# What's the secret sauce for this look?



## redspot321 (6 mo ago)

How do I get st augustine to stand tall against the curb?


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## San (Jun 21, 2021)

I don't think there is a secret.

You need a dense lawn.
The path needs to not be too high, so at your HOC it is well above the path, without grass falling over.
And finally you need an edger or be good with a string trimmer and just trim the line.


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## redspot321 (6 mo ago)

San said:


> I don't think there is a secret.
> 
> You need a dense lawn.
> The path needs to not be too high, so at your HOC it is well above the path, without grass falling over.
> And finally you need an edger or be good with a string trimmer and just trim the line.


HOC?


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## San (Jun 21, 2021)

Height of Cut, basically how long you cut the grass.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

An app of unicorn urine at double the label rate will get you the same result with no mowing or trimming.


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## p1muserfan (Jul 7, 2019)

Redtwin said:


> An app of unicorn urine at double the label rate will get you the same result with no mowing or trimming.


I had to read that twice!


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## Highlife159 (May 19, 2021)

Redtwin said:


> An app of unicorn urine at double the label rate will get you the same result with no mowing or trimming.


I think I saw someone doing a split of unicorn urine on the marketplace thread


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

Is that st Aug in the photo?


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## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

Highlife159 said:


> Redtwin said:
> 
> 
> > An app of unicorn urine at double the label rate will get you the same result with no mowing or trimming.
> ...


Is that a real product? 😀


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

AvgHomeOwner said:


> Highlife159 said:
> 
> 
> > Redtwin said:
> ...


No, it's not. Sorry, it's Friday night and I'm feeling snarky.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

redspot321 said:


> How do I get st augustine to stand tall against the curb?


You could cut it tall for at least a year. 3.5" or more I would say. The stolons will stack up over time. If you overfeed or overwater it will happen even faster. Then after a few years, you'll have a whole new set of problems.


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## DFW245 (Jul 23, 2021)

Does it not naturally do this? Not familiar with aug


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## AvgHomeOwner (Jun 23, 2020)

Redtwin said:


> AvgHomeOwner said:
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> 
> > Highlife159 said:
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LOL! 😂 ok 👍🏻

For a moment I thought it was doc's new product. 🤣


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## TherapyRequired (May 13, 2020)

ionicatoms said:


> redspot321 said:
> 
> 
> > How do I get st augustine to stand tall against the curb?
> ...


Do you mind giving me a little more insight into this? Are you saying that 3.5" will cause the stolons to stack up? And I feel like I'm getting close to that with my St Aug. I maintain it at 3.0-3.5". What is your recommended remedy when it does get stacked up and perhaps too thick?


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

TherapyRequired said:


> Do you mind giving me a little more insight into this? Are you saying that 3.5" will cause the stolons to stack up? And I feel like I'm getting close to that with my St Aug. I maintain it at 3.0-3.5". What is your recommended remedy when it does get stacked up and perhaps too thick?


TBH I'm still trying to figure out what the "best" remedy is. Verticutting is known to be effective, but I see this is a "last resort." I would really stress the importance of prevention; certain sections of my lawn were already overly thatchy when I bought the house in 2019, but I didn't fully realize how troublesome it was until this past winter. No doubts here, the worst areas are in full sun. Last year, I tried a low N program; didn't seem to help much. This year I'm trying a lower HOC and applications of D-Thatch. Unfortunately I've not been consistent with the D-Thatch or the mowing, so I doubt I'll have much good news to report by the year end. All details are in my journal, which I will probably maintain through this coming winter.


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## DFW St Aug (10 mo ago)

ionicatoms said:


> TherapyRequired said:
> 
> 
> > Do you mind giving me a little more insight into this? Are you saying that 3.5" will cause the stolons to stack up? And I feel like I'm getting close to that with my St Aug. I maintain it at 3.0-3.5". What is your recommended remedy when it does get stacked up and perhaps too thick?
> ...


I cut at 4" and have never had that problem. I'm sure the weather here is much more dry which helps considerably.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

Here's the difference between regularly cutting low (left where my neighbor comes into my yard) vs regularly cutting high (right, farther away from camera).



The left side lacks definition in the "hedge-like" appearance, but it greens up more quickly coming out of winter and is less prone to winter kill (desiccation).

The right side has more thatch.

Thatch isn't a problem for most St Aug lawns. In my area more than half of people don't fertilize St Aug at all. Additionally most people aren't cutting at 4", and aren't cutting often enough to really push density, which causes stolons to jump over other stolons; it sometimes shows up as a loop.


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## DFW St Aug (10 mo ago)

The lower cut St. Aug lawns tend to die off in our area. I've watched my neighbor resod twice in the past 6 years because it gets cut too short and slowly dies off. In the spring, I normally take my dead growth from the previous season down a few notches on the mower and my lawn is always one of the first in the neighborhood to green up.


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

DFW St Aug said:


> *The lower cut St. Aug lawns tend to die off in our area.* I've watched my neighbor resod twice in the past 6 years because it gets cut too short and slowly dies off. In the spring, I normally take my dead growth from the previous season down a few notches on the mower and my lawn is always one of the first in the neighborhood to green up.


FALSE...

I've had small, and i stress small, sections of .5" or less reel cut st augustine in my lawn for 4+ years. Your neighbor likely has poor maintenance practices or the area they've sodded is not conducive to growing warm season grass.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

Can we get back on track? The question concerns the cultivation of what I'm calling a "hedge-like" appearance in St. Aug. @DFW St Aug can you share a picture of this look from those areas which you imply aren't thatchy? Do you have a "grass curb" so to speak? Viability may be dependent upon cultivar. While Floratam tends to stand straight up, Palmetto has more lean to it. CitraBlue even more so from what I can tell.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

Happened to catch this snippet from LCN on how he uses the thatch layer to shape his edge into a "tall shelf."

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw3D3Zpdg70&t=329s[/media]


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## DFW St Aug (10 mo ago)

Kicker said:


> DFW St Aug said:
> 
> 
> > *The lower cut St. Aug lawns tend to die off in our area.* I've watched my neighbor resod twice in the past 6 years because it gets cut too short and slowly dies off. In the spring, I normally take my dead growth from the previous season down a few notches on the mower and my lawn is always one of the first in the neighborhood to green up.
> ...


Do you have pictures of your low cut St. Augustine? I have never seen it cut that low and am curious.

My neighbor's turf is in a good area for St. Augustine, he waters appropriately and has a lawn care service that mows too low in my opinion. I'm sure it could be done, but perhaps with a little more attention that a lawn care company provides.



ionicatoms said:


> Can we get back on track? The question concerns the cultivation of what I'm calling a "hedge-like" appearance in St. Aug. @DFW St Aug can you share a picture of this look from those areas which you imply aren't thatchy? Do you have a "grass curb" so to speak? Viability may be dependent upon cultivar. While Floratam tends to stand straight up, Palmetto has more lean to it. CitraBlue even more so from what I can tell.


My soil is not level enough to achieve that look. I have though about leveling it, but there are a lot of sprinkler heads that would need to be lowered if I ever did.


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

DFW St Aug said:


> Kicker said:
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> 
> > DFW St Aug said:
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See below. The first two images are of a runner i pulled out of the st. aug area to show the effects of tnex and reel cutting on st aug.

also see @813king for your mind to melt.


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## T76turbo (9 mo ago)

I have what my neighbors call 'the wall'. Reading some of the talk of thatch etc has me thinking but I know my yard doesn't have a ton of thatch and is very healthy. In fact I was walking the yard with the yard service who sprays for bugs this afternoon and he was digging around through the canopy in a small spot of fungus I have and it was straight dirt. He didnt pull out any matted grass etc. I will look myself though in the daylight just out of curiosity in other spots just in case.

I cut on the highest setting my mower has which is just over 4 inches. Its a Toro zero turn. When I want to bag OR when we have had a lot of rain or drought stress I use my toro 30inch Turfmaster on 4.5 inches. I always cut with the wheels on the grass instead of the sidewalk to not have the angled cut right at the edge. I cut pretty frequently. Right now due to all the rain I cut every 3-4 days. But when it's getting normal water amounts I will mow every 6 days.

I am including some pics I just took for this post. They are a little dark but hopefully you get the idea.


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## Austinite (Oct 4, 2018)

Kicker said:


> DFW St Aug said:
> 
> 
> > *The lower cut St. Aug lawns tend to die off in our area.* I've watched my neighbor resod twice in the past 6 years because it gets cut too short and slowly dies off. In the spring, I normally take my dead growth from the previous season down a few notches on the mower and my lawn is always one of the first in the neighborhood to green up.
> ...


Really? Do you have any pictures? I'm curious.


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## ionicatoms (Mar 8, 2020)

T76turbo said:


> Reading some of the talk of thatch etc has me thinking but I know my yard doesn't have a ton of thatch and is very healthy. In fact I was walking the yard with the yard service who sprays for bugs this afternoon and he was digging around through the canopy in a small spot of fungus I have and it was straight dirt. He didnt pull out any matted grass etc.


The thatchy layer is visible in the photos. It's all the dead/tan material sitting right under the green canopy. With St Aug, it's not really a problem unless the thatch gets so dense that the grass becomes overly susceptible to fungus during a wet season or desiccation during a dry season.


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

Austinite said:


> Kicker said:
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> > DFW St Aug said:
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See above. Also @813king reel mow's his St. augustine lawn in Fl.


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## Austinite (Oct 4, 2018)

@Kicker Not sure what above I am looking at. I dont see 1/2 inch or less cut st augustine.


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

don't know what to tell you then...


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## PhxHeat (Oct 18, 2019)

@Austinite maybe this will help.

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=445766#p445766


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

No photos but I can tell you that the centipede and the SA that has survived my front reno looks pretty good under PGR and mowed at .5". It looks a lot like the photos @Kicker posted above and can fly under the radar pretty easily. The best remedy I have found other than just pulling the stolons is to verticut it and hit it with some Quinclorac.


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## 813king (Sep 28, 2021)

If you look at the links on my profile you can see more of my yard. It's Floritam St. Augustine in my front yard cut @0.433 currently. It's held up @0.250 but requires constant babysitting. Spoon feeding, reel mowing and keep up on applications of everything. When it's good it's GOOD. When it's bad it's BADDD! You can go from hero to zero quickly.


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