Centipede versus St. Augustine

[f4forever]

Current lawn in coastal NC is established centipede but don't care for it's appearance. We had a lawn of St. Augustine in the past and really liked the way it looked and the lack of maintenance that it required after it was established. If St. Augustine plugs were introduced into an existing Centipede lawn, would the St. Augustine eventually spread and kill the centipede or would the Centipede stay dominant and kill the plugs? Can't find anyone around here who can give us a definite answer. TIA

[Jim]

there's a secret trick to being able to accomplish what you desire.

at the two different feeding recommendations I've provided. notice the large difference in the recommended amounts of nitrogen for the two different grasses.

centipede having a very low demand actually will not tolerate the amounts of nitrogen used to feed and cause staugustine to thrive.

plug with staugustine and feed the entire lawn with the staugustine feeding schedule. the centipede will go into toxic shock while the staugustine thrives and takes over.

on the down side, good nitrogen is expensive. improperly applied cheap nitrogen can cause environmental problems as well as damage to small trees and shrubs.