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St. Augustine lawn weedkillers?

10,069 Views | 51 Replies | Last: 17 yr ago by B-1 83
mattj49
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Does anyone know of a good weed-killer for St. Augustine lawns? I have a pretty bad chickweed problem. I have tried 'Image' to no avail. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Caladan
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I've had good luck with the stuff from Bayer....
Funky Winkerbean
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Get the hose-end sprayer weedkiller with 2,4 D in it.
B-1 83
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Ask the Agronomist(TM) says ....

Chickweed and Oxalis (usually mistaken for clover) are 2 perennial weeds that are buggers to get out of St. Augustine. This is one case where I will recommend atrazine, but by all means get the Weed-b-Gone grnaules and spot treat. Many of the foliar treatments will scald St. Augustine (even when the label says they won't).
Cowtown Red
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I always just used Bonus-S spring and fall, and my St. Augie's looked great.

Now I'm in West Texas and I have no idea what to put on my bermuda.
B-1 83
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Bonus S simply contains atrazine - but when you spread it all over, you spread atrazine all over - under you trees, bushes, flower beds, the rivers, lakes, streams, etc ...... It will work just fine on bermuda, but it is like taking a powerful oral antibiotic for a small cut, rather than using neosporin and a band aid.
Cowtown Red
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What do you recommend on my bermuda?

I rented a house in the Permian basin that had not been watered all summer last year. I'm hoping the bermuda comes back, but the weeds are thriving.

this is the first time I've had anything other than a St. Augie's lawn. What should I use?
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B-1 83
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Serious "it depends" questions. If the weeds are winter annuals, use Weed-b-Gone through a hose-end sprayer on the bermuda. It is really tough and will take about anything you can throw at it. Fertilize with a good quality fertilizer (not CO-OP brand) such as Scott's or Bayer in a few weeks, then again at the start of June, and once more in the fall. My other (and favorite) choice is to hit it with a quality organic like Texas T, Medina Pelleted, Gardenville Soil food, etc ..... now (since you don;t know the history from last fall). Use the same schedule the first year as above.

Augustine is tough to deal witgh when it comes to weeds. Way too many of the over the top sprays end up either not working, or smoking the augustine at the same time as the weeds. This is one of the absolute few times I will ever recommend weed-n-feed products for the start up of a long term program on Augustine. Use it if you must, but keep it out of your flower beds and away from your shrubs. Use it the one time in the spring, then switch to something else (above) later in the year. From now on, spot treat or use a pre-emerge like Balan in the early fall and early spring until you have the weeds to a minimum.
Finn Maccumhail
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B-1: what are your thoughts on the Scott's "Weed & Feed for Southern Lawns" product?

I picked up a bag of the granules for spreading on the lawn this past weekend from Lowe's. I did notice that Atrazine was one of the components. The labels recommended it for St. Augustine grass especially.
B-1 83
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See above. Unless you are just starting with an augustine lawn that is a perennial weed disaster, I have a hard time broadcasting atrazine.
Finn Maccumhail
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Like I've said over on the other sandbox, I'm dealing with a yard that was brand new sod in late September as we bought a new house.

Over the winter, the sod has been dormant (dead?) but there has been widespread growth of weeds and want to head this off during my first spring in the house.
Funky Winkerbean
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Weed b Gone through the hose end sprayer. Don't spray on a windy day. Works every time for me.
Funky Winkerbean
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If it is a grassy weed-use the atrazine.
B-1 83
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quote:
If it is a grassy weed-use the atrazine.

Why would he want to do this since atrazine does nothing to emerged grassy weeds and is marginal as a pre-emerge on grasses?

You probably have a slug of cool season annuals, Finn. Be patient, fertilize, mow, and they will be gone in a couple of months. If the grass is really dormant (which it might well be) and you are not patient, get the Weed-B-Gone (for southern lawns - IMPORTANT) and use it over the top.
Finn Maccumhail
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I got the Scott's Weed & Feed for Southern Lawns. Is that OK?
Ezra Brooks
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Finn,

I mentioned it in the other sand box and I'll do it here as well - Goolge Randy Lemmon, KTRH Gardenline.

This guy does a weekly raido show in Houston and you can go to his website and sign-up for his weekly e-mail that has tips about what to be putting out and when.

His tip last week was about controlling some of the weeds that are starting to pop up with post emergents (he recommneds a couple of products) and his fertilization schedule.

His advice is never very different that B-1's, and he's an Ag, so you can count on his recommendations.
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mattj49
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Excellent info - thanks from the OP
Funky Winkerbean
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quote:
does nothing to emerged grassy weeds


Atrazine does have post emergent activity. Its sister chemical, Simazine used to be a popular herbicide for golf course use. It has a short residual but will work. My other suggestion would be Image and Weed B Gone.
mattj49
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I just applied a pre-emergent herbicide containing Dimension to my St. Augustine grass, per Randy Lemmon. My question is this: should it be watered in immediately or at all? We are expecting rain tonight and for the next several days and I thought this might be sufficient. However, I know some fertilizers says water in immediately.

There is nothing on the package that says it must be watered in.

Thanks guys/gals!

[This message has been edited by mattj49 (edited 3/10/2009 6:52p).]

[This message has been edited by mattj49 (edited 3/10/2009 7:30p).]
aggieturf04
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let the rain water it in for you.
McInnis 03
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Holy crap, I pulled about a 50 gallon trash can full of chickweed this weekend out of my St. Aug lawn.

I didn't know what it was until I looked it up on Google Image Search thanks to this thread.

Anytime I've tried to kill it, I've hurt the st aug so I simply got a rake and started scraping the hell out of it until it untangles from the St Aug, and then pulled it.

I think this will help my lawn immensely, it was just covering my st aug and robbing it of sun and I'm sure water too.
MasterAggie
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quote:
Many of the foliar treatments will scald St. Augustine (even when the label says they won't).


Thats no lie.
B-1 83
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quote:
Holy crap, I pulled about a 50 gallon trash can full of chickweed this weekend out of my St. Aug lawn.

Chickweed and Oxalis are 2 of the only weeds that I will call for first strike nukes on.
SR90
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I'm stuck with those, and henbit. I've got pretty little purple flowers over half my lawn.

At least I don't have the nutsedge problem I had last year. That sucks.


Cyprian
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While somewhat general, I think this is a useful link on how to approach your lawn. I think I originally found it somewhere on texags first if memory serves me right.

http://www.ktrh.com/pages/gardenline-lawn.html
Finn Maccumhail
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B1-83: I looked up pictures of both the chickweed and oxalis and those are the weeds I've got in my yard. I mowed on 2/28 and spread the Scott's Weed & Feed for Southern Lawns on 2/21 but it doesn't seem to have killed the weeds yet.

Any thoughts? I've still got some Weed & Feed granules left, how long should I wait to go nuclear on the weeds?
B-1 83
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Weed and Feed will take up to a month to start doing the job, especially with little or no rain/watering. It took 3 waterings and 3 weeks before my oxalis starting "paling out" from the granules.

Henbit is easy. Mow it, and it goes away with time.

[This message has been edited by B-1 83 (edited 3/11/2009 12:46p).]
McInnis 03
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My problem with Chickweed has been that it lays so low to the ground that the mower doesn't grab it.

Also, it so finely entangles itself into the st. aug that it simply smothers it out.

My wife says I've become obsessed with pulling it out now when I walk through the yard and notice it, but I figure it's going to work because the St. Aug will thrive once it's getting sun and water that the weed isn't robbing it of.

I'm going to become a huge pre-emerg activist now, as it HAS to be easier to prevent this stuff than to deal with it after the fact.
MasterAggie
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quote:
Chickweed and Oxalis are 2 of the only weeds that I will call for first strike nukes on.


I had never seen chcikweed anywhere in our neighborhood until that one bag of bird seed my damn neighbor decided to buy.
Expert Analysis
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B-1 83, any good tips for nutsedge? Thank fully it is not really in my lawn but real bad in a couple spots in flower beds.
B-1 83
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Roundup will work on nutsedge - just keep it off of the flowers. I use newspaper to keep the spray off the good stuff until it drys.

[This message has been edited by B-1 83 (edited 3/11/2009 1:15p).]
Matteus
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Ok, good thread so far. I need to take it on a side track real quick though. Still about St. Aug, but a totally different prob.

Backstory- I got a Boxer puppy last Feb. She is 1 now. (Hiedi)

Hiedi came home last Feb (02/08) and a very crazy thing started happening. Everywhere she pee'd the grass dies. I mean, down to the dirt kinda dead. Has anyone ever had this problem? I've had dogs my whole life and never seen dog pee kill grass in a single squat. I mean, every spot she pee's, every single one, the grass dies. Like she is peeing acid or something.

Now, one conflicting issue. I had the house built in 11/07 so the grass was not but a few months old and I'm wondering if it that the roots are not deep enough into the dirt yet or something along those lines.

Finally - What can I do to repair the damage?
Funky Winkerbean
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quote:
Finally - What can I do to repair the damage?



Just follow sound practices for maintaining the yard. Other than that, welcome to pet ownership. Next time, get a male dog as they don't pee in the same spot everytime.
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