St. augustinegrass [ Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze] is widely used as a warm-season turfgrass. This is one of the most popular turfgrass species used for home lawns throughout the southern United States. St. augustinegrass has better shade
St. augustinegrass is the most widely used turfgrass in commercial and home landscapes in Florida and is also a commonly used turfgrass along the coastal Gulf states. It grows throughout the year in southern Florida but usually senesces during the
, thinner and narrower leaves, greater leaf extension rates, and reduced root mass ( Dudeck and Peacock, 1992 ). St. augustinegrass [ Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze] is considered one of the most shade-tolerant warm-season turfgrass species ( Beard
St. augustinegrass [ Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntz] is a warm-season, perennial grass species commonly used in the turfgrass industry for its superior shade tolerance and stoloniferous growth habit. However, winter survival is a major
Foerste, Preston Wells, and the students of St. Cloud High School, Osceola County; Clayton Hutcheson, Gene Joyner, and Alice Rosenberger, Palm Beach County; Bob Steiger, Pasco County; Joe M. Freeman, David Price, and Bok Tower Gardens, Polk County; Dan
St. augustinegrass [ Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze] is a coarse-textured, warm-season, perennial turfgrass species well adapted for home lawns and commercial landscapes across the southern United States and upward into the southern regions
St. Augustinegrass is a widely used warm-season turfgrass for home lawns throughout the south. St. Augustinegrass prefers moderate cultural practices ( Cisar et al., 1992 ) with a fertility requirement of 10 to 30 g·m −2 ·yr −1 N ( Trenholm et al
The objective of this study was to relate the lethal freezing temperatures of St. Augustinegrass [Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze] genotypes, as measured by differential thermal analysis (DTA), to winter survival observed in the field. DTA-predicted lethal temperatures of 14 St. Augustinegrass genotypes ranged from –7.7 to –4.7C. Regression of field winter survival vs. DTA-predicted lethal temperatures resulted in an r 2 = 0.57 for one field trial that evaluated cultivars with a relatively narrow range of expected freezing tolerance. In a second study evaluating cultivars with a greater range of freezing tolerance, r 2 was 0.92 when winter survival was regressed on DTA-predicted lethal temperatures. DTA was successful in measuring freezing avoidance of St. Augustinegrass cultivars.
cultivars under similar maintenance levels, growing in the subtropical climate on sandy soils found in North Florida. St. augustinegrass dominates the residential and commercial landscape market in Florida with 51% of total sod production ( Satterthwaite et
St. Augustinegrass [Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze] is less drought-resistant than other C4 grasses and frequently requires irrigation in lawns. The objectives of this study were to search for St. Augustinegrass germplasm having little wilting and to determine if minimal wilting under drought is associated with reduced canopy loss. St. Augustinegrass cultivars and breeding lines, representing polyploids (2n = 27 to 32) and diploids (2n = 18), were grown in sand soil and exposed to irrigation suspensions during seasonal droughts in three experiments. In the first experiment, during brief (3 to 14 day) irrigation suspensions, wilted area over 3 years was significantly less for polyploids (6% of canopy) than for diploids (23%). In the second experiment, during a permanent irrigation suspension, frequency of wilt was highest for diploids (57%), least for African polyploids (27%), and intermediate (53%) for other polyploids. When rain resumed after 41 days of drought, allowing refoliation, canopy loss was 51%, 4%, and 47% for diploids, African polyploids, and other polyploids, respectively. In the third experiment, during a permanent irrigation suspension, wilted area was 33% for `Jade,' a diploid, which was more (P ≤ 0.05) than for the polyploid `FX-10,' with a wilted area of 20%. `Floratam' and `Bitterblue' were intermediate in wilted area, 28% and 25%, respectively. When rain resumed after 18 days of drought, canopy loss was 58% and 56% for `Jade' and `Bitterblue,' respectively, which was more than for `Floratam' and `FX-10,' 11% and 6%. Following permanent irrigation suspensions, canopy loss was closely associated with wilting, r 2 = 0.88 and 0.94 by the Gompertz nonlinear model. Because the sand soil had low water-holding capacity, the wet subsoil and shallow (1.35 m deep) water table may have been a source of water. Wilt-avoidant St. Augustinegrass may help reduce turfgrass water use.