Properly Watering St. Augustine Grass

St. Augustine grass does not waste water, people do! That’s right, St. Augustine sod does not waste water. Most people set their irrigation controller and forget it until the lawn is dead! Remember, your sod is a living, breathing thing. It gets hot, it gets cold, it gets sick, it gets unhealthy. We can make a lawn unhealthy by over-watering. It works the same way as if we as humans were to overeat.

The key is to only water when needed. You must reduce your water in the cool months and increase it during the heat. Right now, we are suggesting watering for 20 minutes on sprays and 1 hour on rotor zones two times per week. Let the rain sensor turn off the water when it rains enough. When it is hot and dry ( like June), increase to 30 and 1.5 an hour. If you are not doing this, you are simply wasting water.

You will always need more water during the summer than in the winter. I know I drink more water in the summer, don’t you? As a matter of fact, St. Augustine sod may be the best filter for storm water and protection against runoff. It is generally beautiful all year, but St. Augustine can still stress in high heat with no rain. To have any turf grass look good, you must water it, feed it,  protect it from diseases and pests. Just like a person.

Please do not blame the grass for poor irrigation practices.

If you have a problem with your irrigation system, please call us at 407-275-0804.

Keep it green