Watering Dormant St. Augustine Grass
 

I'm still learning about St. Augustine grass, as I have only owned in TV for a year. The recent cold snap has turned my lawn into a sea of beige, just like the acres and acres of beige (except where painted green) on the golf courses.

It doesn't bother me a bit, but got me wondering, if it's dormant, is there any benefit to watering it?

Florida Extension Service
 

Grass care-you will find endless conflicting opinions. I do not have St Augustine, I have the Empire Zoysia. I drafted a researched outline of what to do when and another page of what I did and when as well as product used.

Painted green-truth is you can purchase the same green paint. The proper product, does not harm the grass. I've never used it BUT, an opportunity to win the my grass is greener than your grass battle.

MY OPINION- your plantings Trees, Shrubs after one year are not fully rooted in. While they are dormant, they are really semi dormant it has been running 70 at midday and we have had very little rain. Probably a good idea to water once a week.

The sad my grass can take your grass. People in the Villages have either Empire Zoysia or St Augustine. Each has plusses and minuses. Procedures, neither can read.
Be sure to read instructions on any product before you put it down. Weed killers, there are products that will kill or severely damage your lawn

I should have given more information. While I have only owned for a year, I bought a pre-owned house, built in 2006, so the grass and the plantings are mature.
I don't care that it's not green, and I wouldn't go to the trouble to paint it.

I don't want to waste water (and $) if it provides no benefit for the dormant grass, but I don't want to sabotage my lawn to save a few bucks either.

With the daytime temps in the 70’s and 80’s, it will not take long for the grass to start growing and greening up. I can see new growth in my brown St. Augustine grass. I am in the keep watering once a week camp.

I did a search on that site, and as is my usual experience on that site, I got an encyclopedic amount of information, none of which answered my specific question.
However, for those who might be interested, I did find another site that suggested this:

Yes, water dormant St. Augustine, albeit, not as heavily as during the warm growing season. The reason for this is that while the part of the grass we see is brown, and not growing, the roots are still active, and need water.
According to the site I found, "about an inch of water every two weeks" should be adequate during the cold months.

50% chance of rain early Sunday morning

also 50% chance of no rain sunday :popcorn:

Water it regular ….. my grass is green!

Another solution is to contact the Extention Service for advice. Pre-COVID they used to regular presentations for Villagers. We had the typical problems when we first moved in. Took lots of pictures and some samples of grass to them. Followed their advice and grass (after a bit) got better. Their horticulurists are top notch. Keep in mind that if you rely on the folks who cut your grass and spray fertilizer on it, most were washing cars two weeks ago.

if it turns color it's zoysia not augustine or floritam. it's supposed to turn color.

I would just treat it like we do at our Tennessee house: It goes dormant (brown) in the winter, we stop watering it and let the natural rain take care of it. Come Spring, water it. It will come out of dormancy after some consistent days above about 90F.

Your Tennessee home probably has Kentucky Blue Grass.....entirely different than St Augustine & Empire Zoysia. Southern grasses do need some watering in off season as their roots are still active. When you look carefully, your grass is not entirely tan (dormant) but still has greeness in the area near the turf surface.

wow!!

My lawn care people recommended watering my St. Augustine grass one day per week until April; then go back to twice per week. The grass should begin to green up nicely in mid-March.