LSU AgCenter rates it the most shade-tolerant warm-season turfgrass, but the acidic, slow-draining soil on many local streets needs attention before it’ll thrive.
St. Augustine GrassMadisonville
St. Augustine Sod for Shaded Madisonville Yards
St. Augustine sod in Madisonville is the grass for the town’s shadier yards, under live oaks, water oaks and pines. TurnKey Grass lays it here with our own crews.
St. Augustine for your Madisonville yard
Parish
St. Tammany ParishBest for
Shaded front yards, oak-lined lotsPallet coverage
About 450 sq ft eachEstimates
FREE on all servicesLicensed & Insured, Best Price GuaranteeFREE Estimates4 Grass Varieties14 Metro Cities
01 · Madisonville
Will St. Augustine grow under Madisonville’s oaks?
Madisonville’s master plan values the riverfront for its “mature Live Oaks,” and its tree list for the town includes Southern live oak, Nuttall oak, Shumard oak, Southern magnolia and spruce pine. NRCS lists water oak and loblolly pine as the native woodland on Guyton soil, the series mapped near Main Street downtown. That’s a lot of shade for a lawn.
St. Augustine copes with more of it than any other warm-season grass, within limits. LSU’s own line: “Even St. Augustinegrass won’t grow well in dense shade.” What helps:
- 01
4 to 6 hours of sun
4 to 6 hours of sun: Most turfgrasses need that much direct light. Count the hours on a summer day before you buy.
- 02
Mow higher in shade
Mow higher in shade: LSU suggests 3 to 3.5 inches under trees, against 2.5 to 3 inches in the open, so each blade has more leaf to work with.
- 03
Feed shade lightly
Feed shade lightly: Hold each feeding of shaded turf to half a pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet.
- 04
Raise the canopy
Raise the canopy: LSU’s older turf guide mentions thinning or limbing trees up to 6 to 8 feet to let light under them.
02 · Madisonville
Does Madisonville soil need lime for St. Augustine?
Usually, yes. LSU puts the ideal pH for St. Augustine at about 6.5 and notes that “in many of our yards, lime will be needed.” Local topsoil sits well below that: Guyton runs around 4.8, Prentiss around 5.0 and Abita around 5.5.
Don’t overshoot, though. Take-all root rot is favored by extended rainfall and soil pH above 6.5, and the nearest NOAA station logs about 62.5 inches of rain a year. Barbary mucky clay, found on some built-up streets near the swamp edge, can already test anywhere from 6.1 to 8.4. That’s why an LSU AgCenter soil test beats a bag of lime spread by eye. Call the St. Tammany Parish extension office at 985-875-2635 to start one.
03 · Madisonville
Which pests and diseases hit St. Augustine here?
Winter decline is the one to watch on Guyton silt loam, which NRCS calls poorly drained. Our summer care tips for St. Augustine cover the hot-weather side.
| Problem | When it shows up | What you’ll see | LSU’s advice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern chinch bug | Mid to late summer, in hot, dry, sunny spots | Dying patches, often where thatch is thick | Soap flush test: 1 tablespoon lemon-scented soap in 1 gallon of water; treat once you count 25 to 30 bugs in a square foot of turf |
| Large patch | Spring and fall, with nights of 60 to 75 F | Circles with a yellowish edge | Water early in the morning; keep nitrogen at recommended rates |
| Take-all root rot | Long rainy spells, high soil pH | Thinning that can look like chinch bug damage | Favored by pH above 6.5, so don’t over-lime |
| Winter decline | Winter, on wet ground | Weak, patchy green-up in wet, poorly drained ground | Core aeration with sand topdressing, better grading, deep and infrequent summer watering |
04 · Madisonville
What does a St. Augustine year look like on the Northshore?
Lay it between April and September for the best start. Once it’s established, LSU allows up to 3 lb of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet a year, between midspring and midsummer, never more than 1 lb at a time. One local agent’s example: 1 lb in April and June, with August optional.
Cold is its weak side. St. Augustine has the lowest cold tolerance of the warm-season grasses grown in Louisiana apart from seashore paspalum, and Madisonville sits in USDA zone 9a, where the average coldest night of the year is 20 to 25 F. LSU’s 2007 turf guide also warns that several cold-sensitive St. Augustine varieties shouldn’t be planted this far north. Sunny, heavily used yards may do better with zoysia in Madisonville; our Bermuda vs. St. Augustine comparison lays out the other trade-off.
Shady yard in Madisonville? Let’s look at it
If oaks or pines shade your lawn, we’ll count the sun hours with you, talk lime and drainage, and tell you straight whether St. Augustine will hold. Ask for a free estimate. You can read more about the grass on our St. Augustine sod page, see the full install process for Madisonville, or go back to our Madisonville lawn guide.
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