Mobile, Alabama · Warm-season lawns
What a St. Augustine, centipede, or zoysia yard needs in Mobile, month by month. Our route follows the same rhythm.
This month · October
The cut stretches out. What the yard needs is a cleanup and clean edges, not a shorter setting. Oak shade and the first cool nights change the schedule.
Leave it. Do not keep the July fertilizer habit once the lawn has slowed down.
December – February
The grass rests. Edges, beds, and a clean walk are what the yard still needs.
December
Holidays and house showings are when a quiet lawn still has to look finished. That is edges, beds, and a clean walk. The grass can rest.
Leave it. Do not fertilize, and do not mow dormant grass down for a “clean” look.
January
St. Augustine, centipede, and zoysia are barely growing. A short cut exposes the crowns. The useful work is edges, beds, and whatever the last storm left behind.
Leave it. Do not fertilize a lawn that is not growing.
February
A warm week can start St. Augustine moving, then a cold night stops it. This is the month to look at the yard and plan the route, not to push the grass.
Leave it. Do not lay sod while the soil is still cold. It will sit there instead of rooting.
March – May
Green-up, the live-oak leaf drop, and the mowing route starting back.
March
Sunny St. Augustine and zoysia move first. Shade under live oaks lags. Those same oaks drop a heavy leaf crop now, which catches people who only expect leaves in the fall.
Leave it. Do not scalp brown patches to force them green.
April
Growth is real. Every two weeks is the usual Mobile rhythm. A yard that is watered and growing hard often wants a weekly cut.
Leave it. Do not mow a soaked lawn down after a Gulf rain.
May
The long season starts here. The lawn that stays on a steady cut in May is the one that still looks finished in August.
Leave it. Do not water a little every evening. Humid nights and a wet lawn invite fungus.
June – August
Cut higher, water in the morning, and keep the weekday.
June
Heat and wet air are the job now. A taller St. Augustine shades its own roots and stays greener. Centipede and zoysia still should not be buzzed down to the soil.
Leave it. Do not fertilize in the middle of a dry spell.
July
This is the hardest month on a Mobile lawn. The grass is growing, rain comes in dumps, and a dull or too-short cut shows up immediately.
Leave it. Do not cut off more than a third of the blade in one pass.
August
August looks like July with a tired lawn. The yards that still look good are the ones that never left the schedule.
Leave it. Do not drop the mower deck to “clean it up.” That is how a summer lawn gets scalped.
September – November
The last feed, the leaves, and mowing that slows down with the grass.
September
Nights start to cool and growth slows. This is the last good window to feed a warm-season lawn, and still a fair time to lay sod that can root before the quiet months.
Leave it. Do not start a heavy feeding program that runs into November.
October · now
The cut stretches out. What the yard needs is a cleanup and clean edges, not a shorter setting. Oak shade and the first cool nights change the schedule.
Leave it. Do not keep the July fertilizer habit once the lawn has slowed down.
November
The lawn is mostly done for the year. The work now is beds, pine straw, and a blow after the leaves.
Leave it. Do not overseed St. Augustine with winter rye. It fights the lawn when spring comes back.
The three grasses
The calendar is the same. The height is not.
Wide, coarse blades on thick runners. The usual Mobile front yard, and the one that takes some shade.
Usually cut at 3.5–4 in.
Cut it low and it thins out. Keep the height up through the summer heat.
Low, light green, and slow. It grows in sandy Gulf Coast soil and does not need much fertilizer.
Usually cut at 1.5–2 in.
Go easy on feed. Too much fertilizer is a common way centipede gets into trouble.
Dense, fine, and stiff underfoot. Kept up, it lies down like a carpet.
Usually cut at 1.5–2.5 in.
Thatch builds up. Steady cuts at the same height keep it from going spongy.
On the route
The work changes. A July cut and a January cleanup are not the same visit.
Signature route, leaves, beds, hedges, feed, or sod. The button goes straight to the scheduler.
Weekly or every two weeks. Same day, then the season tells us what to do.
A shaded oak yard and a sunny lot in West Mobile are not on the same week. We say so before we start.
Mowing heights and feeding windows here are for Mobile’s warm-season lawns. They are a guide, not a product label. We confirm the visit for the yard in front of us.
