You Can’t Count on Scattered Thunder Storms to Keep your St Augustine Lawn Alive

by Rick Orr

If you have turned off your irrigation due to the constant rainfall over the past weeks – please turn it back on. You can’t expect Thunderstorms to keep your St Augustine lawn alive.

It is As Much Our Soils as it is the Weather

Our sandy soils of Pinellas County hold enough moisture to sustain a St Augustine lawn for about 72 hours. If the soil does not have moisture added after 72 hours the lawn will be stressed and soon wither and then die.

You Need Both: Irrigation and Thunderstorms

Under current water restrictions you are allowed to water 2x per week – at best that is 72 hours followed by 96 hours without irrigation. The irrigation system is barely sustaining the lawn. The hope is the Thunderstorms will occur in between irrigation days. That would supply enough water for the St Augustine Lawn to thrive.

More Deaths from Drought than Drowning

In my 30 years of working with lawns, almost every serious problem is caused by water stress (drought) and the problems caused by over watering are trivial! Therefore if you are going to err, err on the side of over watering – continue to irrigate your lawn 2x per week during the rainy season.