Winter is the season when you can have a break from most kinds of gardening, including a St. Augustine yard.
Besides, you are getting a leave from your office due to the winter vacation. This vacation is also added by the less work pressure on your lawn due to the plant being dormant.
As Saint Augustine are summer plants, a sudden drop in the temperature during the winter can lead to their dormancy.
During their dormancy, your humor may ask, does St. Augustine grass turn brown in winter?
Yes, every St. Augustine garden will turn brown during the winter season. When the plants go dormant, they show this tendency of changing the leave color. In winter, the soil temperature goes below 55° Fahrenheit, and grass or plant leaves gradually turn brown.
Don’t leave this discussion until you are delighted with the complete St. Augustine guide, especially the winter season.
In this garden gild guides we’ll discuss the following:
- Does St. Augustine grass turn brown in winter?
- How do you treat St. Augustine grass in the winter?
- Is it normal for grass to turn brown in winter?
- Does St. Augustine grass come back after a freeze?
- Will hard freeze kill St. Augustine grass?
- Can you overwater St. Augustine grass?
- Will Brown St. Augustine come back?
- FAQs

Does St. Augustine grass turn brown in winter?
Saint Augustine is a spring and summer plant that mainly grows depending on the hot temperature. So, you cannot expect something better than their going to the dormant period when they are dragged into weather different than that.
Almost all sorts of Augustine gardening will make you astonish with their different color during different seasons. You can hardly find a Saint Augustine plant that didn’t change its color.
There are multiple varieties among St. Augustine that changes their color more or less compared with one another.
For example, some types may go way browner, whereas some may stay less brown. Their differences can raise a battle among each other in changing color.
But, the fact here is that you can find none among them who won’t change their color against their seasonal demand.
So, if you are a person cultivating St. Augustine, get yourself prepared for the future outcome and accept their temporary color changes.
How do you treat St. Augustine grass in the winter?
Before knowing the treatment procedure for your St. Augustine during the winter, you first need to understand why and what kind of treatment they should need!
As you read the first outline, you realized what the article is all about! Yes, it is about the effects of winter on your Augustine plants, and this current topic is to know how to minimize the impact of specific treatments.
The possible things you can do in the name of the treatments for your St. Augustine are:
1. Fertilizing in trace amount:
When it comes to maintaining the health of the plants, there come no alternative other than proper fertilization. Therefore, fertilizers should be added according to the instruction and in a trace amount.
The fertilizer for your saint Augustine should be loaded with nitrogen. This will help them more to survive in the winter and therefore minimizing the change of color.
2. Winter fertilizer:
Again, if it is really about the winter precautions, then the most effective job for your Augustine plants can be done by a winter fertilizer.
Winter fertilizers have some special effects that can stop your plants from entering into the dormant state up to a great extent. Also, they provide the plants with many essential nutrients to stay sound during cold temperatures.
3. Pre and post-treatment:
All the fertilizers mentioned in the past should be applied two months before the fall or entering the winter season.
Again, they should further be applied after two months of the winter. In this way, your plants will get good room to stable themselves before and after the losses.
4. Iron supplementation:
Besides, you should also take care of their extra nutrition. Over time, your St. Augustine can go through nutrient deficiency like Irons.
So, don’t hesitate to at least provide an Iron supplementation once a year.
5. Mowing:
If possible, you should be mowing your Augustine lawn quite often. And, cutting during the winter is more crucial to help your plants stay healthy during the colds.
6. Lawn heights:
Lawn heights will also vary a lot on your Saints Augustine’s condition. You should leave their height as long as possible during the winter compared to the regular mowing size. In this way, the lawn will stay thicker.
Is it normal for grass to turn brown in winter?
Yes, it is typical for the grasses, especially St. Augustine, to turn brown during the winter. This happens mainly due to their state of entering dormancy.
Different types of plants enter dormant in other seasonal effects. The primary key here is the season which determines your plant’s condition. Plants that are warm temperate superior will go dormant in a state opposite to that. Again for cold season plants, they will never go dormant during winters.
The scenario is also very relatable for hot weather grasses like St. Augustine as they go dormant immediately when winter hits.
Saint Augustine cherishes itself in a temperature ranging from 80-90° Fahrenheit. This temperature is seen during the spring and summer seasons. And, the soil temperature during that time remains around 60° Fahrenheit.
It is widespread during winters to fall this number by to a great extent. When the soil temperature no long remains 60° Fahrenheit and drops below 55° Fahrenheit, effects on your plants start to arrive.
This sudden shock on your St. Augustine doesn’t help but dragging them into the state of dormancy.
And, due to this dormancy, it is as normal as having a cup of tea in winter morning for the grasses to turn brown!
Does St. Augustine grass come back after a freeze?
It depends on the type of gardening you do! A garden full of St. Augustine is likely to change its green color and become brown and hit dormant.
At the same time, it also causes their freezing at such shivering temperatures of the winter. As a result, a garden filled with green can turn into a lifeless, empty field during the late winters or early spring.
But, you can turn them back if you take some severe initiatives and follow all the necessary measures.
Will hard freeze kill St. Augustine grass?
Most of these freezing grasses can ultimately die, which can also be brought back into life through the costs of some real effort.
Again, if you are someone who takes genuine care from the very beginning, your St. Augustine will not die out of freezing in the first place!
Can you overwater St. Augustine grass?
Too much of anything is bad for everything. That includes excess watering the plants like St. Augustine that got shallow root system.

These roots are so much vulnerable to be attacked with fungal diseases when they are watered more frequently.
They need a good amount of watering during the summer, which becomes way lesser in the winter.
Will Brown St. Augustine come back?
Yes, the good news about St. Augustine is that they are perennial and will come back healthy every year after they hit dormancy.
For this, you also need to ensure that they are healthy before entering the winter season and their dormancy. If not, then their lack of nutrients added with the absent period of nutrition will cause them to die.
The brown-colored leaves during the winter will turn all green during the late springs and summer with proper care and fertilization. This feature makes them a perennial plant that lasts years after years on your lawn.
people also ask
1. What month Should I fertilize St. Augustine grass?
The time when St. Augustine will start to turn green will be the same as their fertilization. They should be fertilized with enriched nitrogen and according to the recommended dosage.
2. Can you use Scotts Turf Builder on St. Augustine?
Yes, you can use Scotts Turf Builder on the southern lawns of St. Augustine. They boost the color of your Augustine that makes them the most recognizable. They are also used to protect such plants from drought.
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Conclusion
Truly, the St. Augustine grass becomes brown immediately after winter hits nature. But, you can’t do much to protect the lawn from browning in winter. Better, you should wait for the perfect season to grow back St. Augustine again.