subject: Fertilizing Saint Augustine Grass For Maximum Results [print this page] Fertilizing Saint Augustine Grass For Maximum Results
Saint Augustine grasses are wonderful grasses when used as home lawns. The newest varieties have a lovely soft leaf which is inviting for kids to play on, they are often highly durable and repair from damage very easily as well as having some of the best shade tolerance qualities of most home lawn types.
St. Augustine grass does have some special requirements though, and the most obvious ones are the need for a little extra water during the hotter months of the year, as well as having specific fertilizer requirements which are different to other grass types.
Without careful attention being paid to proper fertilizing, St. Augustine lawns often become yellow or pale in color, their repair abilities weaken, and the lawn can become more of an eye-sore than that lush carpet of green we all desire from our lovely St. Augustine lawn.
The specific fertilizer requirements of St. Augustine grass have been poorly researched over the years, and as such there are very few good quality fertilizer products on the market which will give St. Augustine the best boost in nutrients to bring it up to it's best standard of performance and health.
From what is known of the research which has been done, St. Augustine grass benefits greatly from higher Nitrogen levels, as well as higher Iron levels than other lawn types.
These requirements are easily supplied by the lawn owner in one of two ways. The first is to apply a fertiliser which is higher in Nitrogen than standard lawn fertilizers, as well as using a lawn fertilizer which contains Iron as a Minor Nutrient or Trace Element.
However, even with the extra Iron content of the lawn fertilizer, St. Augustine often benefits greatly from an extra Iron supplement at least once or twice per year. Iron supplement are very cheap to purchase from any good garden or lawn care store, and are simply mixed with water in a watering can to manufacturers recommendations and then applied to the St. Augustine lawn.
Remember, just like everything else, moderation is always the best advice. There's no need to ever apply excessive amounts of fertilizer, Nitrogen or Iron to a Saint Augustine lawn, as this could easily have the opposite effect and damage the lawn instead of helping it. Just a little extra lawn care attention is all it will ever need to reach maximum health and beauty as a home lawn.
