St. Augustine grass is the lawn most people in North Port mean when they say the yard. The grass we install under that name is Floratam St. Augustine sod. It wants a high cut, partial shade is acceptable, and deep shade is not. Bahia and Zoysia are the other two sods we lay. They are not St. Augustine with a different haircut.
The mowing rule that belongs to this grass, and not to the other two, is the St. Augustine mowing height. Keep the deck at 3.5 to 4 inches. That height is how the lawn keeps its roots in sandy soil. Cut it shorter and the canopy opens, weeds move in, and the lawn looks thirsty even when the clock is running.
What it looks like on a lot
Healthy St. Augustine is a coarse, spreading turf. In the wet season, roughly May through September, it can put on enough height in five or six days that a biweekly cut looks like a hay field. That is why most of these lawns need a weekly visit in summer. In late fall and winter the same yard slows down and many customers shift to biweekly, sometimes a monthly check.
It fails in three ordinary ways. It is scalped. It is left dry on sand that will not hold water. Or it is asked to grow where the sun never hits the ground. Irregular dry patches in the hottest part of the lawn can be insects, a dead zone, or a scalp that baked. We will not name the cause from the sidewalk. A close photo of the blade helps if you are not sure the lawn is even St. Augustine. Bahia seed heads and a tight Zoysia mat are different plants, and the deck is set to the plant in the yard.
What we do about it
We mow it at the St. Augustine height, edge it, and blow the clippings off the hard surfaces. We flag thin spots. We do not sell spray, weed killer, or a fertilizer round. If the stolons are gone and the area is sand and weeds, the work is replacement with Floratam after the old mat comes out. New sod does not fix a zone that never runs, and it does not fix all-day shade.
The installed range is $0.85–$1.75 per square foot, with this grass above Bahia. A residential mowing visit is $35–$75. Both are ranges, not bids. Acreage is outside the mowing band. Start with the product if you are buying grass, Floratam St. Augustine sod.