In this video, Houston Grass Owner Michael Romine describes the advantages of newly-developed Cobalt St. Augustine grass. It was created by the scientists at Texas A&M to offer advantages over every other grass variety used in the Houston area. Call us at 281-431-7441 with your questions and to reserve your grass.
Summary of the Cobalt St. Augustine Grass Video
Good morning, everyone. I’m Michael with Houston Grass. I’m sitting here in front of our first pallet of Cobalt St. Augustine. Cobalt St. Augustine is Texas A&M’s latest and greatest development, a result of over ten years of experimenting with several different St. Augustine varieties to improve upon Palmetto St. Augustine.
They used genetic material from Palmetto to create this grass, and the main advantage I see is its shade tolerance. Of course, Palmetto already has shade tolerance, but where it falls a bit short is in disease tolerance and drought resistance.
Cobalt Offers Improved Resistance to Disease and Drought Tolerance
Cobalt has improvements in these areas. You can review all the charts, statistics, and testing results to see the enhancements clearly. They’ve conducted numerous trials, and it took a long time to bring this grass to our yard here. Our farm has planted several acres of it, and we plan to expand those acres in the coming months and years. We believe Cobalt St. Augustine is likely the grass of the future in the Houston area and our part of the Texas Gulf Coast.
Regarding disease tolerance, Palmetto is prone to gray leaf spot during the humid and warm summer months. Cobalt is designed to better resist this fungus. We always recommend Heritage G for treating gray leaf spot. Time will tell how much better Cobalt performs compared to Palmetto.
Drought tolerance is another significant advantage of Cobalt St. Augustine. Our world isn’t getting any more water. Last summer was particularly hot and dry, causing many people to lose grass during the drought. Anything we can do to help conserve water is also beneficial.
Cobalt, Palmetto and Raleigh Look Similar
These St. Augustines—Palmetto, Raleigh, and Cobalt—look very similar. Palmetto and Cobalt, in particular, have more vegetation per square inch, which means more leaf tissue and better light-gathering capability for that shade tolerance.
I would still recommend that this grass needs four to five hours of direct sunlight to thrive, just like Palmetto. It’s essential to ensure it gets enough light. It’s not a miracle grass; they haven’t yet invented a grass that can grow in the dark.
Here we are with the pallet of Cobalt. This grass, like Palmetto, can be laid next to regular Raleigh St. Augustine and will blend well visually. Looking at it, I do see that it is thicker than the others, meaning there’s more leaf tissue per square inch, but it is similar enough that you wouldn’t need to replace an entire front yard if you just have a problem area under an oak tree or similar.
Reserve Your Cobalt St. Augustine Grass Today!
So, I just wanted to give you an idea of what we’re working with here, but this is the new Cobalt St. Augustine. Call us at 281-431-7441 to order your grass today!
