Planting St Augustine Grass Runners // 100% Success 

Great video! I took your advice, soaked some runners in water. However, instead of transplanting them to the ground directly, I let them grow in shallow pots with a mix of potting soil and compost. Once they fully developed in the pots, I broke them up and planted them in the ground about 24 inches apart from one another. I added some starter fertilizer, and they’ve pretty much taken over the entire area over 2 months. Hope this helps, this is in Los Angeles.

I saw my mom doing this 30 years ago. I did the same thing yesterday but we planted it right away. It still grows. The most important thing is to water it

I’ve watched this video a few times and I’m here again for refresher training. I have several bare spots in the front and runners in the backyard and transplanting them works great. I soak them in water and then add potting soil or top soil to give the roots something to grab onto and prevent mosquitoes. Thanks for the tips!

very awesome video. I did it a little differently. I 1). cut the runners 2). used a pry bar to get the plant at least 5 inches in the ground 3). soaked the ground with a sprinkler 4). topped the new runners with root stimulator.. that works well also. your video is very very good and your daughter is awesome so cute..

Your camera cut out. The trenching and planting was what I wanted to see. Hopefully, you will show this area at a later date to see the progress.

NOICE!! been trying on my own for a few months now with 50% success, Game Changer!!!

Wow. Excellent. Glad you got all that good advice and made this video so we could learn too! I watched the result video first - what a transformation to a shaded area! Thanks!

St. Augustine grass is really a cool grass. You can take a runner and cut the strong part of the stem on an angle just above a split to make needle pluggers for small bare spots. You just need to keep the soil wet for about a week so they begin to root.

Great video. Thanks for tips. However wouldn't use paperclips. The can rust and you won't find them all when it's time to take them out. In the future if anyone decides to run around or walk around barefoot, it can be a problem. Its best to use labels on a stick or plastic anchors that can be reused. vitora has 35 or 50 white ones in a bag for $3. Its worked really well for me to do so. Keep up the good work.

Great video, I just put my runners in a bucket of water. I had to watch a second time to see how long they should stay in the bucket....2 weeks, got it. Thanks

Hey, I soaked them in water before I saw your video and I too had great success with them rooting. I didn't have to use paperclips this time as we've had a lot of rain and the clay soil was soft. Thanks for the videos.!!!

Babyyyy I did this with some st Augustine from my front yard and put it in my back yard and every one I planted took root and grew…I literally planted them in a huge spot that was all mud no grass….i kept it wet…and BOOM I have grass…I need to cut it for the first time now 😊

Great idea! How about removing some St. Augustine plug size and using plugs in the no grass area?

That's awesome, but look into getting a proplugger and get it done MUCH quicker...Much Luck!

I’ve been watching a few of these videos they say compost helps it a lot I’ve bought some compost at home depo for a $1.30 a bag someone mentioned black cow works better it has more nutrients and it $5 a bag I have the same problem with mine

I don't know if this was a factual thing. 2 years ago I did some what of this & it worked as long as I water it every day. I did so for 3 weeks & told my sister to keep on it while being away for a month. I came back & what u know I may as well not said anything. The yard was back to crab weeds. This does work

Thanks! I’m going to try this!!

Thanks for this !

I live in Sacramento California and I have St.Augustine grass. I am unable to find weed and feed for it help!

Hey, I live in Tennessee and while I have banana trees, they die off in the winter. They come back in the spring but the original tree dies. My question is: can I dig up the bulbs and replant them in the spring.? Winter is gonna be coming quickly and am gonna start soon. I noticed that you have banana plants.!

do you have a video of how this turned out?

So your camera cut out on what i felt was the most important part of the video. Im still unsure how to plant the runners and type of soil to use. Smh

How much water do you put in the containers with the runners to root? I have a kiddie pool full of runners. I’ve filled it with water but they are not submerged. I spray them daily to keep moist. How long does it take to see roots long enough for planting?

Should this be done in the spring time. And should I till the soil if it is hard packed. Thanks.

How far u to fall can you do this? I'm in Tx, I can plant the runners in lil planters and bring in over winter. it's mild climate in Austin Tx area. ty

Why don't u use sod or plugs for such a small area?

Please show how you paper clipped the root part. Thats the soul of your video. But you missed.

Kinda cool

How often are you watering them?

Brother no. I have 10k sq ft of area to plant, I don’t have that many casserole dishes so stop please 🤣

His follow up video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-O1KuG72Ifs8.html&ab_channel=TheSecretGarden

Pick a Specific Date (say the 1st day of the month). Mow your lawn as you normally would do, have a pair of scissors in your pocket and a plastic bag attached to mower handle. As you run across the long runners >18" across the top of the grass, I cut that LONG piece down and leave 3.25" to ground to remain and Toss the Runner into the plastic bag and keep mowing until I get to the next one. After mowing, I trim and blow all the trimmings into one pile. Look for Pieces with at least 3 "V's" (not the technical name) but if you hold a runner you'll see V's and grass offshoots from those. Just grab the longest pieces from your trimming pile and toss into same plastic bag. Then I place ALL of those into a large Steri-lite plastic container and sprinkle some Root Growth Promoter into the container & fill with hose, blast to stir up powder (Amazon). Within 10 days you'll have a ton of "shoots" ready and can actually cut each "runner" you put into the plastic tote into numerous pieces, as long as each one has it's own set of roots (I always plant w/2 roots on each piece). Then I use those 3-4" metal U-pins that we normally use for Landscaping Fabric. Spray pain an entire box of those some NEON COLOR that will stand out to you. I did use Paper Clips for 2 years but don't like the idea of rusty metal paperclips in my grass - can't imagine that is good for the soil. On the 15th of the month, I mow like normal & trim edges and will remove any LONG Runners that try to grab my ankles & toss next to Plastic Tote. Take Each Runner that has grown in the Root Growth Promoter, now that your lawn is beautifully mowed & trimmed and cut each piece into a section that has TWO roots. Take each runner to a bare spot, lay on the ground, cover the area right where the roots are with a handful of potting soil & then PIN down only pushing the pin down far enough to not let the runner to SPRING back up too much; but not down too deep you can't find the NEON pin later. I use 2 pins per runner w/a mound of new Potting Soil, Top Soil, whatever you have available directly on the area that has the roots growing below it. The Pins will stop the runners from curling upward and keep them in place, even in heavy downpours in FL. I can EASILY see the NEON Fluorescent Painted Pins when mowing the lawn and (raise the blade to go over that section) without touching the pin or the runner. On the 1st day of the NEXT month, I just walk around and pick up all the NEON GREEN or NEON ORANGE Gigantic Landscape Fabric Pins BEFORE I mow. I found having a SET Date helps tremendously so you don't have to worry about the mower blades hitting a thick landscaping pin. I have the plastic bag hanging on the mower handle again and scissors in my pocket and REPEAT the process again. I do this 5-7x a year on the 1st & 15th of the month; so have a continual cycle and bought 1 pallet of sod in 2016 and the rest of my 7700 SF has been done using this method. The quote was 12K, so I've saved $11,000 doing it - plus saved my neighbors money & hassle picking up 3-4 pcs of sods for their bare patches we all seem to go through despite our best efforts for that perfect lawn.

Cool. Now you only have to wait 22 years for it to fill in.

I never would have thought of this... genius! I hate runners and pull them out all the time because I trip over them when out gardening 😆 I’m going to look for some tomorrow to fill in a bare spot... thanks!!

I cut runners into 2 node sections and just use a screwdriver to drive about a 4 inch hole into the soil and then push the runner into the hole and leave the top node just above the ground and firm the soil around the plant. This way gives you really good coverage with a small amount of material and is very quick to do. Best to do this in the fall or spring after some good rains and when the temps are warm but not super hot.

Oh my gosh, I did this today also! Harvested lots of runners, soaked them, cut them into pieces and covered them with new lawn soil. SW Florida coastal areas are pure gray sand so any organic rich soil needs to be brought in. Hope my grass likes it’s new location!

Thanks for sharing your St. Augustine transplanting experience. I never placed my Classic St. Augustine grass (CSAG) runners or plugs in tub of water and then later planted them: I have transplanted my CSAG by taking it from the overgrowth from my edges: I learned that my edges always need cutting, but here in Florida we get a lot of rain and many times I am lucky to cut the grass between rain showers. Again this spring and summer we have had a lot of rain consequently the sidewalk and driveway had a lot of growth. I was very impressed with my past success in transplanting our CSAG in bare spots. This past summer we had to grind the Twin Sago Palm plant - which sadly died due to white scales and other plant disease. I just transplanted our CSAG to cover the big void from the Twin Sago Palm Plant. I have to add a little more top soil and clean it up.

If I soak the whole runners and leaves in the water, will I kill the plant because the leaf is not exposed to air?

WE'VE MOVED INTO A HOME THAT HAS A LOT OF LAVA ROCK AND WHITE ROCKS FROM BEDS. IN THESE SPOTS THE GRASS WOULD NOT GROW. SO WE DUG OUT THE ROCK AND AUGMENTED THE SOIL WITH BAGGED SOIL. WHAT IS THE BEST KIND OF BAGGED SOIL TO REPLACE SOIL WHERE GRASS IS NOT GROWING? IS TOP SOIL WITH MANURE A GOOD CHOICE?

Do you have a follow up to this. Would love to see the area now. Did the runners spread and fill in?

Wow man the runners look GREAT!!!!

You need to break up that soil before planting the runners. I tried this before, the problem with it is that weeds will take over the bare spots quicker than the runners can spread.

How do I keep the cuttings from getting fungus /mold while they soak? I tried this and they were gross and smelled awful. I had to throw them away.

I started doing this today, and I’m glad to see someone else also had the same idea!

What time of the year are you planting these? What area of the United States do you live? I am in Texas and right now it’s hotter than Hades. I have lots of runners that are above ground and I planned on cutting them and putting them in a dish to get more roots started on them but I’m also afraid to plant them due to being so extremely hot and dry. I am watering but I’m also being very cautious about it because of water waste.

Is there a biodegradable material you can use to pin the stolons down?

My dad used to poke them in with a fat screwdriver. I guess you could stick both ends in

Will this work for centipede also?😊

They will root if you put dirt on them.

Can you pant it without roots

Good job and information

If you lay down a 4" fertilizer/top soil mix they will grow faster

Giving this a try with my Centipede runners. Soaking them too. I did transplanting without soaking and it worked, but little success. Thanks for this video!

Having a hard time because they are coiled.. Like a spring keep wanting to pop up and out

I couldn't really tell by the video, but were runners submerged or just soaked really well? I'm killing off a bunch of weeds in my yard here in Texas and I know I'll have bare spots soon in about two weeks. This would work perfect.

I would also like to see how it looks now this is great!

Sometimes St Augustine won't grow in certain areas, but that pesky weed that looks like St Augustine (crabgrass) will thrive in those dead spots. 👍

You could use ladies long hair pins to hold grass or plants down on the soil

Those would totally root when they want to. I don't use water I just take a screw driver and make a hole. Then I push the node into the ground and water them. All mine have rooted no problem. I use huge runners and never have an issue. I have also had great success in my test pots with root compound in three weeks my runners had rooted 3x3 plug seedling trays to the point where there was roots coming completely out of the bottom and fully rooted out the 3x3 square

So your planting the root and letting the top of the runner stick out of the ground? Once you cut them how long before you can cut the area with a lawn mower?

Great video! Thank you. I’ve been doing this for years. Now I take my runners and pot them in 4” long by 2” cylinders (I use 2” pvc works perfectly) then when roots are well established I go out with the ole pro plugger and fill in thin areas or where weeds were previously treated.

try planting a patch of saint augustine grass that is 3 x3 it will spread faster the bigger it is

That should work well, and better than my previous method, which was only about 25% effective. My method was simply pulling up runners and then transplanting the end with the roots in a deep slit in the ground, and then watering every day. (I had used this method in a new house back in 1983, where the backyard had no Saint Augustine, and after about a year, I had Saint Augustine all over the backyard. It's not working as well this year in my current house because of a drought.) The area is right by the street where water main repairs last fall had required digging up about a 3' x 8' strips of land in four yards, including mine. After doing this transplanting about four times starting eight weeks ago, the area now is mostly covered in Saint Augustine and other grasses. One time, I soaked the area with dilute root stimulator, but don't know how effective that was. Because I am under water rationing right now, I can't do anymore transplanting until the rationing is lifted. By then, hopefully the area will be totally covered in grass. But if more is needed, I will try the method shown in this video. Thanks.

I did this last yr to grow grass between pavers, some died. I did dig about an inch in straight line n covered with compost. But im glad to see Im not the only one trying this. It was well worth the watch to learn the paper clip trick bc now I have a thick mass of clover, i raked n pulled up some so I could put stolons there, redirecting the stolons. I didn’t have the extra cash for a broadleaf herbicide and that clover is choking out my grass, otherwise the grass would take root like it did in other places. Hmmm, maybe I should place a large flagstone over runner so grass takes root, n hopefully the clover dies. I hope your bare spots have filled in by now. Happy summer!

i am so grateful for your video, this is just the knowledge I am seeking, thank you to you and to the commentor that informed you. 🙂

Did the runners turn yellow 2 days after planting???

This seems to be great advice. Thank you, and I will give this a try.

You should have tilled the soil and fertilized it. Also do this in late spring

How is this spot doing since last August? I have a few spots I need to fill in here in the Houston area and I like your idea. Curious what happened to this spot after the freeze in February.

Is that a snakee

I've been doing this too, but the lawn guys in my neighborhood are too heavy handed and won't stay off for enough time. So what I do it wake them up in water like you show here and then cut the segments and plant them in the plastic cube trays that plugs come in. After a few weeks the roots are all over the place and have a better change of surviving the lawnmower and worker boots. Also I've learned that the miracle grow hose sprayer works wonders on St Augustine and will cause growth within hours. Within days I've seen so many exposed runners that I can open my own sod farm using this method. The miracle grow spray gets the plugs to grow faster and get those roots going.

Outstanding! I have been pulling them from the actual turf, usually at the edges and then planting them in bare spots with little success!

Will this work the same with kikuyu runners?

This is the video I’ve been looking for. I saw it weeks ago and I have been letting my runners grow into the driveway and flower beds so I could harvest them and employ this technique. Thank you. A lot of my lawn died in the freeze we had in the Gulf south in early spring.

Awesome is not the word I would describe your grass.