Welcome to the site.

Do you live in a neighborhood with an HOA? Im assuming you do since it was a fine, not a warning. Some HOAs are forgivable, others however can be very strict. Im talking about going to your lawn with a ruler. IMO, if you need a ruler to tell if your grass is too tall, then its NOT too tall.

This can be annoying because your lawn may be cut but you have a few bermuda shoots shooting out, you were sick that weekend, or possibly in this case, its been raining non stop several weeks, which results in rapid grass growth, and the inability to mow. Last time I mowed, I had to avoid areas that still had standing water.

I am very lucky and do not have an HOA. There has been many times when our grass (including neighbors) really needs to be cut but we just too busy. This is because, unlike most people in Flower Mound, we cant afford to (or just rather not) hire someone to come our every week and cut it for us. And the only time we have is on the weekends, and if its raining, or we're too busy, guess what?

What neighborhood is this? Are you able to submit a photo? You say in the middle of a cul-de-sac? That sounds more like the neighborhoods property instead of the cities. An area which HOA due should be spent taking care of such areas. And if it is, that sounds like something that should be mentioned in the next HOA meeting, or just simply reported. Unless its one of those "texas native" landscaping, where the grass is supposed to be that tall. The definition of a "weed" is any plant life that grows were it is not wanted, and if it was planted, odds are, its not a weed.

If you got fined for it, I suspect a neighbor reported you. The city has better things to do then to patrol every street with ruler. Sometimes if someones selling a house, a realtor may try to "clean up" the street to help the house sell faster. I recall when one house went for sell, I got a warning for having two junked vehicles (one we were working on, and one, which looked nice and operable) my next door neighbor got a warning for parking his trailer on the grass, and the guy across from me got in trouble for his RV, which he was grandfathered in since hes lived there forever. Check your street, see if there are any "for sale" signs.

If the city does in fact own the grass in the cul de sac, report it. They may not know about it. One of the issues I have is the mound itself. I can understand letting the grasses grow tall, because if you mowed, all the flowers would be cut, but outside the fenced in area, THAT should be mowed.