St. Augustine Lawn Care in East DFW
St. Augustine is the shade-tolerant answer for East DFW lawns with big oaks, north-facing yards, or lots dominated by tree cover. It’s also one of the trickiest grasses to care for, the wrong herbicide will kill it outright, and it has pest pressure that bermuda doesn’t deal with. Here’s what a St. Augustine lawn actually needs.
Chinch bugs are the #1 threat.
If a St. Augustine lawn in Rockwall, Heath, or Mesquite develops a brown, spreading patch in July or August, chinch bugs are the prime suspect. They feed in the sunniest, driest part of the lawn during heat stress, and they can kill large sections in weeks.
Early detection matters. Scouting at the edge of a suspect patch (pulling back grass blades and looking for small black-and-white bugs) is part of the mid-summer walk-through. Treatment is straightforward once identified, but ignored chinch bug damage turns into a replacement-sod job.
Don’t use bermuda herbicides.
This is the most expensive mistake DIY homeowners make on St. Augustine. Products labeled for bermuda lawns, including many common weed & feed bags, contain 2,4-D or MSMA chemistry that damages or kills St. Augustine. Read the label carefully. If St. Augustine is not listed as tolerant, don’t use the product.
Atrazine-based herbicides are typically the right choice for St. Augustine broadleaf weed control, applied in cooler weather to avoid turf stress.
Watch the mowing height.
St. Augustine performs best at 3.5 to 4 inches mowing height, taller than bermuda. Cutting it short exposes the soil, stresses the roots, and invites both weed pressure and chinch bug activity. A quick rule: if you can see soil after mowing, the deck is too low.
“Almost every dead St. Augustine lawn I get called to is a chinch bug problem, a herbicide problem, or a mowing problem. Usually all three.”
— Chris Rather, CGCS
See the Rather Green Annual Program →
Or call Chris directly at 972-649-9912 for a free lawn evaluation.
