# Too much sun on St Augustine lawn?



## Whazzzup (Aug 10, 2019)

I have a St Augustine lawn that appears to be negatively affected by the hot Texas late July and August 100 degree heat. Most of the lawn gets 10-12 hours of sun and parts that only receive 8 hours sun are noticeably greener. I mow on the highest setting. Is there such a thing as too much sun for St Augustine? Is there anything that can be done? Soil is moist in all areas and it doesn't appear to be a watering issue.

These are pictures from today after I mowed. I don't have before pics, though what happens is the top right hand quadrant gets a bit less sun due to house and tree coverage and it grows nice and green. The rest of the yard struggles to stay a deep green during this heat.

I do have a few spots where the sprinklers are not reaching well and will be hand watering those areas, however, you can still see the difference between the top right and rest of the yard.

As a comparison before this heat, late Spring and early Summer months the yard is immaculate and all the same deep green. I fertilize with Miligranite and have a whole pest prevention regimen schedule.

I haven't had the soil tested but not sure it's needed since the heat seems to bring this problem on.

Thoughts appreciated.


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## Kennyatx (Jan 22, 2019)

I'd say because the color of the grass in the boulevard is similar to the color of the grass in the top right quadrant that it doesn't have to do with the sun. Take some close up pictures of leaf blades from the lighter areas. You want to look for gray leaf spots. Even though we've had very little rain, we still have high humidity that will grow fungus.

Also, when and how much are you watering the lawn? Don't say for 45 minutes for example. You need to measure the actual water in inches in a few locations around each section of the sprinklers.

My yard for example:



The color is even. It may not be as dark green as we would like, but where I had a bad case of leaf spot last year the color is even lighter. I'm thinking due to smaller roots and a thinner canopy.


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## Buffalolawny (Nov 24, 2018)

I think the problem is the water not getting deep enough into the soil.
What time of the day are you watering. 
I water my buffalo at either dawn or dusk or both in the middle of summer.
either 10min morn or dusk. 5 mins morning and 5mins dusk


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## Whazzzup (Aug 10, 2019)

Thanks. I'm watering daily at dawn. I'm going to do a bit of an experiment and water the affected areas at dusk by hand as well and see if anything changes. It may be the longer sun exposure calls for more water in those areas. Will report back.


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## Buffalolawny (Nov 24, 2018)

Another way to tell if you need wetting agents to get the water to the roots in the soil. 
if you can't put a pitch fork into the ground halfway.
If you can only put it in say 3" then the roots a generally about 3-4" deep. Jump on it again and it goes deeper that's the wet soil underneath which allows the roots to grow deeper. if not need a wetting type of agent.

Try the cheapest carwash shampoo first then move onto the more expensive lawn one's.


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## Kennyatx (Jan 22, 2019)

Holy cow y'all... Daily watering!?! No wonder it checks out when the sun comes out. Yesterday August 10th was the third time I've watered this year. Granted we got good rain up until the start of June but we've gotten only .4 inches in the last 2 months with 100 degree days.


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## Whazzzup (Aug 10, 2019)

Update - there was only minor improvements in an even increased watering schedule for the affected areas. I have changed approach to encourage deeper root growth in the St Augustine as I have noticed others in the same neighborhood with green lawns and drier top soil.

My plan is to deliver the same amount of water per week to the soil but move from daily to potentially once weekly and then reassess. For now, I am on every other day, and while the grass does appear to stress because of the heat, it does bounce back when water is delivered.

For now, balancing root growth and heat stress is my primary focus. Hopefully I'll be well positioned for next Spring with strong roots.


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