I love the St. Augustine (or centipede), too. I put the mower on it’s highest setting and let the grass stay deep all year. I have people ask me how we keep our yard looking so nice, and I think not mowing it too short is the key with the St. Augustine.
Same with fescue, which is a cool season grass and what most people here try to work with. Most people cut it way too short, and consequentially, it usually dies by the first week of June or the first week of 90 degree temperatures. Mowing it on high usually gets you into July, and if you are willing to pay $300 monthly water bills with sprinklers running 6 hours per day, it might even last the season. As a result, by the middle of summer, my Zoysia is usually the only green lawn in the neighborhood.
I think not mowing it too short is the key with the St. Augustine.
....lost big patches to drought last summer... how do you reseed/repair large bare spots?? thanks for your thoughts
ymmv
Yes, my neighbor can’t figure out why his yard looks much poorer than mine (not that mine is the Yard of the Month winner.) He fertilizes and aerates and makes his kids pull weeds and runs his sprinklers all day. Then, he goes out there twice a week with his John Deere set on about the lowest setting and scalps it over and over.