Insecticide For St Augustine Grass

The variety of St Augustine grasses available can make it more difficult to find the right insecticide for your yard, but if you know what to look for and understand the process, you’ll be able to choose an effective and safe product.    The most severe damage to St Augustinegrass lawns comes from the larvae of a voracious little mite, or insect. These are the so-called “Grass Mites” that belong to the family Tetranychidae, with genera such as Oligonychus and Polyphagotarsonemus.

Insecticide For St Augustine Grass

St. Augustine’s a beautiful grass found throughout the majority of Florida home lawns as well as many residential and commercial landscapes in the southern two-thirds of the United States. However, it’s just as vulnerable to insects as other warm season turfgrasses. St. Augustine is loved for its remarkably thick grass blades that form a really dense canopy over lawns. It’s beautiful, tropical-like appearance makes for a gorgeous lawn with high curb appeal.

St. Augustine can experience a range of different lawn pests and insects though. Given the right amount of time, these insects and grubs have the ability to completely devastate a lawn leaving nothing but discolored, damaged, or even dead grass in its place. Arming yourself with the knowledge to identify, prevent and treat them will help you keep your St. Augustine lush and thriving.

Common Insects in St. Augustine Grass Lawns

Some of the most common insects found in St. Augustine lawns are chinch bugs, fall armyworms, sod webworms, billbugs, grub worms and mole crickets. Spittlebugs usually prefer centipede grass the most, but have been known to munch on the blades of St. Augustine grass as well. If you’re a Florida homeowner who’s noticed tiny black bugs in the grass, you are probably spotting chinch bugs. These insects will completely destroy a lawn, so taking action as soon as possible is necessary. Use the products located at the end of this blog for treatment or call a local lawn treatment company to come spray for them. Follow any product label instructions upon application.

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Pictured above from left to right: A chinch bug, fall armyworm and sod webworm.

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Pictured above from left to right: A billbug, grub worm and mole cricket.

If you are able to accurately identify and name the type of insect, grub or bug you are seeing, you can select an effective product for treatment and come up with a good prevention strategy in the future. Be sure to read the product labels thoroughly so that you know if the chemical can be applied to your lawn without damaging the grass. Follow the product label’s instructions upon application. It is important to know that there are a few cultural, non-chemical control methods for weed control you can use as well.

Cultural Methods of Insect Control in Your St. Augustine Grass

The first and most important tip for fighting off insects and pests in your St. Augustine lawn is keeping it healthy with regular maintenance practices. This includes mowing at the right times and at an appropriate height of 2–4 inches. Ideal mowing heights for St. Augustine slightly vary from brand to brand, but generally speaking, a height of 2–4 inches is optimal. Palmetto® St. Augustine is a semi-dwarf variety that performs best at a mowing height kept between 2–2.5 inches and CitraBlue® St. Augustine performs best at 2–3 inches.

Mowing reduces the amount of grass blade for insects to live and nest in. When grass becomes too tall in height, it provides optimal coverage for insects to reside in. They may even lay their eggs here and continue to feed. Keeping the surface of your lawn clean will reduce chances of insect infestation.

Don’t over irrigate your lawn. Most St. Augustine grass needs about one inch of water per week including rainfall. Not only does overwatering promote disease outbreaks; standing water is a perfect invitation for other pests like mosquitos, termites, cockroaches and other pests. Although these insects won’t severely damage your lawn, the standing water will weaken your lawn so that it can’t fight back against stressors like other harmful pests.

Pictured above: A size comparison of chinch bugs throughout their different growth stages with a ballpoint pen.

Another helpful tip is to dethatch your lawn. Thatch is a layer of debris below the grass that accumulates over time. It consists of all kinds of natural matter that eventually forms a semi-solid mat. Dethatch your lawn once a year or once every other year to keep the layer from becoming too thick.

Applying a fertilizer on your lawn may sound odd because it doesn’t directly reduce insect damage—but it does help your grass form a dense, thick layer above the surface of the soil so that insect damage doesn’t greatly impact the lawn. Apply fertilizer regularly to help your St. Augustine grass stay lush and healthy. Sod University recommends the Lawnifi® Fertilizer Program or Lawnifi Foundation.

Lastly, if you’re a homeowner that’s had a lot of problems with chinch bugs in the past, it may be useful for you to know that EMPIRE® Zoysia is a chinch bug resistant turfgrass variety.

Insecticide For St Augustine Grass

St Augustine Grass is a common lawn grass, but it can be susceptible to pests and diseases. Insecticide for St Augustine Grass is an important part of keeping your lawn healthy and green.

The fact that St Augustine Grass is susceptible to pests and diseases means that it’s important to take steps to ensure that it stays healthy. Insecticide for St Augustine Grass is one such step.

Insecticide for St Augustine Grass comes in many forms, but the most common types are granular and liquid. Both are safe to use on St Augustine Grass with no side effects, but they work differently:

Granular insecticides work by being spread evenly across the grass at regular intervals throughout the growing season. They’re generally applied in spring after the new shoots have grown past their first two leaves but before they become full-sized leaves (usually around mid-April). The insecticide stays put until it dissolves naturally into the soil as time goes on, killing any bugs that come into contact with its active ingredient (pyrethrum).

Liquid insecticides are applied directly to individual plants or spots where you’ve seen signs of insects or disease developing (such as browning leaves), using a small spray bottle or sponge attachment on a garden hose.

List Of Insecticide For St Augustine Grass