Problems with St. Augustine Grass - Brown spot/Large patch?

Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Centipede, Bahia, Paspalum, etc
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Fliparagon
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Joined: May 10th, 2017, 2:07 pm
Location: Southern California - Orange County
Grass Type: St. Augustine
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Problems with St. Augustine Grass - Brown spot/Large patch?

Post by Fliparagon » May 10th, 2017, 3:00 pm

Hi all,

We need help with our lawn! 

Late last year (November), we had St. Augustine sod planted. We followed our landscaper's instructions with initial care for the sod the first month (i.e., frequent and long watering, minimal foot traffic, etc.). After the initial care, the lawn was fine up until a month ago when brown spots began appearing. At first, they were in small and in isolated areas of the lawn. Soon, they began growing and spreading rapidly. We brought a sample and photos to our local nursery for advice. They suspected a fungus infection and advised us to cut back watering to twice a week for twenty minutes and to apply a fungicide. That was a month ago. The brown spots are still spreading and we're concerned that our grass is dying. 

Additional environmental background: 

We're in Southern California about 20 minutes from the coast. Temperatures are moderate.

Any assistance, suggestions or help would be appreciated

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Green
Posts: 6837
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Grass Type: KBG, TTTF, TTPR, and FF (various mixtures)
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Re: Problems with St. Augustine Grass - Brown spot/Large patch?

Post by Green » May 10th, 2017, 9:30 pm

Welcome. If that's St. Augustinegrass, it looks really fine-bladed, which St. Augustine isn't. I'm not an expert on Warm-season grasses...but some of the experts might want to know what sub-type it is if you know (e.g. Sapphire) to better answer your questions.

purepearl32
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Re: Problems with St. Augustine Grass - Brown spot/Large patch?

Post by purepearl32 » May 12th, 2017, 5:24 pm

Man, I gotta concur with Green...that doesn't look like any kind of St Augustine I've ever seen. Do you have dogs or animals that may pee in that area? Looks like that or an accidental chemical/fertilizer spill of some kind...

killerv
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Location: Central Ga
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Re: Problems with St. Augustine Grass - Brown spot/Large patch?

Post by killerv » May 16th, 2017, 7:45 am

I'd contact the landscaper, have him remove whatever that is, and put some st augustine down. If you paid for SA, and that isn't what you got, take him to court. Unless that's some weird west coast cultivar we've never seen or heard of..sure doesn't look like SA.

Spammage
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Re: Problems with St. Augustine Grass - Brown spot/Large patch?

Post by Spammage » May 18th, 2017, 12:58 am

Agree with the above, looks like fescue to me. I've seen a lot of St Augustine and it's never been close to that fine bladed. St Augustine grows via stolons which are also notably absent in your pics.


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Begotten
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Location: Savannah, GA
Grass Type: Celebration Bermuda, St. Augustine
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Re: Problems with St. Augustine Grass - Brown spot/Large patch?

Post by Begotten » May 18th, 2017, 8:59 pm

You don't have St. Augustine but you do have a fungus problem. What you should do is take your case over to the cool season grass dept and see if they know anything.

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Begotten
Posts: 881
Joined: May 15th, 2013, 3:04 pm
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Re: Problems with St. Augustine Grass - Brown spot/Large patch?

Post by Begotten » May 18th, 2017, 9:06 pm

This is what SA typically looks like. Whatever you have there looks like very nice grass but I'm not sure what it is.


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Green
Posts: 6837
Joined: September 14th, 2012, 10:53 pm
Location: CT (Zone 6B)
Grass Type: KBG, TTTF, TTPR, and FF (various mixtures)
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Level: Experienced

Re: Problems with St. Augustine Grass - Brown spot/Large patch?

Post by Green » May 19th, 2017, 12:06 am

Following up on my first reply and the subsequent ones here...It's not easy from those photos to say what grass that might be...but Spammage said Fescue, and might have been on the right track. My own first impression was actually Kentucky Bluegrass. Having seen St. Augustine in almost every yard every time I've been in Florida, I knew it wasn't that, unless it was some special type of cultivar.

Would others say this is definitely a cool-season grass too, or could it be another warm-season grass type that's really dark green and dense? Whatever it is, it looks really hyped up on N and iron.

Did we scare away the OP? lol.

Spammage
Posts: 638
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Re: Problems with St. Augustine Grass - Brown spot/Large patch?

Post by Spammage » May 19th, 2017, 12:15 am

It could be KBG Green, I was just guessing that fescue would be more likely in Southern California. I would bet a LOT of dough that it isn't a warm-season grass.

Fliparagon
Posts: 2
Joined: May 10th, 2017, 2:07 pm
Location: Southern California - Orange County
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Re: Problems with St. Augustine Grass - Brown spot/Large patch?

Post by Fliparagon » May 19th, 2017, 1:02 pm

Appreciate all the feedback. Just met with our landscape architect who helped us plan the yard last year but wasn't around when the contractor laid the sod. She also suspects it's fescue and is looking further into it.

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