However, the grass requires more water than other varieties and can take up a lot of weekly maintenance. Mow The Grass Properly. Growing up I remember that my family had one of the best lawns in the neighborhood. For example, a lawn with a thin layer of topsoil and concrete, gravel, or rocks underneath could be the reason why St. Augustine grass is dying. Fertilizer burn means that you applied excess fertilizer in your lawn. It leads to shallow roots and winter kill. St. Augustine grass spreads both by rhizomes and stolons, meaning that it sends out runners both above and below ground. However, if the lawn is totally dead due to drought or lack of water, you might not be able to bring it back to life. How Do You Get Rid of Chinch Bugs in St Augustine Grass? Deep watering will help reach the dead grassroots and help it regrow, especially if rhizomes are running underground. Hereâs how to amend the soil to revive a St. Augustine lawn: When amending the soil in your yard to get the grass to grow back, do a soil test to see if the soil pH and nutrient levels are great for St. Augustine grass. St. Augustine grass is not seeded like other grass ⦠Effective maintenance comprises watering, fertilization, and mowing. This is called drought stress. A lawn that appears to be dead over a period of 3 to 5 weeks can be revived. The good news is, these brown patches of St. Augustine grass can be revived easily. Finally⦠As grass goes, St. Augustine really isnât the worst. Examine the lawn to check for grubs and then apply a good grub killer such as Scotts GrubEx, BioAdvanced Grub Killer Granules, or Milky Spore Grub Control. You might, however, not be able to revive a lawn thatâs been dead for more than 5 weeks. Take-all root rot and gray leaf spot can attack a St. Augustine lawn and make it appear brown and brown with dead patches. These conditions are favorable for the spread of brown patch diseases in St. Augustine lawns. However, those are not the only reasons your lawn appears dead. Additionally, Crabgrass Lawn (crabgrasslawn.com) participates in various other affiliate programs, and we sometimes get a commission through purchases made through our links. If your St. Augustine turf is dying because of poor soil quality, the solution is improving the quality of the soil to make sure it is suitable for this type of grass. In order to prepare for sod with Milorganite, do the following: Till soil before sodding. Most cases of insect damage in lawns can be fixed if intervention is done early. A thick accumulation of thatch in St. Augustine grass can cause suffocation and the slow death of grass. Choose the summer season to grow St. Augustine grass. St. Augustine grass can turn brown and die due to drought stress, fertilizer burn, dormancy, poor soil quality, or grub damage. But first, examine the grass to see if it is dead or still alive. Use our Contact Us page at the top to send us a message to get the convo started. Any of these will kill the active grubs and allow St. Augustine grass to revive and grow back. If the fertilizer burn is too much, your grass will start to die. Shaddox, University of Florida IFAS Extemsion. You can be as precise as youâd like, but the general rule of thumb is to pull out a tape measure and get a rough estimate. Be careful using weed killer because technically it is a weed, so make sure the WK used states that it is safe for Augustine. Its scientific name is Stenotaphrum secundatum. The easiest way to revive St. Augustine grass is to water your lawn enough, get rid of pests such as grub worms, and improve soil quality. Pro tip: Watering grass that has been dead for 3 weeks can bring it back and turn it from brown to green. Brown patch disease is a fungus that affects lawns when they remain wet for prolonged periods. It is also a hardy grass, which makes it ideal for hotter climates. 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