Question
Hey Guys, I bought a house this year with a very established St Aug. Lawn. I live on the water and have sandy, clayish siol. I fertilized about 3 weeks ago and did kill some of it, but just a little. BUT.. all of a sudden I am getting large brown patches in my back yard and looking at the blades all ofer the backyard it has brown spots and some of the stalks are truning brown. I am mowing it kind of high, could that be a problem. My neighbor said i should cut it real close to the ground. Hope you can help me.

Thanks!

Bobby

Answer
Just for KNOWING you have a St Augustine Lawn, my friend, you deserve a trophy.  You would not believe how many people are clueless about the Grass growing around their own house.  This one simple detail makes everything else easy.

So you have a new house!  Marvelous.  Suddenly, you have Brown patches all over the place.

Ever hear of Chinchbugs?

Look here and tell me if the illustration looks anything like YOUR Lawn:

http://www.bobkesslerceu.com/Classes/FoliarTurfPestsPestSecure.PDF

Yes?

Chinchbugs are the best reason in the world to water your Grass.  A batallion of healthy, hungry Chinchbugs can devour an entire Lawn in 2 or 3 weeks.  Drought-stressed turf is the first place these insects go to town, sucking the life's blood from blades of helpless grass.  St Augustine by the way is the ONLY warm season Grass that ever has a Chinchbug problem.

Speaking of drought, how's the automatic sprinkler system doing?  You need one in tiptop shape to keep St Augustine sailing smooth.  Soak it well.  Then let it dry out.  Wait until the Lawn NEEDS to be watered before you turn on the sprinkler again.

Another clue to a Chinchbugs diagnosis: Your fertilizer.

Nitrogen-spiked St Augustine Grass is EXTRA delicious to Chinchbugs.  Overdoing the fertilizer will actually cause a Chinchbug problem just by attracting their family and friends.  Note the declaration from the folks at the website above: 'High rates of water-soluble Nitrogen fertilizing are associated with further Chinch Bug outbreaks.'  They also warn: 'Excessive use of Nitrogen fertilizers, especially soluble Nitrogen, encourages Chinchbug feeding.'  You may have damaged some Grass singlehandedly with too much Fertilizer in one or two spots, Bobby, but if the rest of the Lawn got too much Fertilizer - even if it's too little to kill anything -
odds are the overdose caused my problems than you realize.

And that's just IF you have Chinchbugs!

These symptoms might be caused by Nematodes (common in your Florida soil) or any number of Fungi.  But my money is on Chinchbugs.

Yes, I know, there's a lot to know here.

But like I said, it's much simpler because you know you have St Augustine Grass.

Now, if you do you have Chinchbugs, the LAST thing you want to do is call someone in to spray for those.  You DO NOT  want to use bug killer on these bugs.

Why?

Because there are PLENTY of Chichbug enemies out there.  And those enemies are BUGS!  If you pour bug killer on your Lawn, you will wipe out ALL the BUGS!  Good Bugs and Bad Bugs, gone, just like that!

Look at the nail on your ring finger.  Imagine you're THAT SMALL.  Now picture mini-you next to a carnivorous 'Big-eyed Bug' or an 'Earwig'.  Those predators would scare the daylights out of anyone, Bobby!  Because there are not many Chinchbugs that can escape a predator out hunting for tonight's dinner.

Nematodes.  Beetles.  Ants.  Big-eyed Bugs.  Earwigs.

These natural predators are the best reason in the world to STAY AWAY from Pesticides for this problem.  Pesticides will definitely wipe out Chinchbug natural enemies -- and THEY WILL MISS plenty of Chinchbugs, leaving survivors to multiply without mercy all over your lawn.

But if you water carefully, those Chinchbug enemies will thrive on that tasty Chinchbug population.  Water weekly (or more if your Grass needs it) and hold the fertilizer.

Now, Bobby, there is one important thing you must bear in mind:  Chinchbug damage is not what you see today -- it's what you see today PLUS another 2 weeks' worth of damage that already took place but you didn't see yet.  The damage is there.  It will just LOOK like it's getting worse.  Don't panic when it keeps worsening.  You with me here?  Understand?  Good!

Now let's go into one topic you touched on as a possible cause of this problem (it isn't).  Your mowing.

The key to Happy Grass is to keep it healthy by mowing it right.

St Augustine likes to reach 3 inches, then be cut to 2 inches.  You'll see less Thatch that way.  If you are mowing THAT 'high', keep doing THAT.

And when you mow, DON'T remove clippings; Grass clippings are a precious soil-building slow-release Nitrogen Fertilizer.  Grass clippings are GOOD for your Lawn.  Grass clippings are another key to building a yard filled with Happy Grass.

If you're wondering about that, understand that you get Thatch when dead plant matter and debris build up.

In a healthy Lawn, dead plant matter DOESN'T build up.  It breaks down naturally, and quickly.  ESPECIALLY in Florida, where the temperature keeps soil microbes cooking all year 'round... but only IF you have the microbes to make that happen.

In regions with your heat and moisture, microbes were meant to be.

But if something damages the population of microbes in the soil, the grass clippings and dead roots that are supposed to be broken down start to build up, and up, and up.  There are no soil microbes to break them down.  And you get Thatch.

Chemicals like 'Weedkiller', 'Grubkiller' and 'Fungus Killer' turn your Grass upside down by assaulting the flora and fauna in your soil.  That microscopic flora and fauna is KEY to breaking down Thatch and consuming other organic matter.

I have a feeling that I will be a voice in a sea of voices trying to be heard over all the other voices this weekend with this answer.  But if you would really like to know more about what to do with your Lawn -- which you can do without making all the Scotts shareholders wealthy -- let me know and we'll go over your simple steps.

Meantime, just go ahead and mow, same as you're doing now.  Ignore the free advice from your neighbor - find out what kind of Grass that neighbor is growing.  Get the sprinkler system going and DO NOT FERTILIZE or treat.  That's the secret to turning your Grass around.  Listen to me, Bobby - your Grass will look so beautiful this year, your neighbors will think you PAINTED it Green.

This is easy.  You can do it.