St. Augustine Grass
Stenotaphrum secundatum · Warm-season, Perennial, C4 grass
Grass Family
Poaceae, subfamily Panicoideae, tribe Paniceae
Grass Category
Lawn/Turf Grass
Variety / Cultivar
'Floratam' (a popular wide-blade cultivar with good color and fast growth)
Hardiness Zones
Thrives in USDA Hardiness Zones 8 through 10; sensitive to hard freezes and goes dormant in the cooler parts of its range.
About This Grass
Forms a thick, coarse, carpet-like turf with flat, broad blades and blunt tips. Light to medium green in color, growing rapidly during warm summer months and entering winter dormancy in cooler regions.
Blade Characteristics
Coarse blades (>4mm wide), flat with blunt or rounded tips, folded in the bud (vernation), light to medium green color, prominent veins, with a membranous-fringe ligule and absent auricles.
Root System
Moderately deep fibrous root system originating from nodes on the stolons; establishes quickly from sod, forms a moderate thatch layer, and provides fair drought tolerance due to spreading stolons.
Growing Information
Origin Region
Native to tropical and subtropical regions along the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean; widely cultivated in the southern United States.
Growth Habit
Stoloniferous, spreading aggressively via above-ground runners (stolons) to form a dense, coarse-textured sod.
Sunlight & Water Needs
Requires full sun to partial shade (more shade-tolerant than most warm-season grasses); needs regular watering (approx. 1 inch per week) and thrives in moist, well-draining soils with a pH of 6.0 to 7.5.
Mowing & Maintenance
Mow at 2.5 to 4 inches high every 7-10 days during the growing season; requires moderate to high fertilization (2-5 lbs N per 1000 sq ft annually) and occasional dethatching; overall maintenance level is Medium-High.
Special Characteristics
Good shade tolerance for a warm-season grass, moderate salt tolerance (ideal for coastal areas), fair traffic tolerance (recovers via stolons), but susceptible to chinch bugs and large patch disease.
Ecological Information
Introduced/cultivated across the southern US coastal plains; provides dense ground cover for soil stabilization and erosion control, though it has limited wildlife food value compared to native prairie grasses.