[John Mayes]

Originally Posted by PGApromike

You are correct except that The Villages changed back to Floratam St Augustine grass (used in yards above 44) but South of the MickeyLee course maintenance building on Megasson down to 470, according to the Property Management people I had at my home in Newell about the common area along roads and trails.

Interesting that they would switch away from ProVista. To verify, you can check the build spec for your house that shows all the colors, material, brands and etc. It also shows the sod used for the lawn.

[Doug17s]

Originally Posted by Mleeja

Ok, St. Augustine grass experts. Are the runners in the middle of the picture good grass or bad grass? If it is not St Augustine grass runners what is it? Thanks.

These runners are called stolons and are part of St. Augustine grass. They are growing to help thicken the lawn and fill in bare spots. Do NOT pull them out but you can cut them back if they are growing into your flower beds. I tuck the ones growing on top of the lawn, back down into the grass. This type of grass looks great (lush, thick and green all year) but it's difficult walking on this spongy type of grass!

[Teemotay]

Originally Posted by John Mayes

Not all St. Augustine should be mowed the same height. There are several different strains. The S.A. used for new builds south of 44 is ProVista and needs to be mowed between 3 to 4 inches. But other strains should be kept at 2.5 to 3 inches.

The ProVista strain is tolerant of glyphosate weed killer while the other strains are not.

Best to know what strain you have in order to take care of it.

I respectfully disagree with the notion that only the ProVista cultivar of St Augustine grass should be mowed at 3.5+”.

All cultivars of St Augustine except the dwarf cultivar (Seville) should be mowed at 3.5 - 4”
Seville should be mowed at 2 - 2.5”

Keep your Floratam, ProVista, Raleigh, Palmetto, Classic, Bitterblue and Citrablue cultivars mowed at 3.5” - 4” for a thick, healthy and weed-free yard.

[John Mayes]

Originally Posted by Teemotay

I respectfully disagree with the notion that only the ProVista cultivar of St Augustine grass should be mowed at 3.5+”.

All cultivars of St Augustine except the dwarf cultivar (Seville) should be mowed at 3.5 - 4”
Seville should be mowed at 2 - 2.5”

Keep your Floratam, ProVista, Raleigh, Palmetto, Classic, Bitterblue and Citrablue cultivars mowed at 3.5” - 4” for a thick, healthy and weed-free yard.

https://sodsolutions.com/lawn-care-g...ass-varieties/

[Teemotay]

Originally Posted by John Mayes

https://sodsolutions.com/lawn-care-g...ass-varieties/

ENH5/LH010: St. Augustinegrass for Florida Lawns

[Teemotay]

Originally Posted by John Mayes

https://sodsolutions.com/lawn-care-g...ass-varieties/

I have read several of the Sod Solutions articles and get their emails. My preference for information related to lawn care is the University of Florida and the Extension Office.

[SHIBUMI]

I thought you were not allowed to change your type of grass within a village. please comment?

thank you

Originally Posted by coffeebean

I thought those runners ARE St. Augustine grass. They just have to fill in to make a nice thick lawn. Right now I've got these runners of St. Augustine "running" onto the Zosia in my front yard. I've been waiting for this to happen. I'm hoping in another year or so my front yard will be all St. Augustine. Most of our property is St. Augustine, all from a few pieces of sod that were placed in the back yard by the previous owner of our home. I got this info from a neighbor. One of my other neighbors in the back/side of our property had St. Augustine grass creeping onto our Zoisia. The St. Augustine won and the Zoisia is gone.

[John Mayes]

Originally Posted by Rich Iwaszko

I thought you were not allowed to change your type of grass within a village. please comment?

thank you

That’s my understanding as well.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Just mow it along with whatever weeds show up. No one will know the difference.

[Normal]

Originally Posted by jmaccallum

Glyphosate is a “kill everything” product and will kill ProVista. Maybe you meant tolerant to 2-4-D instead?

Absolutely untrue. I have used it for years. The ProVista St. Augustine isn’t harmed when you use glyphosate 41%. It’s wonderful for the turf war South of 44.

[Wondering]

Originally Posted by Mleeja

Ok, St. Augustine grass experts. Are the runners in the middle of the picture good grass or bad grass? If it is not St Augustine grass runners what is it? Thanks.

All the runners are St. Augustine. St. Augustine grass is a "weed". In '05-'06 The Villages switched from St. Augustine to Zoysia because Zoysia grass needs less water and if you water it too much you kill it. Why they switched back to St. Augustine is probably because they got a better deal. I hate St. Augustine grass because it is too tough to cut, chinch bugs, and is too spongy to walk on.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Mleeja

Ok, St. Augustine grass experts. Are the runners in the middle of the picture good grass or bad grass? If it is not St Augustine grass runners what is it? Thanks.

That is centipede grass. Sometimes simbionic relationships are good. Maybe those 2 grasses would be good. Centipede stays gree in a drought.

[jimjamuser]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

A lot of us have that grass mixed in with our St Augustine. It tends to take over. I will pull those runners up when I see them, and it tends to keep that grass from spreading. Eventually the St Augustine takes over. One of my neighbors has a section of yard that has been taken over by it. It looks good, just noticeably different.

If it looks good why rip it out?

[jimjamuser]

The softball fields use a low height grass that is very tough growing. It may be centipede. Maybe another type of low grower?

[hmbfoxtail]

In Florida it's St Augustine any place else it's crab grass, and considered a nuisance.