Hi Happy Gal,
This is an organic forum, so you won't find us suggesting that you use a regular grass killer. It might work on the grass but you can be sure that it will also kill off some of the beneficial microbes in your soil. Once you start using the chemicals, you begin a vicious cycle of abuse in the yard. I will suggest a plan that seems to get rid of weeds.
First of all, whatever you have is either several weedy species or you have perennial rye grass. Winter rye dies out in the early to mid spring.
Secondly, it is important to know what grass you have and what you want to keep. Bermuda and St Augustine are cared for differently, so knowing what you have is sort of key.
1. Water deeply and infrequently. This will develop deep roots in your grasses and will allow shallow rooted grasses and weeds to die out. If your weed is rye, this won't do anything, but it will help your grass to become as healthy as it can be. Deep watering means you leave the water on for an hour or more at a time in each zone. Infrequently means you let the top of the ground dry out hard between irrigation. This lets the grass feed from the deep roots and the weeds die out. In the heat of summer you should not be watering more often than weekly. Watering every day for 5 minutes is the worst thing you can do (best for weeds). This time of year you should be watering monthly. The plants don't need it but the soil microbes do.
2a. Mulch mow St Augustine as high as possible every mowing. Never drop the deck height down for any reason. The only reason to mow a grass short is when you want to reseed and St Augustine does not grow from seed, so you never need to drop it. What this tall grass does is shade out the soil and keep it cool. It also shades the weed seeds in the soil so that they cannot sprout. The third thing it does is shade the growing weeds so they have more trouble getting enough sunlight.
2b. If you have bermuda, mulch mow it as LOW as possible and never change the setting. The best bermuda mowers are reel type mowers. Set your rotary mower for the lowest setting but set your reel mower for 1/2 inch. When you do that, the bermuda will start to grow horizontally and develop into a dense carpet that is very soft to your bare feet. That dense carpet will keep the soil shaded just like tall St Augustine will.
3. Fertilize regularly with an organic fertilizer. Compost is good for the soil but is not considered a great organic fertilizer. An organic fertilizer will have ground up seeds, beans, and nuts in it. The ingredients will read something like: cottonseed meal, corn meal, alfalfa meal, soy bean meal, etc. Even coffee grounds (ground beans) make an excellent organic fertilizer. I use ordinary ground up corn meal for a fertilizer. I can get 50 pound bags of it for $6.50 at a feed store. I also like alfalfa meal or pellets. I would use cottonseed meal but the cost is too high in my neighborhood and I'm afraid of the herbicides they get treated with. The application rate for all ground grain type organic fertilizers is 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Use it 3 or 4 times a year spread out over the season, depending on how much you can afford. Bermuda will like it more often. St Augustine will respond to more frequent use but it is not needed.
4. Stop using synthetic chemical insecticide, fungicide, and herbicide around the house. There is an organic solution for almost every problem. Once you start using the chemicals, you become dependent on them. The reason for that is that the chemicals kill off the beneficial microbes and insects that were controlling your pests for you. You may not have noticed but when you kill off the wasps, the caterpillars come in with a vengeance. If you spray the caterpillars, the birds stop coming. When the birds stop coming, the grasshoppers have a free lunch. Everything is interdependent. The first step in recovery is to stop using the chemicals.
If you follow this program, your weeds should take care of themselves without you spending a lot of time digging or worrying about them.
_________________ David Hall Moderator Dirt Doctor Lawns Forum
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