Mixing Centipede and St. Augustine

Carolina Dweller – posted 29 July 2002 11:08

We have a lawn full of thick healthy centipede grass – except for under a few of our trees. Is there anyone out there that has ever mixed grasses in their lawns? We were thinking of seeding St. Augustine in the shaded areas of our lawn (since the centipede won’t grow in those areas). Any advice or recommendations? Thank you!

wdrake – posted 29 July 2002 12:57

You can certainly mix the two if you wish, but you may not like the results. My experience has been that St Augustine, even Bitter Blue which is promoted as having very good shade tolerance, is only marginally better than Centipede under trees. With a mixed lawn you’ll have to work to two separate fertilizer protocols, as St Augustine needs more Nitrogen than does Centipede. Finally you’ll have to sprig or sod the St Augustine areas, as I don’t think seeds are available.

WillR – posted 29 July 2002 19:08

Correct. No viable seeds are currently available.