QUESTION:
I have tried in vain to get help for 3 years! Our lawn is St Augustine & for the past 3 years it has grown fairly well except it tends to grow stalks in some areas rather than healthy blades. I have taken stalks to local nurseries for some explanation but no one has been able to help! It looks great right after it's mowed but within days the ugly stalks return.

ANSWER:
These stalks are seed heads. Sometimes St. Augustine grass will produce these seed heads. They are not all that common. I know of no way to prevent them. Perhaps more frequent mowing would keep them from being so offensively visible. I contacted Dr. Richard Duble, Turfgrass Specialist and Professor for A&M and he writes: "seedstalks are not that uncommon in the summer. If you want to reduce their presence, fertilize with N more often. Not that I recommend that, but it will reduce seedheads."

Dr. James McAfee, Turfgrass Specialist and Professor for A&M at Dallas, concurs with Dr. Duble and writes: "From the looks of the picture, the homeowner is letting his St. Augustinegrass grow tall and probably not mowing it very often. If he would increase his mowing frequency, the seed heads would not be as bad as they are now."