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How fast does St. Augustine Grow?

15 years ago

For reasons too many to describe I have decided to use either Palmetto or Del Mar St. Augustine to fill in a specific area on my lawn. I know that all grass grows at difference rates depending on weather, light, water, fertilizer and type.

However, I have been told that Del Mar grows in slowly. What is slowly? That is, if I have a plug of 4 inches by 4 inches and I water it per the recommended schedules, provide the correct nutrition, the correct amount of light, etc. how much area can I expect that plug to have by a certain time? Ballpark. 2 inches extra per side? 9 inches, 1 foot, 2 feet?

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Comments (4)

lou_spicewood_tx
15 years ago
Del Mar is S_L_O_W! That's why it is very expensive. Where are you located? Sapphire and Flortam by far the fastest spreading varieties. Palmetto is sluggish at first. I wouldn't recommend it if you live where SADV is. Mine got zapped by the (*!@!$! virus.

I'm afraid i can't tell you just how much growth from Delmar. They got overtaken by Palmetto and Floratam...
barten
Original Author
15 years ago
lou: Try to google the speed with which Del Mar spreads. The only answers are _you_ :) Unfortunately, I need something more definitive. If you answer this google will be smarter.

I live north of Dallas so I can not use Floratam. It's a shady(er) place so I'd prefer Palmetto or Del Mar. I just have no clue how fast these might go. Even a wild guess would be great.
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Thank you for all of your wonderful responses. I agree Cindee. I won an award in Jacksonville in June and we decided to spend a couple of days in St. Augustine. We fell in love. It felt like a different world than S. Florida. People were nice, the pace slower, etc. rdean, it's funny. We have seriously considered Charleston too. But we have really narrowed our sites on St. Augustine. Lou, it's funny that you have so much warmer temps than nearby. But the same thing happens here I guess. Further west gets colder. We only live a mile from the ocean. Grasshoppersilks, my passion is roses, so it's nice to hear that you are growing them there even if they aren't doing well. It is a tough time of year for them. The rose you have pictured looks great. Cora and Betsy, I will definitely get in touch. Already I feel it is the right move. You are all so nice. Thanks so much. How much of a hike is it to Jax for work at rush hour? How far is Daytona? Nancy
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texas_weed
15 years ago
You are best to go with Palmetto living North of Dallas as Floratam is not real cold tolerant. Plant the Palmetto on 1-foot centers and they should grow together by mid to late July, or at least by the end of the season.
lou_spicewood_tx
15 years ago
Well, my floratam survived 14* a few year ago but my lawn is all sun and they gave me floratam by accident. So far, it outperformed Palmetto by far in the backyard. I guess I should be lucky otherwise it'd be entirely ugly backyard with Palmetto infected with virus. To this day, I still don't understand how it got infected...

I'm telling you Del Mar is a snail. It just sits there while Floratam and Palmetto quickly filled in. I'm not the only one who tried it and complained that it was too slow to fill in. Palmetto is fine as long as it is not infected with SADV. Somewhat good drought tolerance, significantly better than Del Mar and not so hardy Raleigh. According to an evaluation, Palmetto is best for shady area while Floratam is best for sunny in zone 9 (and probably 8b). Palmetto with proper fertilizing and watering, probably 1-2 feet.

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