Question
Hello..I sodded my lawn three years ago with St. Augustine and it has done well.Last year it was so lush that it was difficult to walk through and mow.I put out corn gluten meal in the fall to prevent winter weed germination and then my lawn went dormant.It was a mild winter here in Texas with the exception for a few days. My lawn has yet to green up.Most everyones lawns have greened up. My high traffic areas are now green, but that's it. The rest still appears dormant except for a sprig of grass here and there. It is not circular and doesnt look like a fungus or anything like that.I was told that it was winter kill from sudden cold days.I was also told that my root system my not have been deep enough to sustain the cold. It has lasted three winters and the year before last was quite colder. what can I do about my situation? some of the green sprigs I have found were attached to runners that appeared to be dead. Am I jumping the gun thinking that it is dead, or could it still be dormant? It warmed up nicely but now we are having some chilly nights. We have also had a large amount of rainfall. Can I recover my lawn with an 18-46-0 fertilizer? Any help would be appreciated..Thanks a bunch

Answer
If your high traffic areas have greened up already I doubt the problem is winterkill.  If this were the case your high traffic areas would have been the first to go.  Do the stolons (runners) look dissicant?  If they are blackish in color and are soft and hollow they will likely not come back.  

Have you scalped your lawn this spring to rid the grass of any dead leaf material that will not grow back?  Every year dormant turf must reestablish itself from stolons and rhizomes.  It is good practice to mow the lawn down very low just prior to spring green up.  This way new leaves do not have to compete with dead material for sunlight.  

Rain will help a lot.  The more water the better.  Water makes starch soluble in the plant which then is used for energy.  

Fertilizer never...well almost never hurts.  I am a firm believer that the roots have to have something to "eat" during spring green up.  Some might disagree and say that nitrogen in the spring is a waist of time and money since the roots are not as active but I do not think that.  I think the roots have to have something to take up.  

If it is getting to cold at night this could be the problem.  You may be seeing the grass trying to go back into dormancy if it is getting to cold.  However, as I said at first, if your high traffic areas are doing OK I would not worry about the low traffic areas.  It should come around.

Please keep me posted on your lawns progress.

Thanks,

Turfnut2