St Augustine grass taking over our yard

[Grannygail]

We have Zoysia Grass and after noticing our grass looking shabby with only mowing every 2 weeks (Stellar customer) we realize this new grass has taken over 1/3 of our yard.
We only can think of 2 options:
1) Pay Stellar ($1,000 to dig up the St Augustine and put down Zoysia sod. Stellar rep said it's a 40% chance the St Augustine will come back.
2) Let the St Augustine take over the yard, but then it is going to run into the neighbors adorning yard which are all Zoysia, and I doubt they would be happy with that.

Can anyone give me another option or make a suggestion?

[Indydealmaker]

The St. Augustine may be an illegal immigrant crossing your border on the lawn care equipment of your contractor.

[Bonanza]

We have Zoysia Grass and after noticing our grass looking shabby with only mowing every 2 weeks (Stellar customer) we realize this new grass has taken over 1/3 of our yard.
We only can think of 2 options:
1) Pay Stellar ($1,000 to dig up the St Augustine and put down Zoysia sod. Stellar rep said it's a 40% chance the St Augustine will come back.
2) Let the St Augustine take over the yard, but then it is going to run into the neighbors adorning yard which are all Zoysia, and I doubt they would be happy with that.

Can anyone give me another option or make a suggestion?

I don't think there is an answer to your problem with St. Augustine. Since you don't know where it came from and because it's so advanced, it's a difficult problem to solve.

If you have it all taken out, think again. All you need is one unseen runner under the dirt and you are back in the same predicament. It will start to spread once again. If it's taken over 1/3 of your yard already, you've had it a while.

Many of the older properties have St. Augustine. The good thing about it is that you will have green grass all year long, and no ugly brown in the winter.

[PaPaLarry]

That's really not a bad problem to have, if your having trouble with zoysia growing. I have a problem in my back yard where the zoysia is eroding away from being on slant, so I planted St Augistine plugs to take over that area. I would just check to see if that grass you think is St Augustine, is not "Torpedo Grass" which is really a weed grass, that grows underground, and spreads pretty quickly. I dug a lot of that out in back yard, that was coming from my neighbors house. Very hard to control.

[karostay]

Ask you neighbors to pitch in to replace your lawn:jester:
Thus protecting their lawn

[kittygilchrist]

Although having more than one kind of grass changes the visual texture, it is more natural than trying to get only one species to grow. I am going to let all the grasses but crabgrass live. That way, I can spot treat sedges, and use a broadleaf killer on broad leaves. The other day I was pulling up crabgrass when a neighbor stopped to say they had worried about me because I hadn't been out pulling the crabgrass in a while. They weren't sure I was okay. That's life in the villages.

[Chi-Town]

Here's a plug (no pun intended) for St Augustine grass. A couple of my neighbors have Zoysia and though I like the look and feel of it, they struggle year round to keep it up. I'm not crazy about my St Augustine, because it reminds me of the grass I used to kill up north. But it sure stays green and keeps weeds out.

BTW, their Zoysia has not been invaded by their neighbors' St Augustine.

[mickey100]

Check with a landscape company. I believe I read there is a chemical that is available commercially that will kill the st. Augustine but leave the zoysia unharmed. You may have to get it treated on a regular basis to control the problem.

[Leo G.]

Zoysia can be cut very low, St Augustine grass will often be set back dramatically if cut low. That's your least expensive solution.