Shade Tolerant St. Augustine?

jjrogers – posted 19 March 2008 12:44

Is there a varietal of St. Augustine that will grow under heavily shading pecan trees in San Marcos TX?

tgrass1 – posted 04 April 2008 10:16

There is a variety called palmetto. It is more shade tolorant than some of the other varieties.

http://www.american-lawns.com/grasses/palmetto.html

parkersue – posted 22 April 2008 08:30

My husband is gung-ho to plant this “new” variety called Palmetto St. Augustine. We have a very shady yard. Can someone tell me how to prepare the soil/ground before laying down this sod? Red clay soil – Peachtree City, GA

RickV – posted 24 April 2008 18:20

I live in North Florida and I have Bitter Blue SA. My whole yard is surrounded by Oak trees (I only cleared enough land for my house and garage)and some areas only get a few hours sunlight a day. The yard does well with this variety. I am not sure how it would do in a Clayey soil my soil is very sandy and sod was sand grown. The only issue I have is watering due to the sandy conditions.

Apple – posted 02 May 2008 16:36

Seville is a better cultivar than the Palmetto. Palmetto is a disease nightmare in the winter months. Seville is the best shade tolerant variety of the St. Augustine. Palmetto while developed in the state here does not live up to expectations. Be prepared for Brown Patch and Pythium in the winter.