Question
Hi.  In trying to discover why my St. Augustine grass has a growing patch of brown, I ran across the following from Charlotte: "Do you have a bird feeder over that area?
The black sunflower seed hulls are toxic to vegetation. If you have a feeder there, it may have a buildup of hulls.Those hulls, when they build up enough to poison the vegetation do just that."  I do in fact have a bird feeder and feed black sunflower seeds to the many squirrels and birds who frequent my backyard. so will just tending to the seed hull cleanup do the trick?  Or is there something else I can do to help speed the return to my healthy green grass?  We've also had a lot of rain lately, which is probably exacerbating the decay of the hulls...  

Answer
As far as I know, the hulls of the seeds of certain plants, sunflower and rice, inhibit the germination of seeds. Since St. Augustine grass is propagated vegetatively (by pieces) I doubt that the hulls are to blame. Indeed, they might be of benefit since they would inhibit the germination of weed seeds; and even if the layer of hulls became too thick, the St. Augustine would send out runners over the surface.