AgriLIFE Extension -Denton County

                                                                                                                                                306 N. Loop 288, Suite 222

                                                                                                                                                 Denton, Texas 76209-4887

February 14, 2008

                        STOP STUBBORN LAWN WEEDS THIS SPRING

 Contact:  John N. Cooper, County Extension Agent-Horticulture, 940.349.2883

  e-mail: jn-cooper@tamu.edu

          Nothing looks, feels or smells quite like a fresh mown lawn.  A uniform carpet of green can do more to beautify your home than almost any other feature of your landscape but is often spoiled by weeds.  If you want a beautiful lawn this summer, you will need to stop weeds this spring.

          Good culture is the foundation of a good weed control program.  Manage your fertilizer, water, and mowing so the turf grows thick and it will naturally crowd out the competition.  For many people, good culture is enough to provide the level of weed control they desire.  For others, culture alone just isn’t enough and herbicides are used to get the job done.

          Henbit, chickweed, dandelions and other cool-season broadleaf weeds germinated last fall and are now actively growing and will persist through early summer.  Post-emergent herbicide products containing dicamba, 2,4-D and MCPP will control them now but the larger they get the harder they will be to control.

          For cool-season grassy weeds in bermuda, homeowners have glyphosate which also controls broadleaf weeds but will cause severe damage to your turf if it is not completely dormant.  Commercial lawn service companies have materials that control cool-season grasses and are much safer to use on bermuda than glyphosate.

          Seeds of warm-season lawn weeds will soon be germinating, and if you have a low tolerance  for lawn weeds you can minimize them with a pre-emergent herbicide applied in early March.  If your summer annual weeds are generally grassy weeds, use benefin, pendimethalin, dithiopyr, or oryzalin.  If they are mostly broadleaf weeds, isoxaben, oryzalin, or pendimethalin, would be best.  If you have both types, use pendimenthalin or oryzalin.

          Pre-emergent herbicides are never 100 percent effective so you will want to evaluate your weed situation in late April and apply post-emergent herbicides if necessary, while they are still young.  Control warm-season broadleaf weeds with products containing 2,4-D.  Trimec® which contains 2,4-D, dicamba, and MCPP is the most common post-emergent herbicide in use today.  For warm-season grassy weeds, MSMA is available for use in bermuda.

          Make sure your turf types are on the label of the product you buy.  Read and follow all label instructions for safe, effective, and lawful use.  Measure your yard, measure your herbicide, apply the proper rate, and apply to the lawn area only.  Don’t contaminate streets, driveways, or sidewalks.

          Because herbicides are plant killers they can stress your turf.  On normal, healthy turf, they are no problem if the proper rate is applied.  On turf that is not yet established or that struggled last summer from drought, insects, diseases, or a combination of these, which is true for most St Augustine in the area, it would be best to skip the pre-emergent herbicide this spring.

          Never apply granular lawn chemicals just before it rains.  You cannot control the rate of rainfall and invariably some of the chemicals wash down the street, wasting your product and polluting the environment.  Avoid this by simply watering the product into the lawn following your application.  Granular products are not activated until they are watered into your lawn anyway.                       

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The information given herein is for educational purposes only.  Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by AgriLIFE Extension is implied.

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