Bahia lawn care calendar

Bahia is grown in the Gulf Coast & Florida and the transition zone. It takes 1–2 lb N per 1,000 sq ft per year, is mown at 3–4", and goes below about 55°f soil temperature. Everything below is scoped to your climate zone, because the same month means different things in Florida and in the transition zone.

This month
Bahia lawn care in October

In October, Bahia is slowing down in the Gulf Coast & Florida and going dormant in the transition zone — soil around 60–72°F, and the soil cooling.

Open the October guide →

Bahia at a glance

Bahia grass mowing height, nitrogen, watering, soil pH and dormancy
Mow height3–4"
Mow frequencyevery 7-14 daysevery 14-21 days off-peak.
Annual nitrogen1–2 lb N per 1,000 sq ft per year2 times per year during growing season
Water0.75–1 in per week including rainfallonce or twice per week during dry periods
Soil pH5.5–6.5
DormancyBelow about 55°F soil temperatureGreens up again around 65°F.

Every figure here is read from Bahia's own canonical profile rather than typed into this page, which is what stops it drifting from the plan, from Larry and from the month tables below.

Bahia month by month

The months with their own full guide are linked below. The rest are in the tables that follow, one table per climate zone.

Bahia month by month, by climate zone

Bahia is grown across 2 climate zones, and the timing is genuinely different in each — soil temperature in the transition zone runs three to five weeks behind the south, which moves pre-emergent, fertilizer and dormancy with it. Find your zone and work from that table.

Growth status and soil temperature are derived from each zone's soil curve together with Bahia's own dormancy and green-up thresholds, so they describe that zone rather than an average of all of them.

Bahia in the South — USDA zones 9 and warmer

The Gulf Coast, Florida, south Texas and the desert Southwest. The longest growing season of the three, and the only one where many warm-season lawns barely go dormant at all.

Month-by-month Bahia lawn care schedule for the south zone
MonthGrowthMowWaterWhat to doWhat you can skip
Januarydormant
~50°F soil, steady
Not this month — the lawn is dormant.None needed. A dormant lawn is not growing and does not use water — water only to stop the crowns desiccating in a long dry spell, about 0.75 in once a month.
  • Soil test
    Every rate below this one is a guess without it. pH decides whether the nitrogen you put down is even available to the roots, and centipede in particular wants acidic soil that most lawns are limed straight out of.
    When: any time the ground is not frozen; results take 1-2 weeks (week 1 of the month)
    1. Pull plugs 4 in deep from 8-10 spots across the lawn, avoiding edges and pet areas.
    2. Mix them in a clean bucket and send one cup to your county extension office.
    3. Ask for pH, phosphorus, potassium and organic matter.
    4. Keep the result — you are comparing against it in two years, not starting over.
  • Keep leaves off the dormant lawn — every week this month
    A dormant lawn is still alive. A wet mat of leaves on top of it blocks what little light the crowns get, holds moisture against them and is where rot starts — and the patch it kills does not show up until spring, when it fails to green up with everything else.
    When: as needed through dormancy
    1. Rake or blow leaves off rather than mulching them into a dormant canopy.
    2. Keep traffic off frozen or frosted turf — the crowns shear.
  • Service the mower
    A dull blade tears rather than cuts, and torn tissue is the main entry point for disease. The off-season is the one time of year the lawn does not need the mower, so this is when it costs you nothing.
    When: any time during dormancy
    1. Sharpen or replace the blade.
    2. Change the oil and the air filter, and put in fresh fuel or drain it.
    3. Check the deck is level — an unlevel deck scalps on one side.
  • Mowing — a dormant lawn is not growing. Nothing to cut.
  • Fertilizer — dormant turf cannot take up nitrogen. It feeds winter weeds instead.
  • Regular irrigation — water only to stop crowns drying out in a long dry spell.
Februarydormant
~54°F soil, warming
Not this month — the lawn is dormant.None needed. A dormant lawn is not growing and does not use water — water only to stop the crowns desiccating in a long dry spell, about 0.75 in once a month.
  • Spring pre-emergent, before the soil hits 55 F
    A pre-emergent kills seedlings as they germinate — it does nothing to a weed that is already up. Crabgrass germinates at a sustained 55 F at 4 in, and the product needs time to move into the top inch of soil and activate, so this goes down while the soil is still in the low 50s and rising.
    When: when the 5-day mean soil temp at 4 in is 50-55 F and rising (week 1 of the month)
    Rate: per label for your grass and your square footage — these products are sold on season-long residual, and the label rate is what buys it
    Product: pre-emergent herbicide, active ingredient prodiamine or dithiopyr, per label
    Label: CHECK THE LABEL LISTS YOUR GRASS. Not every pre-emergent is labeled for St. Augustine or centipede, and the ones that are often carry a lower rate for them than for bermuda — on those two grasses, a product whose label does not name your grass is a product that can thin it. Purdue AY-10 also lists pendimethalin, oxadiazon and benefin; residual runs 60-120 days depending on rate.
    Soil temperature: 50–55°F soil at 4-inch depth.
    Air temperature: Do not apply above 90°F air temperature — above that you risk injuring the lawn.
    1. Check soil temperature at 4 in depth, in a sunny representative spot, in the morning.
    2. Apply when the 5-day mean is 50-55 F and rising — not when it reaches 55 F.
    3. Water in with half an inch within 24 hours. An unactivated barrier is not a barrier.
    4. Do NOT aerate afterwards — core aeration punches holes straight through the barrier you just paid for.
    5. Do NOT apply if you plan to seed within 8-12 weeks. It will stop your seed germinating too.
    NC State Extension, Carolina Lawns — pre-emergent timing · Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, L-5340 — Lawn Care
  • Keep leaves off the dormant lawn — every week this month
    A dormant lawn is still alive. A wet mat of leaves on top of it blocks what little light the crowns get, holds moisture against them and is where rot starts — and the patch it kills does not show up until spring, when it fails to green up with everything else.
    When: as needed through dormancy
    1. Rake or blow leaves off rather than mulching them into a dormant canopy.
    2. Keep traffic off frozen or frosted turf — the crowns shear.
  • Mowing — a dormant lawn is not growing. Nothing to cut.
  • Fertilizer — dormant turf cannot take up nitrogen. It feeds winter weeds instead.
  • Regular irrigation — water only to stop crowns drying out in a long dry spell.
Marchwaking up
~62°F soil, warming
3–4"
every 14-21 days
Light and only if dry. Spring rain usually covers it; start the regular schedule once the lawn is growing. Target 0.75-1 in per week including rainfall once it is.
  • First mow of the season
    St. Augustine, bahia and centipede break dormancy around 55 F rather than 50 F, so they start a few weeks behind bermuda in the same yard. Cutting before the lawn is actually growing just damages crowns that have not come out of winter yet.
    When: once the lawn is growing enough to need it (week 1 of the month)
    1. Wait until the lawn is genuinely growing, not just showing color.
    2. Sharpen the blade first — a torn blade tip is where disease gets in.
    3. Cut at your grass's height and take no more than a third of the blade.
    4. Do NOT scalp these grasses. Their crowns sit high on stolons and scalping sets them back badly.
  • Mow on a routine — every week this month
    A warm-season lawn grown at a consistent height and cut often enough to never lose a third of its blade is the cheapest weed control there is — a dense canopy leaves weed seed nowhere to germinate.
    When: throughout the month
    1. Cut on a schedule, not when the lawn looks long.
    2. Never remove more than a third of the blade in one pass.
    3. Change direction each time so the grass does not learn a lean.
    4. Re-sharpen the blade every 20-25 hours of cutting.
  • Fertilizer until the lawn is fully green — roughly 75% green-up, not the first hint of color.
Aprilactive growth
~70°F soil, warming
3–4"
every 7-14 days
0.75-1 in per week including rainfall. Once or twice per week during dry periods. Water before sunrise so the blades dry as the sun comes up. Bahia is highly drought-tolerant due to its deep root system. It will go dormant (brown) during extended drought but recovers quickly when rain returns. Reduce irrigation compared to St. Augustine.
  • Mow on a routine — every week this month
    A warm-season lawn grown at a consistent height and cut often enough to never lose a third of its blade is the cheapest weed control there is — a dense canopy leaves weed seed nowhere to germinate.
    When: throughout the month
    1. Cut on a schedule, not when the lawn looks long.
    2. Never remove more than a third of the blade in one pass.
    3. Change direction each time so the grass does not learn a lean.
    4. Re-sharpen the blade every 20-25 hours of cutting.
  • Spot-treat broadleaf weeds
    Spot-spraying a few weeds puts a fraction of the chemical on the lawn that a blanket application does, and it works better — you are treating the weed, not the turf around it.
    When: on an actively growing lawn, on a sunny day above 55 F and below 90 F
    Product: selective post-emergent broadleaf herbicide
    Label: Read the label for your grass — tolerance differs by species and by cultivar.
    Air temperature: Spray on a day above 55°F; not above 90°F. Below the floor the weed is not actively growing and the application is wasted; above the ceiling you injure the lawn.
    1. Spray the weed, not the lawn. A hand sprayer beats a hose-end attachment for this.
    2. Mow 2-3 days BEFORE spraying, not after — the herbicide needs leaf area to be absorbed through.
    3. Wait until temperatures are below the ceiling. Heat turns a selective herbicide into a non-selective one.
    4. There is a floor as well as a ceiling: spray on a sunny day with the high above 55 F. Below that the weeds are not actively growing and nothing moves into the root.
    5. Do not spray a drought-stressed lawn, and do not spray newly laid sod.
    Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, L-5340 — Lawn Care
  • Core aerate
    Aeration only pays off if the lawn has enough growing season left to fill the holes and knit back together. For a warm-season grass that means late spring into summer, at peak growth — Clemson gates it on green-up for exactly this reason. Autumn aeration on a stoloniferous lawn leaves open holes going into winter.
    When: at peak growth, after full green-up (week 2 of the month)
    1. Water the day before so the tines actually penetrate.
    2. Use a hollow-tine (core) aerator, not a spike aerator. Spikes compact the walls of the hole.
    3. Leave the plugs on the surface and break them up with the mower a few days later.
    4. Do NOT aerate within 8-10 weeks of a pre-emergent application — you will breach the barrier.
    UF/IFAS, ENH6/LH006 — Bahiagrass for Florida Lawns
—
Mayactive growth
~76°F soil, warming
3–4"
every 7-14 days
0.75-1 in per week including rainfall. Once or twice per week during dry periods. Water before sunrise so the blades dry as the sun comes up. Bahia is highly drought-tolerant due to its deep root system. It will go dormant (brown) during extended drought but recovers quickly when rain returns. Reduce irrigation compared to St. Augustine.
  • Mow on a routine — every week this month
    A warm-season lawn grown at a consistent height and cut often enough to never lose a third of its blade is the cheapest weed control there is — a dense canopy leaves weed seed nowhere to germinate.
    When: throughout the month
    1. Cut on a schedule, not when the lawn looks long.
    2. Never remove more than a third of the blade in one pass.
    3. Change direction each time so the grass does not learn a lean.
    4. Re-sharpen the blade every 20-25 hours of cutting.
  • Core aerate
    Aeration only pays off if the lawn has enough growing season left to fill the holes and knit back together. For a warm-season grass that means late spring into summer, at peak growth — Clemson gates it on green-up for exactly this reason. Autumn aeration on a stoloniferous lawn leaves open holes going into winter.
    When: at peak growth, after full green-up (week 2 of the month)
    1. Water the day before so the tines actually penetrate.
    2. Use a hollow-tine (core) aerator, not a spike aerator. Spikes compact the walls of the hole.
    3. Leave the plugs on the surface and break them up with the mower a few days later.
    4. Do NOT aerate within 8-10 weeks of a pre-emergent application — you will breach the barrier.
    UF/IFAS, ENH6/LH006 — Bahiagrass for Florida Lawns
  • Preventive grub control
    Preventive products have to be down before the eggs hatch, because they work on small larvae and barely touch large ones. By the time you can see grub damage — spongy turf that lifts like a carpet, birds working the lawn — preventive timing is months gone and you need a curative instead.
    When: late spring to early summer, before egg hatch
    Product: preventive grub control, active ingredient chlorantraniliprole
    1. Apply before egg hatch, in late spring to early summer.
    2. Water in with half an inch. These products need to move down to the root zone.
    3. If you already have damage, this is the wrong product — you need a curative.
—
Junepeak growth
~82°F soil, warming
3–4"
every 7-14 days
0.75-1 in per week including rainfall, at the top of that range in this heat. Once or twice per week during dry periods. Water before sunrise so the blades dry as the sun comes up. Bahia is highly drought-tolerant due to its deep root system. It will go dormant (brown) during extended drought but recovers quickly when rain returns. Reduce irrigation compared to St. Augustine.
  • Mow on a routine — every week this month
    A warm-season lawn grown at a consistent height and cut often enough to never lose a third of its blade is the cheapest weed control there is — a dense canopy leaves weed seed nowhere to germinate.
    When: throughout the month
    1. Cut on a schedule, not when the lawn looks long.
    2. Never remove more than a third of the blade in one pass.
    3. Change direction each time so the grass does not learn a lean.
    4. Re-sharpen the blade every 20-25 hours of cutting.
  • Core aerate
    Aeration only pays off if the lawn has enough growing season left to fill the holes and knit back together. For a warm-season grass that means late spring into summer, at peak growth — Clemson gates it on green-up for exactly this reason. Autumn aeration on a stoloniferous lawn leaves open holes going into winter.
    When: at peak growth, after full green-up (week 2 of the month)
    1. Water the day before so the tines actually penetrate.
    2. Use a hollow-tine (core) aerator, not a spike aerator. Spikes compact the walls of the hole.
    3. Leave the plugs on the surface and break them up with the mower a few days later.
    4. Do NOT aerate within 8-10 weeks of a pre-emergent application — you will breach the barrier.
    UF/IFAS, ENH6/LH006 — Bahiagrass for Florida Lawns
—
Julypeak growth
~86°F soil, warming
3–4"
every 7-14 days
0.75-1 in per week including rainfall, at the top of that range in this heat. Once or twice per week during dry periods. Water before sunrise so the blades dry as the sun comes up. Bahia is highly drought-tolerant due to its deep root system. It will go dormant (brown) during extended drought but recovers quickly when rain returns. Reduce irrigation compared to St. Augustine.
  • Mow on a routine — every week this month
    A warm-season lawn grown at a consistent height and cut often enough to never lose a third of its blade is the cheapest weed control there is — a dense canopy leaves weed seed nowhere to germinate.
    When: throughout the month
    1. Cut on a schedule, not when the lawn looks long.
    2. Never remove more than a third of the blade in one pass.
    3. Change direction each time so the grass does not learn a lean.
    4. Re-sharpen the blade every 20-25 hours of cutting.
  • Iron for color instead of more nitrogen
    Iron greens a lawn up without pushing growth, which makes it the right answer whenever the lawn looks pale but has already had its nitrogen for the year. On centipede it is the only safe way to chase color.
    When: morning application, on a growing lawn
    Product: chelated liquid iron
    1. Use a chelated liquid iron and spray it in the morning.
    2. Keep it off concrete and stonework — iron stains, permanently.
    3. Repeat every 4-6 weeks while the lawn is growing if you want to hold the color.
    UF/IFAS, ENH6/LH006 — Bahiagrass for Florida Lawns
  • Core aerate
    Aeration only pays off if the lawn has enough growing season left to fill the holes and knit back together. For a warm-season grass that means late spring into summer, at peak growth — Clemson gates it on green-up for exactly this reason. Autumn aeration on a stoloniferous lawn leaves open holes going into winter.
    When: at peak growth, after full green-up (week 2 of the month)
    1. Water the day before so the tines actually penetrate.
    2. Use a hollow-tine (core) aerator, not a spike aerator. Spikes compact the walls of the hole.
    3. Leave the plugs on the surface and break them up with the mower a few days later.
    4. Do NOT aerate within 8-10 weeks of a pre-emergent application — you will breach the barrier.
    UF/IFAS, ENH6/LH006 — Bahiagrass for Florida Lawns
—
Augustpeak growth
~86°F soil, steady
3–4"
every 7-14 days
0.75-1 in per week including rainfall, at the top of that range in this heat. Once or twice per week during dry periods. Water before sunrise so the blades dry as the sun comes up. Bahia is highly drought-tolerant due to its deep root system. It will go dormant (brown) during extended drought but recovers quickly when rain returns. Reduce irrigation compared to St. Augustine.
  • Mow on a routine — every week this month
    A warm-season lawn grown at a consistent height and cut often enough to never lose a third of its blade is the cheapest weed control there is — a dense canopy leaves weed seed nowhere to germinate.
    When: throughout the month
    1. Cut on a schedule, not when the lawn looks long.
    2. Never remove more than a third of the blade in one pass.
    3. Change direction each time so the grass does not learn a lean.
    4. Re-sharpen the blade every 20-25 hours of cutting.
  • Core aerate
    Aeration only pays off if the lawn has enough growing season left to fill the holes and knit back together. For a warm-season grass that means late spring into summer, at peak growth — Clemson gates it on green-up for exactly this reason. Autumn aeration on a stoloniferous lawn leaves open holes going into winter.
    When: at peak growth, after full green-up (week 2 of the month)
    1. Water the day before so the tines actually penetrate.
    2. Use a hollow-tine (core) aerator, not a spike aerator. Spikes compact the walls of the hole.
    3. Leave the plugs on the surface and break them up with the mower a few days later.
    4. Do NOT aerate within 8-10 weeks of a pre-emergent application — you will breach the barrier.
    UF/IFAS, ENH6/LH006 — Bahiagrass for Florida Lawns
—
Septemberpeak growth
~80°F soil, cooling
3–4"
every 7-14 days
0.75-1 in per week including rainfall, at the top of that range in this heat. Once or twice per week during dry periods. Water before sunrise so the blades dry as the sun comes up. Bahia is highly drought-tolerant due to its deep root system. It will go dormant (brown) during extended drought but recovers quickly when rain returns. Reduce irrigation compared to St. Augustine.
  • Mow on a routine — every week this month
    A warm-season lawn grown at a consistent height and cut often enough to never lose a third of its blade is the cheapest weed control there is — a dense canopy leaves weed seed nowhere to germinate.
    When: throughout the month
    1. Cut on a schedule, not when the lawn looks long.
    2. Never remove more than a third of the blade in one pass.
    3. Change direction each time so the grass does not learn a lean.
    4. Re-sharpen the blade every 20-25 hours of cutting.
—
Octoberslowing
~72°F soil, cooling
3–4"
every 14-21 days
Water on demand now, not on a schedule — the lawn's use drops with the soil temperature. Irrigate when the leaf blades fold in half lengthwise, the colour goes blue-grey, or footprints stay visible after you walk across it. Put down 1/2 to 3/4 in when you do, about once a week or less; UF/IFAS puts the cooler months at one watering day a week. Before sunrise, so the blades dry as the sun comes up.
  • Mow on a routine — every week this month
    A warm-season lawn grown at a consistent height and cut often enough to never lose a third of its blade is the cheapest weed control there is — a dense canopy leaves weed seed nowhere to germinate.
    When: throughout the month
    1. Cut on a schedule, not when the lawn looks long.
    2. Never remove more than a third of the blade in one pass.
    3. Change direction each time so the grass does not learn a lean.
    4. Re-sharpen the blade every 20-25 hours of cutting.
  • Fall pre-emergent for winter weeds
    Poa annua, henbit and chickweed germinate in autumn as the soil falls back through the high 60s. Catching them now is the difference between a clean lawn in February and spending February spraying — and by February the only option left is post-emergent on a dormant lawn.
    When: as the 7-day mean soil temp falls through 67-70 F at 4 in (week 1 of the month)
    Rate: per label for your grass and your square footage; if you are planning a second application, the label's ANNUAL maximum is the number that governs
    Product: pre-emergent herbicide, active ingredient prodiamine or dithiopyr, per label
    Label: CHECK THE LABEL LISTS YOUR GRASS. Not every pre-emergent is labeled for St. Augustine or centipede, and the ones that are often carry a lower rate for them than for bermuda — on those two grasses, a product whose label does not name your grass is a product that can thin it. Purdue AY-10 also lists pendimethalin, oxadiazon and benefin; residual runs 60-120 days depending on rate.
    Soil temperature: 67–70°F soil at 4-inch depth.
    Air temperature: Do not apply above 90°F air temperature — above that you risk injuring the lawn.
    1. Go by falling soil temperature: apply as the 7-day mean drops through 67-70 F at 4 in.
    2. Water in with half an inch within 24 hours.
    3. Do not aerate after applying.
    4. One application usually holds the winter. A second at half rate 8-10 weeks later extends it ONLY IF THE LABEL ALLOWS a sequential application and you stay inside its annual maximum — check before you buy, not after you have applied the first one.
    NC State Extension, Carolina Lawns — pre-emergent timing · Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, L-5340 — Lawn Care
  • Spot-treat broadleaf weeds
    Spot-spraying a few weeds puts a fraction of the chemical on the lawn that a blanket application does, and it works better — you are treating the weed, not the turf around it.
    When: on an actively growing lawn, on a sunny day above 55 F and below 90 F
    Product: selective post-emergent broadleaf herbicide
    Label: Read the label for your grass — tolerance differs by species and by cultivar.
    Air temperature: Spray on a day above 55°F; not above 90°F. Below the floor the weed is not actively growing and the application is wasted; above the ceiling you injure the lawn.
    1. Spray the weed, not the lawn. A hand sprayer beats a hose-end attachment for this.
    2. Mow 2-3 days BEFORE spraying, not after — the herbicide needs leaf area to be absorbed through.
    3. Wait until temperatures are below the ceiling. Heat turns a selective herbicide into a non-selective one.
    4. There is a floor as well as a ceiling: spray on a sunny day with the high above 55 F. Below that the weeds are not actively growing and nothing moves into the root.
    5. Do not spray a drought-stressed lawn, and do not spray newly laid sod.
    Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, L-5340 — Lawn Care
  • Nitrogen — work back from your own first-frost date, not the calendar. The cutoff is about six weeks before your average first frost, which is late October on the upper Gulf and in north Florida, and later again further south. UF/IFAS puts the last feed in the middle or end of September in north Florida and early October in central Florida; in south Florida, which rarely freezes, it can be applied year-round as needed.
  • Aeration — the growing season left is too short to close the holes before dormancy.
  • Seeding or sodding — a warm-season lawn established now has no time to root before winter.
Novembergoing dormant
~60°F soil, cooling
3–4"
every 14-21 days
Taper off. Cut back to roughly half the growing-season figure and stop irrigating as growth stops. Going into winter wet invites disease and, on warm-season turf, soft growth that freezes.
  • Last mow before dormancy
    Going into winter at the right height matters: too long and the canopy mats down and holds moisture against the crowns, which is how large patch and snow-related rots start. Too short and the crowns have no insulation.
    When: once growth has clearly stopped (week 4 of the month)
    1. Cut at your normal height — do not scalp going into winter.
    2. Clear leaves off the lawn at the same time. A leaf mat will kill patches of dormant turf.
    3. Then stop. Mowing dormant turf does nothing but damage crowns.
    UF/IFAS, ENH10/LH028 — Mowing Your Florida Lawn
  • Keep leaves off the dormant lawn — every week this month
    A dormant lawn is still alive. A wet mat of leaves on top of it blocks what little light the crowns get, holds moisture against them and is where rot starts — and the patch it kills does not show up until spring, when it fails to green up with everything else.
    When: as needed through dormancy
    1. Rake or blow leaves off rather than mulching them into a dormant canopy.
    2. Keep traffic off frozen or frosted turf — the crowns shear.
  • Nitrogen — too late in the year. Late nitrogen pushes soft growth that freeze damage takes first.
  • Aeration — there is not enough growing season left to close the holes.
Decemberdormant
~52°F soil, cooling
Not this month — the lawn is dormant.None needed. A dormant lawn is not growing and does not use water — water only to stop the crowns desiccating in a long dry spell, about 0.75 in once a month.
  • Keep leaves off the dormant lawn — every week this month
    A dormant lawn is still alive. A wet mat of leaves on top of it blocks what little light the crowns get, holds moisture against them and is where rot starts — and the patch it kills does not show up until spring, when it fails to green up with everything else.
    When: as needed through dormancy
    1. Rake or blow leaves off rather than mulching them into a dormant canopy.
    2. Keep traffic off frozen or frosted turf — the crowns shear.
  • Service the mower
    A dull blade tears rather than cuts, and torn tissue is the main entry point for disease. The off-season is the one time of year the lawn does not need the mower, so this is when it costs you nothing.
    When: any time during dormancy
    1. Sharpen or replace the blade.
    2. Change the oil and the air filter, and put in fresh fuel or drain it.
    3. Check the deck is level — an unlevel deck scalps on one side.
  • Mowing — a dormant lawn is not growing. Nothing to cut.
  • Fertilizer — dormant turf cannot take up nitrogen. It feeds winter weeds instead.
  • Regular irrigation — water only to stop crowns drying out in a long dry spell.

Bahia in the transition zone — USDA 7 to 8

The band from the Carolinas across to Oklahoma and up through the lower Midwest, where both warm- and cool-season grasses are grown and neither is entirely comfortable. Timing here runs three to five weeks behind the south.

Month-by-month Bahia lawn care schedule for the transition zone
MonthGrowthMowWaterWhat to doWhat you can skip
Januarydormant
~35°F soil, cooling
Not this month — the lawn is dormant.None needed. A dormant lawn is not growing and does not use water — water only to stop the crowns desiccating in a long dry spell, about 0.75 in once a month.
  • Keep leaves off the dormant lawn — every week this month
    A dormant lawn is still alive. A wet mat of leaves on top of it blocks what little light the crowns get, holds moisture against them and is where rot starts — and the patch it kills does not show up until spring, when it fails to green up with everything else.
    When: as needed through dormancy
    1. Rake or blow leaves off rather than mulching them into a dormant canopy.
    2. Keep traffic off frozen or frosted turf — the crowns shear.
  • Service the mower
    A dull blade tears rather than cuts, and torn tissue is the main entry point for disease. The off-season is the one time of year the lawn does not need the mower, so this is when it costs you nothing.
    When: any time during dormancy
    1. Sharpen or replace the blade.
    2. Change the oil and the air filter, and put in fresh fuel or drain it.
    3. Check the deck is level — an unlevel deck scalps on one side.
  • Mowing — a dormant lawn is not growing. Nothing to cut.
  • Fertilizer — dormant turf cannot take up nitrogen. It feeds winter weeds instead.
  • Regular irrigation — water only to stop crowns drying out in a long dry spell.
Februarydormant
~36°F soil, steady
Not this month — the lawn is dormant.None needed. A dormant lawn is not growing and does not use water — water only to stop the crowns desiccating in a long dry spell, about 0.75 in once a month.
  • Soil test
    Every rate below this one is a guess without it. pH decides whether the nitrogen you put down is even available to the roots, and centipede in particular wants acidic soil that most lawns are limed straight out of.
    When: any time the ground is not frozen; results take 1-2 weeks (week 1 of the month)
    1. Pull plugs 4 in deep from 8-10 spots across the lawn, avoiding edges and pet areas.
    2. Mix them in a clean bucket and send one cup to your county extension office.
    3. Ask for pH, phosphorus, potassium and organic matter.
    4. Keep the result — you are comparing against it in two years, not starting over.
  • Keep leaves off the dormant lawn — every week this month
    A dormant lawn is still alive. A wet mat of leaves on top of it blocks what little light the crowns get, holds moisture against them and is where rot starts — and the patch it kills does not show up until spring, when it fails to green up with everything else.
    When: as needed through dormancy
    1. Rake or blow leaves off rather than mulching them into a dormant canopy.
    2. Keep traffic off frozen or frosted turf — the crowns shear.
  • Mowing — a dormant lawn is not growing. Nothing to cut.
  • Fertilizer — dormant turf cannot take up nitrogen. It feeds winter weeds instead.
  • Regular irrigation — water only to stop crowns drying out in a long dry spell.
Marchdormant
~44°F soil, warming
Not this month — the lawn is dormant.None needed. A dormant lawn is not growing and does not use water — water only to stop the crowns desiccating in a long dry spell, about 0.75 in once a month.
  • Spring pre-emergent, before the soil hits 55 F
    A pre-emergent kills seedlings as they germinate — it does nothing to a weed that is already up. Crabgrass germinates at a sustained 55 F at 4 in, and the product needs time to move into the top inch of soil and activate, so this goes down while the soil is still in the low 50s and rising.
    When: when the 5-day mean soil temp at 4 in is 50-55 F and rising (week 1 of the month)
    Rate: per label for your grass and your square footage — these products are sold on season-long residual, and the label rate is what buys it
    Product: pre-emergent herbicide, active ingredient prodiamine or dithiopyr, per label
    Label: CHECK THE LABEL LISTS YOUR GRASS. Not every pre-emergent is labeled for St. Augustine or centipede, and the ones that are often carry a lower rate for them than for bermuda — on those two grasses, a product whose label does not name your grass is a product that can thin it. Purdue AY-10 also lists pendimethalin, oxadiazon and benefin; residual runs 60-120 days depending on rate.
    Soil temperature: 50–55°F soil at 4-inch depth.
    Air temperature: Do not apply above 90°F air temperature — above that you risk injuring the lawn.
    1. Check soil temperature at 4 in depth, in a sunny representative spot, in the morning.
    2. Apply when the 5-day mean is 50-55 F and rising — not when it reaches 55 F.
    3. Water in with half an inch within 24 hours. An unactivated barrier is not a barrier.
    4. Do NOT aerate afterwards — core aeration punches holes straight through the barrier you just paid for.
    5. Do NOT apply if you plan to seed within 8-12 weeks. It will stop your seed germinating too.
    NC State Extension, Carolina Lawns — pre-emergent timing · Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, L-5340 — Lawn Care
  • Keep leaves off the dormant lawn — every week this month
    A dormant lawn is still alive. A wet mat of leaves on top of it blocks what little light the crowns get, holds moisture against them and is where rot starts — and the patch it kills does not show up until spring, when it fails to green up with everything else.
    When: as needed through dormancy
    1. Rake or blow leaves off rather than mulching them into a dormant canopy.
    2. Keep traffic off frozen or frosted turf — the crowns shear.
  • Mowing — a dormant lawn is not growing. Nothing to cut.
  • Fertilizer — dormant turf cannot take up nitrogen. It feeds winter weeds instead.
  • Regular irrigation — water only to stop crowns drying out in a long dry spell.
Aprildormant
~54°F soil, warming
Not this month — the lawn is dormant.None needed. A dormant lawn is not growing and does not use water — water only to stop the crowns desiccating in a long dry spell, about 0.75 in once a month.Nothing this month.
  • Mowing — a dormant lawn is not growing. Nothing to cut.
  • Fertilizer — dormant turf cannot take up nitrogen. It feeds winter weeds instead.
  • Regular irrigation — water only to stop crowns drying out in a long dry spell.
  • Everything, honestly. There is no useful lawn work this month.
Maywaking up
~64°F soil, warming
3–4"
every 14-21 days
Light and only if dry. Spring rain usually covers it; start the regular schedule once the lawn is growing. Target 0.75-1 in per week including rainfall once it is.
  • First mow of the season
    St. Augustine, bahia and centipede break dormancy around 55 F rather than 50 F, so they start a few weeks behind bermuda in the same yard. Cutting before the lawn is actually growing just damages crowns that have not come out of winter yet.
    When: once the lawn is growing enough to need it (week 1 of the month)
    1. Wait until the lawn is genuinely growing, not just showing color.
    2. Sharpen the blade first — a torn blade tip is where disease gets in.
    3. Cut at your grass's height and take no more than a third of the blade.
    4. Do NOT scalp these grasses. Their crowns sit high on stolons and scalping sets them back badly.
  • Mow on a routine — every week this month
    A warm-season lawn grown at a consistent height and cut often enough to never lose a third of its blade is the cheapest weed control there is — a dense canopy leaves weed seed nowhere to germinate.
    When: throughout the month
    1. Cut on a schedule, not when the lawn looks long.
    2. Never remove more than a third of the blade in one pass.
    3. Change direction each time so the grass does not learn a lean.
    4. Re-sharpen the blade every 20-25 hours of cutting.
  • Spot-treat broadleaf weeds
    Spot-spraying a few weeds puts a fraction of the chemical on the lawn that a blanket application does, and it works better — you are treating the weed, not the turf around it.
    When: on an actively growing lawn, on a sunny day above 55 F and below 90 F
    Product: selective post-emergent broadleaf herbicide
    Label: Read the label for your grass — tolerance differs by species and by cultivar.
    Air temperature: Spray on a day above 55°F; not above 90°F. Below the floor the weed is not actively growing and the application is wasted; above the ceiling you injure the lawn.
    1. Spray the weed, not the lawn. A hand sprayer beats a hose-end attachment for this.
    2. Mow 2-3 days BEFORE spraying, not after — the herbicide needs leaf area to be absorbed through.
    3. Wait until temperatures are below the ceiling. Heat turns a selective herbicide into a non-selective one.
    4. There is a floor as well as a ceiling: spray on a sunny day with the high above 55 F. Below that the weeds are not actively growing and nothing moves into the root.
    5. Do not spray a drought-stressed lawn, and do not spray newly laid sod.
    Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, L-5340 — Lawn Care
  • Fertilizer until the lawn is fully green — roughly 75% green-up, not the first hint of color.
Juneactive growth
~74°F soil, warming
3–4"
every 7-14 days
0.75-1 in per week including rainfall. Once or twice per week during dry periods. Water before sunrise so the blades dry as the sun comes up. Bahia is highly drought-tolerant due to its deep root system. It will go dormant (brown) during extended drought but recovers quickly when rain returns. Reduce irrigation compared to St. Augustine.
  • Mow on a routine — every week this month
    A warm-season lawn grown at a consistent height and cut often enough to never lose a third of its blade is the cheapest weed control there is — a dense canopy leaves weed seed nowhere to germinate.
    When: throughout the month
    1. Cut on a schedule, not when the lawn looks long.
    2. Never remove more than a third of the blade in one pass.
    3. Change direction each time so the grass does not learn a lean.
    4. Re-sharpen the blade every 20-25 hours of cutting.
  • Core aerate
    Aeration only pays off if the lawn has enough growing season left to fill the holes and knit back together. For a warm-season grass that means late spring into summer, at peak growth — Clemson gates it on green-up for exactly this reason. Autumn aeration on a stoloniferous lawn leaves open holes going into winter.
    When: at peak growth, after full green-up (week 2 of the month)
    1. Water the day before so the tines actually penetrate.
    2. Use a hollow-tine (core) aerator, not a spike aerator. Spikes compact the walls of the hole.
    3. Leave the plugs on the surface and break them up with the mower a few days later.
    4. Do NOT aerate within 8-10 weeks of a pre-emergent application — you will breach the barrier.
    UF/IFAS, ENH6/LH006 — Bahiagrass for Florida Lawns
  • Preventive grub control
    Preventive products have to be down before the eggs hatch, because they work on small larvae and barely touch large ones. By the time you can see grub damage — spongy turf that lifts like a carpet, birds working the lawn — preventive timing is months gone and you need a curative instead.
    When: late spring to early summer, before egg hatch
    Product: preventive grub control, active ingredient chlorantraniliprole
    1. Apply before egg hatch, in late spring to early summer.
    2. Water in with half an inch. These products need to move down to the root zone.
    3. If you already have damage, this is the wrong product — you need a curative.
—
Julypeak growth
~80°F soil, warming
3–4"
every 7-14 days
0.75-1 in per week including rainfall, at the top of that range in this heat. Once or twice per week during dry periods. Water before sunrise so the blades dry as the sun comes up. Bahia is highly drought-tolerant due to its deep root system. It will go dormant (brown) during extended drought but recovers quickly when rain returns. Reduce irrigation compared to St. Augustine.
  • Mow on a routine — every week this month
    A warm-season lawn grown at a consistent height and cut often enough to never lose a third of its blade is the cheapest weed control there is — a dense canopy leaves weed seed nowhere to germinate.
    When: throughout the month
    1. Cut on a schedule, not when the lawn looks long.
    2. Never remove more than a third of the blade in one pass.
    3. Change direction each time so the grass does not learn a lean.
    4. Re-sharpen the blade every 20-25 hours of cutting.
  • Iron for color instead of more nitrogen
    Iron greens a lawn up without pushing growth, which makes it the right answer whenever the lawn looks pale but has already had its nitrogen for the year. On centipede it is the only safe way to chase color.
    When: morning application, on a growing lawn
    Product: chelated liquid iron
    1. Use a chelated liquid iron and spray it in the morning.
    2. Keep it off concrete and stonework — iron stains, permanently.
    3. Repeat every 4-6 weeks while the lawn is growing if you want to hold the color.
    UF/IFAS, ENH6/LH006 — Bahiagrass for Florida Lawns
  • Core aerate
    Aeration only pays off if the lawn has enough growing season left to fill the holes and knit back together. For a warm-season grass that means late spring into summer, at peak growth — Clemson gates it on green-up for exactly this reason. Autumn aeration on a stoloniferous lawn leaves open holes going into winter.
    When: at peak growth, after full green-up (week 2 of the month)
    1. Water the day before so the tines actually penetrate.
    2. Use a hollow-tine (core) aerator, not a spike aerator. Spikes compact the walls of the hole.
    3. Leave the plugs on the surface and break them up with the mower a few days later.
    4. Do NOT aerate within 8-10 weeks of a pre-emergent application — you will breach the barrier.
    UF/IFAS, ENH6/LH006 — Bahiagrass for Florida Lawns
—
Augustpeak growth
~80°F soil, steady
3–4"
every 7-14 days
0.75-1 in per week including rainfall, at the top of that range in this heat. Once or twice per week during dry periods. Water before sunrise so the blades dry as the sun comes up. Bahia is highly drought-tolerant due to its deep root system. It will go dormant (brown) during extended drought but recovers quickly when rain returns. Reduce irrigation compared to St. Augustine.
  • Mow on a routine — every week this month
    A warm-season lawn grown at a consistent height and cut often enough to never lose a third of its blade is the cheapest weed control there is — a dense canopy leaves weed seed nowhere to germinate.
    When: throughout the month
    1. Cut on a schedule, not when the lawn looks long.
    2. Never remove more than a third of the blade in one pass.
    3. Change direction each time so the grass does not learn a lean.
    4. Re-sharpen the blade every 20-25 hours of cutting.
—
Septemberslowing
~72°F soil, cooling
3–4"
every 14-21 days
Water on demand now, not on a schedule — the lawn's use drops with the soil temperature. Irrigate when the leaf blades fold in half lengthwise, the colour goes blue-grey, or footprints stay visible after you walk across it. Put down 1/2 to 3/4 in when you do, about once a week or less; UF/IFAS puts the cooler months at one watering day a week. Before sunrise, so the blades dry as the sun comes up.
  • Mow on a routine — every week this month
    A warm-season lawn grown at a consistent height and cut often enough to never lose a third of its blade is the cheapest weed control there is — a dense canopy leaves weed seed nowhere to germinate.
    When: throughout the month
    1. Cut on a schedule, not when the lawn looks long.
    2. Never remove more than a third of the blade in one pass.
    3. Change direction each time so the grass does not learn a lean.
    4. Re-sharpen the blade every 20-25 hours of cutting.
  • Fall pre-emergent for winter weeds
    Poa annua, henbit and chickweed germinate in autumn as the soil falls back through the high 60s. Catching them now is the difference between a clean lawn in February and spending February spraying — and by February the only option left is post-emergent on a dormant lawn.
    When: as the 7-day mean soil temp falls through 67-70 F at 4 in (week 1 of the month)
    Rate: per label for your grass and your square footage; if you are planning a second application, the label's ANNUAL maximum is the number that governs
    Product: pre-emergent herbicide, active ingredient prodiamine or dithiopyr, per label
    Label: CHECK THE LABEL LISTS YOUR GRASS. Not every pre-emergent is labeled for St. Augustine or centipede, and the ones that are often carry a lower rate for them than for bermuda — on those two grasses, a product whose label does not name your grass is a product that can thin it. Purdue AY-10 also lists pendimethalin, oxadiazon and benefin; residual runs 60-120 days depending on rate.
    Soil temperature: 67–70°F soil at 4-inch depth.
    Air temperature: Do not apply above 90°F air temperature — above that you risk injuring the lawn.
    1. Go by falling soil temperature: apply as the 7-day mean drops through 67-70 F at 4 in.
    2. Water in with half an inch within 24 hours.
    3. Do not aerate after applying.
    4. One application usually holds the winter. A second at half rate 8-10 weeks later extends it ONLY IF THE LABEL ALLOWS a sequential application and you stay inside its annual maximum — check before you buy, not after you have applied the first one.
    NC State Extension, Carolina Lawns — pre-emergent timing · Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, L-5340 — Lawn Care
  • Spot-treat broadleaf weeds
    Spot-spraying a few weeds puts a fraction of the chemical on the lawn that a blanket application does, and it works better — you are treating the weed, not the turf around it.
    When: on an actively growing lawn, on a sunny day above 55 F and below 90 F
    Product: selective post-emergent broadleaf herbicide
    Label: Read the label for your grass — tolerance differs by species and by cultivar.
    Air temperature: Spray on a day above 55°F; not above 90°F. Below the floor the weed is not actively growing and the application is wasted; above the ceiling you injure the lawn.
    1. Spray the weed, not the lawn. A hand sprayer beats a hose-end attachment for this.
    2. Mow 2-3 days BEFORE spraying, not after — the herbicide needs leaf area to be absorbed through.
    3. Wait until temperatures are below the ceiling. Heat turns a selective herbicide into a non-selective one.
    4. There is a floor as well as a ceiling: spray on a sunny day with the high above 55 F. Below that the weeds are not actively growing and nothing moves into the root.
    5. Do not spray a drought-stressed lawn, and do not spray newly laid sod.
    Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, L-5340 — Lawn Care
  • Nitrogen — you are inside six weeks of first frost in most of this zone. Late nitrogen pushes soft growth that freeze damage takes first.
  • Aeration — the growing season left is too short to close the holes before dormancy.
  • Seeding or sodding — a warm-season lawn established now has no time to root before winter.
Octobergoing dormant
~60°F soil, cooling
3–4"
every 14-21 days
Taper off. Cut back to roughly half the growing-season figure and stop irrigating as growth stops. Going into winter wet invites disease and, on warm-season turf, soft growth that freezes.
  • Last mow before dormancy
    Going into winter at the right height matters: too long and the canopy mats down and holds moisture against the crowns, which is how large patch and snow-related rots start. Too short and the crowns have no insulation.
    When: once growth has clearly stopped (week 4 of the month)
    1. Cut at your normal height — do not scalp going into winter.
    2. Clear leaves off the lawn at the same time. A leaf mat will kill patches of dormant turf.
    3. Then stop. Mowing dormant turf does nothing but damage crowns.
    UF/IFAS, ENH10/LH028 — Mowing Your Florida Lawn
  • Nitrogen — too late in the year. Late nitrogen pushes soft growth that freeze damage takes first.
  • Aeration — there is not enough growing season left to close the holes.
Novemberdormant
~46°F soil, cooling
Not this month — the lawn is dormant.None needed. A dormant lawn is not growing and does not use water — water only to stop the crowns desiccating in a long dry spell, about 0.75 in once a month.
  • Keep leaves off the dormant lawn — every week this month
    A dormant lawn is still alive. A wet mat of leaves on top of it blocks what little light the crowns get, holds moisture against them and is where rot starts — and the patch it kills does not show up until spring, when it fails to green up with everything else.
    When: as needed through dormancy
    1. Rake or blow leaves off rather than mulching them into a dormant canopy.
    2. Keep traffic off frozen or frosted turf — the crowns shear.
  • Mowing — a dormant lawn is not growing. Nothing to cut.
  • Fertilizer — dormant turf cannot take up nitrogen. It feeds winter weeds instead.
  • Regular irrigation — water only to stop crowns drying out in a long dry spell.
Decemberdormant
~38°F soil, cooling
Not this month — the lawn is dormant.None needed. A dormant lawn is not growing and does not use water — water only to stop the crowns desiccating in a long dry spell, about 0.75 in once a month.
  • Keep leaves off the dormant lawn — every week this month
    A dormant lawn is still alive. A wet mat of leaves on top of it blocks what little light the crowns get, holds moisture against them and is where rot starts — and the patch it kills does not show up until spring, when it fails to green up with everything else.
    When: as needed through dormancy
    1. Rake or blow leaves off rather than mulching them into a dormant canopy.
    2. Keep traffic off frozen or frosted turf — the crowns shear.
  • Service the mower
    A dull blade tears rather than cuts, and torn tissue is the main entry point for disease. The off-season is the one time of year the lawn does not need the mower, so this is when it costs you nothing.
    When: any time during dormancy
    1. Sharpen or replace the blade.
    2. Change the oil and the air filter, and put in fresh fuel or drain it.
    3. Check the deck is level — an unlevel deck scalps on one side.
  • Mowing — a dormant lawn is not growing. Nothing to cut.
  • Fertilizer — dormant turf cannot take up nitrogen. It feeds winter weeds instead.
  • Regular irrigation — water only to stop crowns drying out in a long dry spell.

Bahia: common questions

How much fertilizer does Bahia need?

1–2 lb N per 1,000 sq ft per year. UF/IFAS ENH6/LH006 gives the same 1–2 lb range for all three Florida regions, so this is not a figure that changes with latitude. Bahia is a low-input grass: default to the low end. Over-feeding buys thatch and disease, not colour.

How short should I cut Bahia?

3–4", every 7-14 days in peak season. Bahia's seed heads grow faster than its leaves, which is why it looks untidy between mows rather than overgrown.

When does Bahia go dormant?

Below about 55°F soil temperature. Greens up again around 65°F. Bahia also goes brown in an extended drought and recovers when rain returns, which is not the same thing as winter dormancy.

What soil pH does Bahia want?

5.5–6.5. Bahia tolerates more acidic soil than most warm-season grasses, which is part of why it suits sandy Florida ground without amendment.

Sources

Soil temperatures are Lawn HQ estimates for your climate zone. How we work

By Lawn HQ · Last reviewed . Extension or land-grant sources only, matched to this grass and this climate zone. Found something wrong? Tell us and we will fix it and update the date.

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