# My Neighbor the St Augustine Rulebreaker



## Ecks from Tex (Apr 26, 2018)

For two years this dirty rulebreaker has been cutting his St Augustine at 1 inch. He scalps the shit out of it in March and then cuts low all year.

It's the damndest thing because each year his grass greens up and thickens up pretty nicely. It doesn't have that classic St Aug look, but it does thicken up to the point that I can't see through the canopy and I don't see exposed runners, etc.


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## Spammage (Apr 30, 2017)

@Ecks from Tex pics or it didn't happen. :lol:

I know @Alan has been cutting low in an effort to weaken his, and I have some that grows under a fence into my yard that gets cut at 1/2" in the shade and it doesn't seem to care.


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## kur1j (Jul 2, 2017)

@Ecks from Tex So it looks good or bad? haha


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## Ecks from Tex (Apr 26, 2018)

kur1j said:


> @Ecks from Tex So it looks good or bad? haha


I don't even know anymore. I'm so confused. I think it looks good, kind of like a drunk man at a bar who thinks he's picking up a 9 but she's actually a 4.5. He'd probably have done the same thing sober but he was just a little surprised, that's all.


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## Ecks from Tex (Apr 26, 2018)

I'll get a picture when it's light and not raining again (and when he has mowed). That's the other thing. At best he mows once a week from what I can tell. My world is upside down


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## Suaverc118 (Jul 28, 2017)

Ecks from Tex said:


> kur1j said:
> 
> 
> > @Ecks from Tex So it looks good or bad? haha
> ...


Comment of the year right here... Classic

But yeah, we need pics


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## raymond (May 4, 2018)

:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Bunnysarefat (May 4, 2017)

My neighbor across the street does the exact same thing. They mow so early I don't always catch them, but I swear they have to hold themselves back from mowing everyday. I'll get a closer picture of theirs too because some sections of it look great. They have the spots struggling that just appeared in the last year.. they think it is from a tree stump underground.


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## erdons (Apr 3, 2018)

My dad has always cut his st Agustin at the lowest setting and even though the lawn and yard is well kept I've never felt like it's looked as good as it should. My brothers do the same thing. As I got more into lawns and researching this stuff I realized St Agustin looks better mowed higher. My father in law used to do the same and from my suggestion he started mowing at the highest setting and his lawn looks super thick and green. I've tried giving my bros tips and they won't listen. My dad has a 2 inch thick layer of thatch and would laugh if I told him to dethatch it.

Pic of my brothers backyard.


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## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

Ecks from Tex said:


> dirty rulebreaker has been cutting his St Augustine at 1 inch.


These people make the world better.


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## Ecks from Tex (Apr 26, 2018)

Redtenchu said:


> Ecks from Tex said:
> 
> 
> > dirty rulebreaker has been cutting his St Augustine at 1 inch.
> ...


if he's out there scalping it today before the tropical storm I'm going to fight him because I don't understand him :lol:


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## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

Ecks from Tex said:


> if he's out there scalping it today before the tropical storm I'm going to fight him because I don't understand him :lol:


 :lol:


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## Ecks from Tex (Apr 26, 2018)

erdons said:


> My dad has always cut his st Agustin at the lowest setting and even though the lawn and yard is well kept I've never felt like it's looked as good as it should. My brothers do the same thing. As I got more into lawns and researching this stuff I realized St Agustin looks better mowed higher. My father in law used to do the same and from my suggestion he started mowing at the highest setting and his lawn looks super thick and green. I've tried giving my bros tips and they won't listen. My dad has a 2 inch thick layer of thatch and would laugh if I told him to dethatch it.
> 
> Pic of my brothers backyard.


this is what I would expect if you cut St. Aug low. But not my neighbor. And apparently not like @Bunnysarefat's neighbor - Bunny will you be able to snap a close up pic of that low grass?


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## Bunnysarefat (May 4, 2017)

Ecks from Tex said:


> erdons said:
> 
> 
> > My dad has always cut his st Agustin at the lowest setting and even though the lawn and yard is well kept I've never felt like it's looked as good as it should. My brothers do the same thing. As I got more into lawns and researching this stuff I realized St Agustin looks better mowed higher. My father in law used to do the same and from my suggestion he started mowing at the highest setting and his lawn looks super thick and green. I've tried giving my bros tips and they won't listen. My dad has a 2 inch thick layer of thatch and would laugh if I told him to dethatch it.
> ...


Yeah I'll try. Might feel weird if they see me. But yeah that grass in that picture gets full sun so it still looks thick. This lawn only gets early morning and late evening sun. Almost none in mid day, under a massive tree. So last time I was up close it was pretty thin, but looks ok from the street. I can only speculate why they do this but historically they've probably been at 1.5 inches id guess.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

We have plenty of people around here who scalp (under 2 inches) their cool-season grass, even in the middle of Summer heat...someone recently did that to one of our family yards with a string trimmer, and killed a bunch of grass.

I remember one time when I was in college, the neighbor teenager lost track of track of where his boundary ended, and cut a 50-foot diameter crop circle in our fine fescue lawn, doing several circular passes with his family's 42-inch tractor before me, my dad, and his dad ran outside to stop him. It was like a one inch HOC. That grass did not like it!

St. Aug is like Tall Fescue...it's just wrong to cut it under 2 inches, and 4 would be a lot better.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

Supposedly, the Tru-Cut reel mowers were made and designed to mow St Augustine. I have seen St Augustine mowed lower than what the rules say to. It works as long as the grass is getting water, sun, and fertilizer. The mower cutting St Augustine must be a reel. Rotary mowers set low mostly grab stolons and yank them off of the ground.


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## Ecks from Tex (Apr 26, 2018)

Greendoc said:


> Supposedly, the Tru-Cut reel mowers were made and designed to mow St Augustine. I have seen St Augustine mowed lower than what the rules say to. It works as long as the grass is getting water, sun, and fertilizer. The mower cutting St Augustine must be a reel. Rotary mowers set low mostly grab stolons and yank them off of the ground.


I've often wondered if that were the case.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

My sod grower friends mow their St Augustine fields at less than an inch with reels. I keep in mind that the sod is growing in compost mixed with stable bedding and watered as often as needed. Conversely, St Augustine not given enough sun or fertilizer and mowed low declines to the point of the dirt showing through the turf.

I know someone who has to maintain the lawn at an estate. 1/2 acre of Emerald Zoysia. Some St Augustine was mistakenly pasted into the shady areas of the lawn. It took aggressive usage of the groomer on a GM 1000 and repeated applications of Trimec Southern(2,4-D+MCPP+Dicamba) to suppress it.


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## Alan (Apr 23, 2017)

Cut this last night at about an 1", 1.25" something around there with my rotary. I hate long grass.


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