Quality St. Augustine Grass Sod

The Houston Homeowner’s Guide to St. Augustine Grass

Choosing the right St. Augustine grass for your Houston lawn depends primarily on your sunlight conditions and resilience needs. While Raleigh St. Augustine remains the “Old Reliable” for sunny areas due to its affordability and cold hardiness, it requires at least six to seven hours of direct sun to thrive. For lawns with mature tree canopies, Palmetto St. Augustine is the traditional solution, offering superior shade tolerance and a soft “barefoot” feel with only four to five hours of light. However, the newest variety, Cobalt St. Augustine, represents the next generation of turf; it matches Palmetto’s shade tolerance while providing significantly better resistance to drought and common Houston diseases like gray leaf spot and brown patch.

Solving the Sunlight Puzzle

If you’re looking at your yard and wondering why the grass is thinning out, the first question I’m going to ask you is: how much shade do you have?. In Houston, picking the right St. Augustine comes down to matching the grass to your sunlight. We carry three distinct varieties—Raleigh, Palmetto, and the new Cobalt—and choosing the right one can be the difference between a lush lawn and a dirt patch.

Table Of Contents
  1. The Houston Homeowner's Guide to St. Augustine Grass

St. Augustine Varieties Comparison Table

VarietySunlight RequiredPrimary StrengthsTexture & FeelBest for …
Raleigh6-7 hoursCold hardy, budget-friendly, “Old Reliable”Coarse/Wide blade, thick carpetSunny yards and large open areas
Palmetto4-5 hoursHigh shade tolerance, massive root systemFiner blade, “Barefoot Softness”Established neighborhoods with mature trees
Cobalt4-5 hoursSuperior disease/drought resistance, fast green-upMedium blade, bold dark green colorChallenging shady areas & water-conscious lawns
installing raleigh st. augustine grass sod

01

Raleigh St. Augustine: The “Old Reliable”

Raleigh is what most of us grew up with; it’s the standard for about 99% of Houston yards. It’s our most budget-friendly option and is incredibly cold-hardy for those Gulf Coast freezes. However, it is a sun-lover. To stay thick enough to choke out weeds, Raleigh needs at least six to seven hours of direct sunlight daily. If you’ve got a wide-open yard with young trees, Raleigh is your best bet.

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02

Palmetto St. Augustine: The Original Shade Solver

If you live in an older neighborhood like Sugar Land, The Heights, or Memorial where the oak trees are 20 years old, Raleigh likely won’t cut it anymore. That’s where Palmetto comes in. It features a finer blade and a massive root system that helps it compete with big trees for nutrients. It’s also incredibly soft underfoot—it has that ‘barefoot softness’ factor. Most importantly, it can thrive on just four to five hours of direct sunlight.

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Newly Installed Palmetto St. Augustine Grass
Cobalt St. Augusting Grass

03

Cobalt St. Augustine: The Next-Generation Hybrid

Now, let’s talk about the ‘miracle’ of modern turf: Cobalt St. Augustine. Developed by Texas A&M, this is the tough older sibling to Palmetto. It matches Palmetto’s elite shade tolerance but takes resilience to the next level. Cobalt features superior resistance to diseases like gray leaf spot and brown patch, and its drought tolerance is excellent—it stays green longer during those 100-degree Houston summers. If you want a grass that greens up fast in the spring and can handle water restrictions, Cobalt is the answer.

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04

Michael’s Strategy: The “Mix and Match” Method

Here is a pro-tip to save you some money: you don’t have to use just one variety. Use Raleigh in your wide-open, sunny front yard to keep costs down, then transition into Cobalt or Palmetto for those shadier areas under your trees. Because they are all St. Augustine, they blend together beautifully for a uniform, deep-green look. In this project, we placed Palmetto under the trees and Raleigh in the sunny areas.

Raleigh and Palmetto St. Augustine Grass

Delivered Fresh from Our Family Farm

Quality Sod Second to None

Because our grass comes fresh from our family farm in Bay City, we can guarantee the quality is second to none in the Houston area. We deliver across Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria, and Galveston counties and offer professional installation services. Give us a call at 281-431-7441 for more information and a quote for your project. Let’s get your lawn right. You can also click one of the buttons below to send us a message.

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