I am in Fort Worth, TX and I am in the same boat with thin and bare areas and thriving areas. I can't wait for it to wake up because I worry the thin areas means dead St Augustine.
I dethatched my St. AUGUSTINE this past week here in East Texas. Was told to get the old grass out. Some people told me that you never dethatch St. Augustine. I am now worried that i may have hurt it rather than help it.
Hi Laura! I lightly raked mine a few weeks ago per a viewer recommendation and I’m not seeing too much of a difference in the areas I raked vs not, but I’m giving it a few more weeks to make a determination. I would not use a dethatcher machine on my st aug, but a light raking in early spring can help. Are you seeing growth in the areas you dethatched?
I live in Virginia, I used to mow my St Augustine at 4". One winter wiped out a lot of my St Augustine. I noticed the years of mowing at 4'' there were thick layers of stolons in some areas that didn't survive. After raking my yard to remove the layers of stolons, I keep my mower height at 2.5" to prevent having buildup of stolons on top stolons.
@LKNDIY hey mate back again. Is st aug resilient in extended dry hot spells too? Can you let it go dormant or bring it back if you're not watering? I really not looking for a beautiful lawn just don't want it to die.
In hot spells your grass will let you know when it’s thirsty, the blades will begin to fold like a book. I water in winter if we go longer than two weeks without rain; this winter we had plenty of rain.
My St Augustine turns 100% brown every year except this year, 10 to 15% stayed green or greenish. What I notice is, if I dont rake out those brown dead/dorman grass blades it takes longer for the grass to spread. My lawn needs to be leveled, in all the low spots my grass is dead, dormant where disease didnt get it. The standing water and fungus killed it. I power racked my back yard a month ago, I did not do the front so I could see the difference. The back yard is ahead of the front in growing in, the back yard is 90% green, front id say 70%, The cold is giving you a later start tho. We surely never had ANY 6 degree nights let alone a week. When do you usually rake all that out ?? Lots of green hidden under the brown
Hi Kevin! I don’t rake, I mow low (not a scalp) with my bag on then blow excess straw out with my backpack blower. This method has kept thatch build up down pretty well. Are you using a standard rake?
I was wondering if I should rake some of the dead grass off the top. I live in South Florida and I just got new grass and then a month later went on vacation for two months and my lawn guy said he was going to take care of it but it is brown. So I am searching for information on what to do.
Hi Ariel, it’s not ideal. The st Aug will grow over it but it won’t root through it. I cleared that large tree so I’m hoping the moss will go away this year.
