Winter Damage to St Augustine

Is your St. Augustine lawn filled with patches of straw-colored, damaged turf in the spring? Your lawn is made up of cultivated plants struggling to grow in a harsh winter climate. Winter conditions can damage your lawn in the following ways:
 

• Severely cold temperatures can freeze the turf grass, especially in open areas unprotected by tree cover.  The ground temperatures in open areas are usually much cooler than the areas under tree cover.

• St. Augustine grows on top of the soil and has no protection from freezing temperatures.

• St. Augustine is a coastal grass and is not well-equipped outside that environment.

• Cold, dry winds can dehydrate the plant.

• Ice throughout a lawn tears plant tissues apart.

• Winter temperature variations can disrupt the natural dormancy of turf grass.

• Cold temperature diseases attack the turf grass either with or without snow cover.

• Rodents burrow and feed in lawns leaving trails or mounds.

Winter damage can sometimes be reduced if: 
 

• When winter begins, the St. Augustine lawn is 3-4 inches in height.

• Lawns are drained properly to prevent water from gathering and ice forming.

• The lawn is properly fertilized by a Weed Man of North DFW professional. Your Weed Man lawn expert knows your weather conditions and knows the very best time to fertilize your lawn, with exactly the right fertilizer product.

If winter conditions have resulted in St Augustine lawn damage:
 

• Matted, winter disease infested turf can gently raked, being careful not to remove any of the healthy thick vines of the grass.  St Augustine grass grows on top of the soil and can be easily damaged by pulling the roots which grow from these vines into soil.

• A quality Weed Man of North DFW fertilizer application in the Spring will also encourage healing and provide you with a thick, lush, green lawn.

• Severely damaged St Augustine turf must sometimes be replaced with new sod. Your Weed Man of North DFW professional can advise you specifically.