St. Augustine vs. Centipede: Choosing Your Louisiana Lawn

Drive through Slidell, Mandeville, or Covington and almost every residential lawn you pass is one of two grasses: St. Augustine or centipede. They look similar at a glance, but they want very different things from you. Picking wrong — or treating one like the other — is the fastest way to end up with bare spots by August.

The short version

Choose St. Augustine if: you have mostly sun, you water on a schedule, and you want a thick green carpet that handles foot traffic. It is the default for most North Shore front yards.

Choose centipede if: you want the lowest-maintenance option that stays green on its own, you do not want to fertilize much, and some dappled shade is OK. It is the default for wooded lots around Abita and Covington.

How they grow here

St. Augustine spreads by above-ground runners (stolons). It fills in fast when healthy, which is why it often covers thin spots better than slower grasses. It likes sun — six hours a day minimum — and it drinks a lot. Gulf Coast humidity is kind to it, but so is a good irrigation schedule.

Centipede grows slower, lower, and is happier in poorer soil. It does not want much fertilizer (too much nitrogen burns it) and it handles partial shade better than St. Augustine. The trade-off: it does not recover from wear as fast. A dog run or a kid's soccer spot will thin out.

Mowing differences

This is where people get it wrong. Each grass has a right height:

- St. Augustine: keep it tall. 3.5 to 4 inches. Mowing too short scalps the crown and invites weeds. We default to 4 inches in summer. - Centipede: shorter is fine. 1.5 to 2 inches. Mowing at the same height as St. Augustine leaves it shaggy and encourages seed heads.

If you hire a crew who uses the same deck height on every lawn regardless of grass, you are losing turf. Ask.

Watering differences

St. Augustine wants about an inch of water per week during growing season — either from rain or irrigation, once or twice a week deep rather than daily shallow. Centipede is far more drought-tolerant. In a normal Louisiana summer centipede can skip a watering altogether.

Fall and winter

Both grasses go semi-dormant in winter and look yellow-tan for a few weeks. That is normal. Do not try to "green them up" with fertilizer or iron applications in January — you will stress them when they should be resting.

Which one is on my lawn?

Easy test: pick up a runner. If it is thick, flat, and has broad blades coming off it, that is St. Augustine. If the runner is thin and the blades are narrow and short, that is centipede. Or call us — we can tell you in thirty seconds.

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We cut both grasses every week across St. Tammany Parish. If your lawn is underperforming and you are not sure why, a property review usually includes a quick read of what you have and what mowing height it wants.