# Issues with St Augustine grass



## scottrf8 (Aug 14, 2020)

Good morning everyone. I am a new homeowner so taking care of grass, especially st Augustine grass, is something I dont have much experience with so any assistance here would be appreciated. I laid new st augustine sod bad in March and it took and it looked great. However, lately, the past couple months, its been looking worse. The grass isnt as thick as it should be and half of it looks dead. The rest of my front yard that wasnt replaced with sod is thicker. The idea of St Augustine grass not needed a LOT of water is hard to grasp, but either way, I water both the new sod and existing sod the same amount. I put down a fungicide and pesticide about 4 months ago cause I had some bad spots throughout my lawn, but that cleared up. I have attached some photos. If anybody has any ideas why the lawn looks like this I am all ears. Overwatering/underwatering? Needs nutrients? Pests? Fungus? Just new sod going through its first FL summer?

Thanks in advance.


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## scottrf8 (Aug 14, 2020)

As a comparison, here is a picture of the the grass, also in my front yard, separated by the driveway, that wasnt replaced with new sod. Some watering schedule for this grass as well as the new sod. As you can see, its a lot more full.


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## Darth_V8r (Jul 18, 2019)

first post, second pic -- looks like when my dogs pee on my SA


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

Here's what I observe:

First pic - Gray Leaf Spot, some ragged/torn ends. Is this spot getting full sun? What's you height of cut? Have you been cutting this twice every week?

Second pic - maybe dog pee. If you get a soil probe you can check this spot to see if the soil here is different than other places in your yard. I have spots that were filled in with "pure" sand by the previous owner.

Pics 3, 4, and 5 - more leaf tearing.

I would be inclined to check your mowing frequency first, followed by verifying blade sharpness. It may be worth it to put out a preventive dose of fungicide as well.


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## TSGarp007 (May 22, 2018)

The grass that is alive looks pretty healthy. Some grey leaf spot, but nothing crazy. There have been periods of frequent rain in Florida lately, so a fungicide would be a decent guess. What is your irrigation schedule like?


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## sabanist (Mar 28, 2019)

I have st aug in my back yard and just replaced the st aug in my front yard with zoysia

Some observations in the past 4 years. St aug does better in partial shade than full sun. My back yard has a huge oak that shades the yard half a day. I barely do anyting to the back and it looks great. Didn't even lay fert down and only did the pre-emergent. Just water it a couple times per week

Front yard is different. no shade. Gets beat down by the sun all day. I've suffered from chinch bugs, drought, fungus, moles. You name it. I put a ton of work, time, and money into it. Between fungicides, pesticides, fertilizers, peat moss, compost, sand apps, etc etc. Finally i just said the hell with it, killed it all off and replanted zoysia. Seems to do great in the full sun so far


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## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

sabanist said:


> I have st aug in my back yard and just replaced the st aug in my front yard with zoysia
> 
> Some observations in the past 4 years. St aug does better in partial shade than full sun. My back yard has a huge oak that shades the yard half a day. I barely do anyting to the back and it looks great. Didn't even lay fert down and only did the pre-emergent. Just water it a couple times per week
> 
> Front yard is different. no shade. Gets beat down by the sun all day. I've suffered from chinch bugs, drought, fungus, moles. You name it. I put a ton of work, time, and money into it. Between fungicides, pesticides, fertilizers, peat moss, compost, sand apps, etc etc. Finally i just said the hell with it, killed it all off and replanted zoysia. Seems to do great in the full sun so far


I feel your pain. I own so many chemicals it's insane yet I still have problems


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## TSGarp007 (May 22, 2018)

I agree it is lower maintenance in the shade.

But back to OP's yard, the pics don't really look that bad, unless pic of the whole area would reveal a lot more dead areas.


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## Buffalolawny (Nov 24, 2018)

Remember its Buffalo/St Aug and not Couch/Bermuda. Its just different!!

Remove the lower dead stringy grass with a rake
Sharpen blades
Use organic fertiliser


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## scottrf8 (Aug 14, 2020)

Just to bring this back alive for a moment... I took your guys comments and reviewed water schedule. I tested the soil awhile ago(can test again if think I should) but didn't notice much of a difference in the soil from the healthy grass vs dead grass. Please see pics because this is becoming beyond frustrating. Up to the fire hydrant is my lawn. Just to reiterate, new sod was laid early spring this year, both sides of sidewalk and at same time. The "grass" between the sidewalk and street, is that pretty much done? No bringing that back to life? I'm not too concerned about that area cause its a small section and can easily do sod again next spring. However, the picture where I circled an issue makes it seem like whatever killed the grass by the street is spreading. All the grass you see in the photos (around tree and by street) was the same sod laid at same time and all has same irrigation schedule and treatment. I have tried bug b gon, simple lawn solution spray fertilizer, and a scotts brand fungicide. But everything i have done to the nice looking grass i did to the front section as well. Could an area that big be caused by dog piss? I have tried tinkering with the water schedule. Tried watering it heavily twice a week all the way to watering every day in the middle of the night for 45 minutes each zone. I would think the whole area I sod would be dying tho if irrigation issue. Thoughts? Thanks a lot!!!!


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## scottrf8 (Aug 14, 2020)

Mowing method is on highest setting. I even replaced blade on mower to give clean cut. But I use the same mower settings for the whole yard as well. This section is only real troublesome area.


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## scottrf8 (Aug 14, 2020)

If anyone thinks it can still be saved, how would I go about that? Rake out dead roots, lay down good quality soil to help encourage growth and spreading and then put down feetilizer? I just called the sod place i got it from initially and they don't have the same type of sod rn (st augustine sun and shade) so running issues with it being different color if I put down new sod.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

Front strip looks pretty much dead to me. The yellowing leaves could possibly indicate take all root rot. Pull up some of the stolons and check the roots on bottom of the node for black/rot or stubby formation. Closeups of the leaf, sheath, node and roots might be useful.

Is that circled spot an active fungal outbreak? It has a bronze-like color to it that may suggest a cause.


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## Live Oak (Sep 18, 2020)

I second @ionicatoms's recommendation. What was the pH of your soil in the damaged spot? Take all patch thrives in an alkaline environment - one way to rectify it would be to spread sphagnum peat moss over the injured area to lower the pH of your soil.

Another possibility is chinch bugs, especially given that turf injury appears to emanate from sidewalks. However, if I had to guess I would lean towards fungal injury.


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## scottrf8 (Aug 14, 2020)

So the circled area is actively spreading. Attached are some closeups of the actively spreading area.


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## scottrf8 (Aug 14, 2020)

The below pictures are from the dead strip of grass. I dug it up a little and testing the soil. Don't know if these pictures help


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## scottrf8 (Aug 14, 2020)

Also, when I dug up some dirt for sample, I noticed a bunch of bugs in the sample. Is this a concern? Possible cause of dying grass?


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

Good photos. Roots look ok to me; maybe someone else will see something different. I think those are harmless ants in the soil. I would be inclined to go searching for chinch bugs; they live in the thatch layer above the soil and can be found with careful observation at the transition area between dead and green, or by doing the soapy water "coffee can" float test.


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## GrassDad (Sep 18, 2019)

I think you may have chinch bugs. I looked at the photos and tried to zoom in on the areas where the brown meets the green. I could be way off, but I don't see any chewing damage which would point to some type of caterpillar. If the roots are hollow and can be pulled out easy then i would think it's some type of sucking insect - like chinch bugs.

You need to do a what is called a coffee can test:
Cut both ends off a coffee can
Push into the dirt an inch or so where brown meets green
Fill with water
Wait 5-10 mins
See what drifts to the top.

Here are my zoomed in screen shots of your pics


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## scottrf8 (Aug 14, 2020)

Thanks for the help everyone. Gonna do the coffee can test tomorrow and see what happens. Any circular container will work right?


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## GrassDad (Sep 18, 2019)

Yep. Keep it full with water for about 10 mins. Take a pic.


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## scottrf8 (Aug 14, 2020)

So I did the coffee can test and nothing really seemed to surface while doing that. However, if I comb through the the grass along the edge where it's dying, I see a bunch of bugs which look like chinch bugs. Can anyone confirm if these are chinch bugs. Assuming they are, what are suggestions on dealing with them. I have put down bug b gon twice but seems like its not helping (last application was within past month). Thanks


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## Live Oak (Sep 18, 2020)

@scottrf8

Yep, you've got chinch bugs. I'd spray the affected area and at least a couple foot radius surrounding it with bifenthrin. Someone else will have to weigh in on whether the grass will grow back on it's own - I want to say yes, but some of my neighbors have had chinch bug damage where the grass never recovered.


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## scottrf8 (Aug 14, 2020)

Any recommendation on brand of bifenthrin? Spray vs granular?

Talstar P seems highly recommended.

https://www.domyown.com/talstar-professional-insecticide-p-97.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwreT8BRDTARIsAJLI0KJFFniwPoRPVX3zbN5yNsPsP1A67NVKPFkQ6FRiF8ueOPQNG63QdEYaAhRmEALw_wcB


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## GrassDad (Sep 18, 2019)

Probably want to use a spray so that it coats the leaf blade where they are active.


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## mjh648 (Sep 1, 2020)

have you ever done a liquid app of bifenthrin like you linked? If not do granular or hose end sprayer from a local store. Granular you can't reapply until 60 days later and hose end sprayer I put down once every 7 days when I have an infestation. Cheapest way is definitely from a domyown.com website. You can actually get Bifen IT for the cheapest but if you have an active infestation just grab something local so you can apply ASAP.


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## Darth_V8r (Jul 18, 2019)

As to recovery, I find a light dethatching to remove the dead material and expose the soil is beneficial. Also, I will sometimes grab some fresh sprigs from elsewhere in the yard to stolonize, which helps recovery also in my experience.


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## LHP_Grass (Jun 19, 2020)

Also, don't be surprised if it continues to look worse, even after treatment. The damage done by chinch bugs remains after they are dead, so affected grass can take a while before it dies from the little satan spawn.


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## TSGarp007 (May 22, 2018)

Chinch bugs are normally in the thatch later not the leaf blades. I personally recommend combining bifenthrin (or similar) with a systemic insecticide like Clothianidin (e.g., Arena G). Also keep in mind, just b/c you found chinch bugs doesn't necessarily mean there aren't other problems also. I would also treat with a fungicide if you have been watering a lot lately. The strip by the sidewalk probably just needs to be resodded. I wouldn't worry if the SA you get isn't the exact same kind/color, since it's in its own area it should look fine. When you do resod I would apply fungicide and a Arena G (or similar). Probably a good thing you caught the problem as it jumped the sidewalk...


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## scottrf8 (Aug 14, 2020)

So I sprayed the area last Sunday (9 days ago). Planning on spraying again today but I dont see any chinch bugs like I did before. However, more of the grass has died off since I sprayed. I included 2 photos, one before spraying and then 1 taken today. Could the additional damage just be damage that was caused by the chinch bugs before I sprayed but hadn't caused that grass to die off yet? Do you think this will keep spreading and i should get someone professional in here to try and fix it before it kills off all my new sod. Thanks


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## scottrf8 (Aug 14, 2020)

Think I should put down fertilizer now to help encourage growth. Or use diseasex first in case there's also disease spreading?


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## TSGarp007 (May 22, 2018)

Are you sure there aren't any chinch bugs? It is possible they did the damage before you killed them. But make sure they are gone. No harm in putting diseasex down. Although maybe I would wait until after the storm, not sure if you get 2 inches of rain it might water the stuff down too far...?


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## Msumm001 (Sep 29, 2020)

Wow, Looks exactly like my st Augustine right now. We've had unbelievable rainfall this summer, my lawn is always soaked and I've suffered massive fungal issues including brown patch, gray leaf spot and mushrooms! I've used Propicanozol x 2 and just got some Scott's disease-ex (azoxistrobin). Weeds took over the affected areas just like your photos. I re-sodded a few problem areas and am putting down some organic fertilizer this week. St Augustine really doesn't need that much irrigation, monitor water schedule preferably early mornings 15-20 mins to allow drying during the day. Remember weed/feed fertilizers promote fungus and disease so it's a balance. Good luck, it's taken me since March to get my lawn back to life!


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## Greyleafspot (Oct 16, 2018)

You will probably have to spray insecticide 3 times to get ride of the chinch bugs. You had
A pretty good infestation.


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