Seville St. Augustine sod turned brown – Need Advice

JC6457 – posted 18 June 2012 15:15

Just over 3 weeks ago we put in Seville St. Augustine sod. The day after we laid it, we had 2 weeks of heavy rain every day.The grass looked amazing; nice green color and plenty of growth. However, the constant rain kept the entire yard soaked. During the middle of the 3rd week, I noticed that while the top portion of the grass blades were green, the blades growing out from the ground had turned a darker yellowish color. Two days ago I mowed the grass (from about 5″+ down to 2″). Unfortunately, since I mowed the grass, all of the green is now gone leaving only the yellow (now brown) parts exposed. Although it has stopped raining, the entire yard is still very damp and what used to be grass now seems like a light brown colored hay.My yard does not get full sunlight all day because of 2 oak trees. Half of the yard gets sunlight between 10am-noon, while the other half gets sun from about 3:30-5pm. Have I ruined my entire yard? If so, does anyone have any suggestions as to how to help bring it back to life?

Spriteman – posted 24 June 2012 23:42

Hey JC – I don’t think your lawn is ruined – maybe just stressed. SA will yellow from too much water. The normal recommended water amount is 1″ / week. Just look for the blades to slightly wilt and start to turn a grey green – then you need to water.

Yellowing can also be caused by low nitrogen levels – that main ingredient in fertilizer. I’m thinking that’s not your problem – but if you get your lawn dried out and the lawn stays yellow I would lay down a good SA turf builder type fertilizer unless you’ve already done that in the last 5-6 weeks – then it would be too soon.

If you’re in an area that has a clay type soil the water won’t drain as well and could be the cause of your moist soil. Here in Central Florida we have a very sandy soil and any rain we get can drain through much quicker than other areas so we don’t usually have to worry about too much water. If you are in a clay soil type area I believe that there are things you can do to help your soil drain better.

I would say let your soil dry and and see if your lawn comes back. If not I would put down the fertilizer (if needed). And, if those are working I would take a sample of your SA grass to your local lawn and garden store – someone who knows SA grass. And see if they could give you their opinion on whether or not you need a anti-fungal spray.

Two other points – don’t mow your SA lawn lower than 3.4 to 4 inches. Second, I believe that the Seville SA cultivar is a slower growing type and will not grow back as quick as say the Floratam type – which is what I have – it grows very quickly. It’s a little more work from a mowing and trimming standpoint but I like to know if something is happening with the lawn it will grow back fairly quick once I’ve corrected the problem.

Hope this helps,

TD

quote:Originally posted by JC6457:Just over 3 weeks ago we put in Seville St. Augustine sod. The day after we laid it, we had 2 weeks of heavy rain every day.The grass looked amazing; nice green color and plenty of growth. However, the constant rain kept the entire yard soaked. During the middle of the 3rd week, I noticed that while the top portion of the grass blades were green, the blades growing out from the ground had turned a darker yellowish color. Two days ago I mowed the grass (from about 5″+ down to 2″). Unfortunately, since I mowed the grass, all of the green is now gone leaving only the yellow (now brown) parts exposed. Although it has stopped raining, the entire yard is still very damp and what used to be grass now seems like a light brown colored hay.My yard does not get full sunlight all day because of 2 oak trees. Half of the yard gets sunlight between 10am-noon, while the other half gets sun from about 3:30-5pm. Have I ruined my entire yard? If so, does anyone have any suggestions as to how to help bring it back to life?