how to kill grass and weeds

mich – posted 21 July 2003 21:32

We’re trying to kill all weeds and unwanted grass so that we can plant new grass seed. We have tried Round-up many times and all I see is little brown patches and lots of green weeds and grass (nothing is dying). Is there any other method that you can recommend before i go crazy :-}

redbird – posted 22 July 2003 06:29

I have had MUCH better luck killing off areas of lawn/weeds using Spectracide (or a combination of Roundup and Spectracide). Be advised – the pre-mixed Roundup is useless. It won’t kill much of anything except the easiest-to-kill grasses/weeds. To kill any tough grasses/sedges/weeds you have to buy the professional strength concentrate and dilute it for use yourself at the strongest recommended level (2.5 oz. per gallon).

I had a contractor who worked for my home-builder apply Roundup 4 times to try and kill a mixture of bermuda/red sedge/centipede/bahia that they had planted throughout my yard (planted against my instructions.) It wouldn’t die. As an experiment, I tried killing off different areas using a mixture of Roundup/Spectracide in some areas and straight Spectracide (again, from concentrate) in other areas. In both areas, I had success. Everything died within 2 days. I waited a week and sprayed the few green sprouts that popped up. No more troubles.

Mike

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 22 July 2003 11:21

What kind of grass do you want, and what kind of weeds and unwanted grasses to you have? There might be an easier way to kill the stuff or you might not have to. Or, it might be you’re fighting a losing battle against weeds/grasses that resist being killed.

Brad – posted 24 July 2003 15:03

I would have to second Redbird’s comments. Having used both Roundup and Spectracide at various times and on various types of grasses, Spectracide worked better, showed quicker results, and was cheaper.

Gator – posted 28 July 2003 09:10

just a question here…whats the active ingrediant in spectarcide thanks

redbird – posted 28 July 2003 10:10

I don’t have a label handy (I am sure that the product label could be pulled up at the manufacturer’s website using a search under the heading “spectracide,” but, it is a combination of various herbicides that kill in a variety of ways – rather than a simple glyphosate compound. Again – it provides an extremely quick kill on the toughest to kill grasses/weeds and is cheaper than Roundup.

Mike

Will-PCB – posted 28 July 2003 18:32

Ready to use: 0.593% Dimethylamine salt of 2,4-D; 0.287% Dimethylamine salt of MCPP; 0.066% Dimethylamine salt of Dicamba. Concentrate: 7.59% Dimethylamine salt of 2,4-D; 3.66% Dimethylamine salt of MCPP; 0.84% Dimethylamine salt of Dicamba.

Gator – posted 01 August 2003 07:43

thanks Will for the info…