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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

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Sunday - February 12, 2012

From: Junction, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives, Grasses or Grass-like
Title: How much water does St. Augustine require in Junction, TX?
Answered by: Jimmy Mills

QUESTION:

Can you point me towards a concrete study on how much water St Augustine requires to survive? Much appreciated - Native American Seed

ANSWER:

This link to North Carolina State University states that actively growing St. Augustine grass requires up to one inch of water /week. That’s quite a bit of water to put on a lawn.

Much of the research on St. Augustine grass is conducted at the following institutions:

Texas A&M University 

University of Florida

UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Studies

floridaturf.com

North Carolina State University  (see above)

If reading through these links does’t give you the information you want, you can contact these research units directly to get further help.

 

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