Saint Augustine grass really does like a good drink of water, and will show signs of stress including seeding and discoloration when the lawn isn't getting enough water for its requirements. Apart from sometimes being a little thirstier, there are no real other differences in watering a St Augustine lawn than for any other lawn variety. So here are some ways to water a Saint Augustine lawn.

Saint Augustine lawns can sometimes require a little more water than other lawn types, this is most easily achieved by increasing watering times on the irrigation system. If an old Bermudagrass lawn thrived on 15 minutes of watering per cycle, then a new St Augustine lawn may possibly need 20 minutes per watering cycle.

Keep testing the watering times and requirements of the lawn over time, and adjust for the individual property as necessary.

Watering A Saint Augustine Lawn

Watering will change according to seasons and environment.

Less and sometimes no water during Winter, once and sometimes twice a week during Fall or Spring, and 2 to 3 times per week during Summer for most lawns in most yards, and on lawns which have not been trained to be naturally drought tolerant.

Cooler regions with higher rainfall will obviously not need as much lawn watering.

High wind areas or Saint Augustine lawns which are surrounded by a lot of heat absorbing surfaces - such as corner house lots or lawns surrounded by excess paving or concrete will require extra water. This is due to more water being evaporated away from the lawn soil from extra radiant heat as well as from evaporation by high winds.

During excessively hot weather, it is always much better to increase the amount of water being applied to the Saint Augustine lawn at each watering, and never to increase the frequency of watering by watering on more days of the week.

Adjusting Water Times For Saint Augustine Grass

Finding the best watering regimen for a Saint Augustine lawn is really not difficult. Begin with a 15 minute watering cycle as the basis, and adjust watering times up or down slightly as required.

If the Saint Augustine grass is growing excessively then remove a couple of minutes from the watering times until the grass grows at a moderate rate while remaining in excellent health.

If the Saint Augustine grass is looking a little pale or worse for wear, then it would be best to slightly adjust watering times until the grass regains its lushness.

So if the lawn is currently receiving 15 minutes of water per session, then increasing by an extra 2-3 minutes interval is sufficient until the lawn shows signs of clear improvement. At this stage, the irrigation can be left at this new adjusted setting.

Making A Water Efficient Lawn

Looking past our usual ways of watering lawns, which this article addresses, there is a much better way to water lawns, throughout the life of the lawn, to ensure better lawn health, less water usage, and greater drought tolerance. These watering methods are covered in our article about creating a water efficient lawn, and is the method I use to water my own Saint Augustine lawn just 4 times per year.