Question
I live in E. Texas and used to have a nice lawn of St. Augustine.   In spite of my requests not to, my neighbor often takes it upon himself to modify it - when I'm away.  He away) and has now seeded rye grass in with my St. Augustine, which used to be beautiful before he killed spots of it.  I HATE this rye grass - it can't be possibly be winter rye!  How do I get rid of the rye so I can get my St. Augustine to return?  I'll probably have to make an enemy to get rid of the neighbor, I'm afraid.  Very frustrating.

Answer
Hi Jan;
Well, you have a problem I certainly don't envy.
I am afraid that neighbor and I would have already gone round and round.
I live in Texas too, Irving.
You now doubt know you could sue him in small claims court to have your lawn put back the way it was.
A person has no right to go into someone else's property and do anything to it.
If he were forced by the court to have your lawn tilled up, and resodded, and the soil sifted so the rye won't grow back, he wouldn't be so quick to mess with someone else's business.
I am sure any court would rule in your favor and make him pay for replacing it.
Is this dude trying to make time with you, or is he just a nocey busybody?
We have one in our neighborhood. He thinks he owns the whole neighborhood and should tell everybody else how to do everything, what color to paint, the whole works.
The second year we lived here, I told him I would do my house and my lawn the way I wanted, and I didn't need or want any suggestions. To take care of his own home and butt out of my business and we would get along.
He never bothered me anymore.
But he drives the single lady that lives between my house and his, nuts.
He would go into her lawn when she would take her usual spring trip, and scalp her lawn.
She told him curtly to leave her lawn alone, and he still did it, so I told her, since he was so proud of his lawn ( which isn't that great), to tell hi the next time he came into her yard and did anything, she was going to spray his whole lawn with permanent edger. Nothing will grow for 5 or 6 yeras after that stuff is used.
She did tell him that, and he left her lawn alone ever since.
The only way that rye will be gone if to nourish the St. Augustine till it crowds out the rye, and pray that it does, or to till up the whole yard and sift the soil to get all the rye roots out, and resod. If ny of the rye roots are left in the soil, even chopped up, they darned rye will come up again.

Charlotte