Newyard starter – posted 17 August 2004 02:26
Hi:
Backyard is 50/50 weeds and Floratam. Plan to resod or plug (depends upon costs). How do I kill the weeds (sedge, kyllinga, crabgrass and assorted broadleafs) before doing anything? I don’t mind losing the Floratam now to avoid fighting sedge and crabgrass in the future. Location is central Florida. Thanks for any suggestions.
Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 03 September 2004 11:11
Look at this product for killing crabgrass.
http://www.crabgrassalert.com/index.htm
Or you could let it go another few weeks and it should die out by itself.
Generally you can prevent weeds by proper watering and mowing. Here is the 123 of turf care. I learned these from reading a few thousand posts on various Internet forums.
1. Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an hour in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds.
2. Mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. Bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses are the most dense when mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. Dense grass shades out weeds and uses less water when tall. Dense grass feeds the deep roots you’re developing in 1 above.
3. Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 4 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above.
So basically I would not try to eliminate the current grass. I’d try the product at the link and then just start watering and mowing like I said above.