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St. Augustine Grass Types

Types of St. Augustine Grass

The types of St. Augustine grass are ‒ ProVista St Augustine, Palmetto St. Augustine, Seville St. Augustine, CitraBlue St. Augustine, and Raleigh St. Augustine, to name a few. 

St. Augustine is popular among homeowners due to its tolerance for heat and humidity. While this particular type of grass is planted as lawn grasses in Florida and the Gulf states, its ability to tolerate salt makes it an excellent choice for coastal yards.

1. ProVista St. Augustine

Provista is a dark green, dense grass variety of St. Augustine grass. It has wide, coarse blades that thrive in full sun but also do well in moderate shade. ProVista has a horizontal growth habit where its dense growth bodes well with foot traffic, especially if you have kids or pets.

ProVista is a newly developed Floratam variety (a type of St. Augustine) engineered to resist weeds and reduce mowing. ProVista St. Augustine does not grow as rapidly as Floratam, which also means – less mowing. Nevertheless, when mowing your lawn, you must keep the mow height 3″ to 4″. 

  • Ideal Use: Commercial and home
  • Mow Height: 3 to 4 inches
  • Blade Width: 8 to 9 mm
  • Wear Tolerance: Moderate
  • Injury Recovery: Good
  • Shade Tolerance: Better than Floratam
  • Drought Tolerance: Good

2. Palmetto St. Augustine

Palmetto St. Augustine has a fairly good shade tolerance compared to other warm-season grasses. It is the most sold patented turfgrass, not just in America but in the world. Palmetto is known for its fine texture and medium blade size with a more solid green color. 

It has the ability to develop less thatch on it and stay green for the longest period of the year than any other St. Augustine grass variety. However, with several frost in a row, it can go dormant where the top of the blades gets tinged with brown. This particular grass type also has a good tolerance for cold, frost, heat and drought. Also, it is resistant to the Sugarcane Mosaic Virus, which can reduce the yield or cause your infected plant foliage to have a mottled appearance.

  • Ideal Use: Commercial and home
  • Mow Height: 1.5 to 2.5 inches
  • Blade Width: 8 to 9 mm
  • Wear Tolerance: Adequate
  • Injury Recovery: Very Good
  • Shade Tolerance: Excellent
  • Drought Tolerance: Good

3. Seville St. Augustine

Seville St. Augustine, the dwarf version of the St. Augustine grass, features blue-green color and has a compact low growth habit. This cultivar of St. Augustine can even thrive in all soil pH levels, from acidic to alkaline. Hence, Seville is a great choice for coastal and inland areas.

Seville can be your incredible escape if you have a shady lawn and can’t think of grass that can thrive in that environment. This fine-textured grass is also a popular choice among homeowners due to its low maintenance after it establishes its roots. However, Seville is probably not a good choice for Florida yards where traffic tolerance, chinch bugs and thatch are of concern. 

  • Ideal Use: Commercial, Home
  • Mow Height: 2 to 3 inches
  • Blade Width: 8 to 9 mm
  • Wear Tolerance: Good
  • Injury Recovery: Great
  • Shade Tolerance: Good
  • Drought Tolerance: Good

4. CitraBlue St. Augustine

CitraBlue St. Augustine is an improved variety of St. Augustine grass. This St. Augustine grass type stands out due to its blue-green color and soft leaf texture. Also, it makes the yard attractive and desirable among most property owners. 

Since CitraBlue needs less fertilizer, is shade tolerant and resists most plant diseases, it is popularly employed in residential, commercial, golf and sports fields. Also, CitraBlue requires less mowing and offers resistance to chinch bugs due to the lateral growing pattern.

  • Ideal Use: Home, commercial, golf, and sports
  • Mow Height: 2.5 to 3.5 inches
  • Blade Width: Medium (5 to 7 mm)
  • Wear Tolerance: Excellent
  • Shade Tolerance: Good
  • Drought Tolerance: Very Good

5. Raleigh St. Augustine

Raleigh St. Augustine, a medium-coarse, vigorous lawn grass, was released by North Carolina State University in 1980. The Raleigh comes with a larger leaf thickness and requires the most sunlight. As far as the leaf thickness and density are concerned, Raleigh St. Augustine falls in between Floratam and Palmetto. 

While Floratam comes with the biggest leaves, Palmetto has the smallest leaves but forms the thickest grass with the highest density. The Raleigh fits both types of grass where it has a dense, carpet-like texture, good shade tolerance, tolerates heat and humidity and chokes out weeds. 

  • Ideal Use: Golf, commercial, sports, parks, and residential.
  • Mow Height: 3 to 4 inches
  • Blade Width: 8 to 9 mm
  • Wear Tolerance: Good
  • Shade Tolerance: Excellent
  • Drought Tolerance: Good

6. Floratam St. Augustine

Floratam St. Augustine grass was developed to combat the St. Augustine Decline (SAD) virus. This grass flourishes in hot summer and goes dormant in the cold weather. Floratam is less cold and shade tolerant than the other St. Augustine grass cultivars. This cultivar of St. Augustine is easily identified through its wide grass blades, stolons and stems that are slightly purple. 

  • Ideal Use: Home and commercial.
  • Mow Height: 3 to 4 inches
  • Blade Width: 8 to 9 mm
  • Wear Tolerance: Moderate
  • Shade Tolerance: Fair
  • Drought Tolerance: Good

7. Sapphire St. Augustine Grass

Sapphire got its name from the attractiveness it renders when it flourishes in your yard. With the fastest lateral growth rate, this particular grass type restores any leaf or grass blades damages pretty quickly. 

Among all the other types of St. Augustine grass, Sapphire has the best blue-green color, making it the most desirable cultivar to enhance the curb appeal of one’s property. It is also highly drought-tolerant and thrives in sub-tropical climates. However, it easily succumbs to fungus. If you still want this cultivar in your lawn for an aesthetically pleasing environment, you should be ready to re-sod areas of your lawn every year.

  • Ideal Use: Residential and commercial.
  • Mow Height: 2 to 3 inches
  • Wear Tolerance: Amazing
  • Shade Tolerance: Good 
  • Drought Tolerance: Fair

8. Bitter-Blue St. Augustine Grass

Floridians who enjoy the tropical and subtropical region seem to love Bitter-Blue St. Augustine since it grows best in warm weather. Apart from tolerating shade and cold weather more than Floratam, it is only appellable because of its ability to produce finer, solid turf. Bitter-Blue is susceptible to fungal diseases, chinch bugs, mole crickets, cutworms, etc. However, it appeals to you with its darker blue-green hue, which is named ‘Bitter-blue.’ 

With great tolerance for drought conditions, Bitter-blue needs weekly irrigation since it is a slow grower.

  • Ideal Use: Home and commercial
  • Mow Height: 3 to 4 inches
  • Blade Width: Same as Floratam.
  • Wear Tolerance: Good
  • Shade Tolerance: More than Floratam
  • Drought Tolerance: Amazing

9. Mercedes St. Augustine Grass

Growing roots in a rhizomatic way through the stolons, Mercedes St. Augustine grass has broad flat stems and thick, coarse leaves. Even though this particular variety of St. Augustine is a shade-tolerant warm-season grass, it still needs 4-6 hours of sun exposure to thrive. 

However, Mercedes St. Augustine is still popular among residential and commercial owners because this grass type retains its blue-green color even during low temperatures. 

  • Ideal Use: Home, commercial
  • Mow Height: 3 to 4 inches
  • Wear Tolerance: Amazing
  • Shade Tolerance: Good
  • Drought Tolerance: Good

10. Evergreen St. Augustine Grass

Another semi-dwarf version of St. Augustine, Evergreen St. Augustine grass, is known for its narrower and shorter blade leaves. This plusher, dark-green color grass thrives in full sun but still achieves the top rank in the list of most shade-tolerant St. Augustine varieties. It also retains its color faster than the other St Augustine grass types as soon as the cool weather is over. However, it would be better to think twice before working with this plant since it cannot tolerate high foot traffic. 

  • Ideal Use: Home and commercial
  • Mow Height:  2.5 to 3.5 inches
  • Wear Tolerance: Good
  • Shade Tolerance: Excellent
  • Drought Tolerance: Fair

11. Delmar St. Augustine Grass

Distinct due to its emerald green color, Delmar St. Augustine grass has a medium-coarse texture. This vigorous, dark green cultivar has the most tolerance for cold weather but still grows golden brown when winter approaches. 

It is a low-maintenance grass but only after it establishes its roots. Looking at its attributes and cultivating conditions, you are required to schedule short watering sessions while allowing you to cut it fairly short when mowing. Eden suggests growing this for residential and commercial uses.

  • Ideal Use: Residential (especially in Texas)
  • Mow Height: 2 to 2 ½ inches
  • Wear Tolerance: Good
  • Shade Tolerance: Fair
  • Drought Tolerance: Good

How to Identify Different Types of St. Augustine Grass

The recent cultivars of St. Augustine grass may differ slightly with several other distinctive features. Let’s take a look at them to understand them clearly. 

  1. ProVista St. Augustine – ProVista has a dark, rich green color, making your lawn look lush and healthy.
  2. Palmetto St. Augustine – Palmetto St. Augustine grass is easily identified by its dwarf appearance. It has an emerald-green color and smooth-textured leaf blades. Palmetto is also slightly narrower than the other varieties of St. Augustine grass.
  3. Seville St. Augustine – Seville is another dwarf version that reflects a blue-green hue with noticeably finer textured grass blades. 
  4. CitraBlue St. Augustine – CitraBlue offers less vertical growth, but it has a striking blue-green color.
  5. Raleigh St. Augustine – A cold-hardy St. Augustine cultivar, Raleigh is best known and identified by its pale green hue and coarse leaf blade texture.
  6. Floratam St. Augustine – Floratam is the most popular St. Augustine grass variety that offers coarse-textured leaf blades and a fast-spreading growth pattern.
  7. Sapphire St. Augustine Grass – With the fastest lateral growth, Sapphire is the most desirable because of its blue-green color.
  8. Bitter-Blue St. Augustine Grass – Bitter-blue is easily identified by its dark-blue-green hue and dense growth pattern with fine leaf texture.
  9. Mercedes St. Augustine Grass – Developed by the University of Florida breeding program in the 1980s, Mercedes St. Augustine grass has broad flat stems and thick, coarse leaves.
  10. Evergreen St. Augustine Grass – You can identify Evergreen St. Augustine grass from its relatively narrow leaf blades and dark-green hue that doesn’t fade away easily during the winter if you ever come across one. 
  11. Delmar St. Augustine Grass – This cultivar is characterized by its coarse-textured grass blades in emerald-green hue.

Which Type of St. Augustine Grass is Suitable for Beginners?

Eden recommends planting Raleigh because as soon as the roots are established, Raleigh St. Augustine becomes low maintenance, chokes out weeds, and has a good shade, heat, and humidity tolerance. Hence it can become a great choice for those novice gardeners or landscapers with shaded yards or high pH soil.

To conclude, the types of St. Augustine grass you can cultivate are ‒ ProVista St Augustine, Palmetto St. Augustine, Seville St. Augustine, CitraBlue St. Augustine, and Raleigh St. Augustine, to name a few. You can identify different types of St. Augustine grass by the distinctive characteristics of each. 

Contact Eden experts today to help you choose the best type of St. Augustine grass, considering your climatic conditions and local environment. 

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