What is the Best Compost For St Augustine Grass?

The quality of St Augustine grass can improve with the compost. A natural homemade compost can perform better with the St Augustine grass. In this article, we will understand the best compost for St Augustine Grass.

Even the compost available in the market will work for your St Augustine grass lawn. This will provide organic material to your soil and increase the fertility of the soil. This article clearly states the best steps to produce Compost for St Augustine Grass and also some organic compost available in the market.

There are various ways you can produce compost on your own. Every April and October is a good time to add compost to your St Augustine grass. Many times, after summers the lawn of St Augustine grass seems dead. ¼ to ½ inch of compost will enable your grass to revive. It will create favorable conditions for healthy microbes in the soil. The roots will be able to go deep inside the soil.

St Augustine Grass

The turfgrass is a warm-season grass. St Augustine grows well at the temperature of 75 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Hence, the right time to grow St Augustine grass is during spring or summer. When the atmosphere is warm. As St Augustine is a low-mat-forming grass, it is popular as lawn grass. It works well on pasture and ranches too. The botanically known as St Augustine grass is Stenotaphrum secundatum.

The grass belonging to the Stenotaphrum genus is either annual or perennial. St Augustine is a perennial grass. This grass can grow for certain years and have a minimal flowering period. The grass spread through vegetative propagation through stolons.

The grass is blue-green. It sustains its color for a longer time. There are various cultivars of St Augustine grass. Most of the cultivars are salt-tolerant and shade-tolerant. St Augustine grass is also drought tolerant. Among all the cultivars, Floratam is known for its drought-tolerant capacity.

Fertilizing the soil through compost for St Augustine grass can be beneficial They use organic waste to prepare compost. Waste of animals and plants mixes and forms compost. The composts are rich in organic matter. They are harmless to your St Augustine grass because they don’t have chemicals. It will make the soil fertile and supply enough nutrients. Moreover, it will enhance the fertility of the soil. Topdressing the compost on St Augustine grass will enrich the soil and help the grass grow faster.

Best Compost For St Augustine Grass

The chemical fertilizers can have side effects on St Augustine grass, but compost is organic matter. It will enrich the soil with nutrients and reduce the need for chemical fertilizer in the soil. It will enable the fast and healthy growth of St Augustine grass. Following are the reasons for applying compost to the lawn. Several ingredients can act like magic in your compost for St Augustine.

Following are the ingredients for the best compost.

Coffee Grounds

Coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, making them suitable for the compost

Leaf molds work best as improving the soil quality. It improves the water retention capacity of soil and also makes the soil well-draining. This can be very useful in the compost in a limited amount. St Augustine grass needs sandy soil.

Grass clipping, waste of fruits and vegetables, etc. are rich in nitrogen. Adding them as an ingredient in compost can be beneficial for St Augustine grass

There are different ways of preparing compost. The way the compost is prepared also decides the nutrients and quality of compost. Following are the ways to prepare compost.

Vermi Compost

In this compost, the compost is prepared using the worms who feed on the organic matter and decompose it to prepare the compost. This is a great way to prepare compost, it makes the soil fertile. This compost shall be prepared at temperature 55 to 75 ° F. In summers you can place the pit or bin under shades. This can be easily done at home. Trustbasket and JDFresh are some of the good vermicompost available in the market.

In-Vessel Composting

In this type of compost, the waste is collected in the vessel. You can mix the material in any vessel and maintain the temperature and moisture to mechanically decompose the organic matter. All kinds of kitchen waste can be added to this compost. This compost can be easily prepared in the house

Benefits of Using Compost

• The compost is organic material made from kitchen and other degradable wastes. They make the soil rich in organic nutrients. The compost retains water in the soil. Hence, proper irrigation is necessary for the soil after composting for St Augustine grass.
• The compost will act like slow and natural fertilizer in your soil.
• Composting adds valuable nutrients to the soil and makes it favorable for healthy microfauna to develop. This maintains ecosystem
• The development of healthy microorganisms in the soil will help the soil and grass fight diseases and parasites.
• The organic compost will also have positive environmental effects. They will reduce the emission of methane into the atmosphere. As the compost is prepared from the organic matter it decomposes the wastes aerobically. This will not emit methane, unlike natural anaerobic decomposition.  Which will reduce the greenhouse effect.
• The organic compost can be easily prepared at home. Thus, it also saves some money in your pocket.
• St Augustine grass can grow well in the soil with a pH of 5 to 8.5. The compost will also neutralize the soil making it suitable for St Augustine grass to grow.
•  It ensures the proper root development in the soil by maintaining soil structure.

Final Thoughts

Compost can be easily prepared at home. The compost can be prepared in a way that contains nitrogen. Nitrogen is the macronutrient that is a must for St Augustine grass to grow efficiently. The soil quality will improve. This will stimulate the growth of healthy microorganisms and resist diseases. There are a plethora of benefits of compost in the lawn of St Augustine grass. Let’s start preparing compost and reducing the waste and I am sure your St Augustine grass lawn will thank you.