St. Augustine Weed & Feed

Fred – posted 18 May 2004 16:07

Is st. augustine weed & feed normally safe for bermuda grass?

My neighbor has been using it on his yard which he claims is bermuda. I do not think that is what he has. The stuff he has been using does an awesome job of killing the weeds in his lawn. So much so that he has big bare spots now after using it a few weeks ago. Any opinions?

ted – posted 18 May 2004 20:47

if we can be more specific about exactly what grass he has, and exactly which product you’re referring to.

Fred – posted 19 May 2004 08:32

I do not know what type of grass he has and he just uses whatever brand is on sale.

What will it do to my Bermuda? That is what I want to know. I have weeds EVERYWHERE and have tried the concentrated sprays. Nothing I have tried works!

ted – posted 19 May 2004 17:01

you need to find out what “it” is. chances are, he’s just overapplying normal store bought products. If he has killed sections of his yard, why would you want to do that to your yard? good maintenance practices of watering, mowing, and fertilizing correctly will eliminate most weeds. When I hear a customer comment about weed problems, they usually don’t have a weed problem, they have a grass problem. If what you have are standard broadleaf weeds, store bought 24d type products will work ok, you just may have to do multiple applications. make sure to follow label instructions, of course. there’s a lot of talk on this board about weed control. we have to understand the difference between “controlling” weeds, with the correct product, vs. “burning” the weeds and causing more of a problem with the lawn. you can kill weeds all day long with gasoline, but look at the damage you would do to your lawn! correct weed ID, proper fertilization using soil tests, watering, proper grass selection, and mowing make all of the difference.

Alex_in_FL – posted 10 June 2004 19:53

Fred: St Augustine weed and feed usually contains atrazine and is not recommended for actively growing bermuda lawns.

Why would you want to use St A weed and feed on a bermuda lawn? Probably would be okay in early spring before green up but again, why would you do it?

Fred – posted 10 June 2004 20:45

I would only like to use it because it really kills out all his weeds. The bare spots left in his yard is were where there were mainly weeds and no good grass. It thinned out alot of his yard, but what it always thinned out were weeds. His grass and runners were left unharmed.

Alex_in_FL – posted 12 June 2004 11:03

Are you sure he has bermuda? Atrazine will turn bermuda brown and kill some of it.

For best results, get a basic weed killer labeled for use on bermuda and spray the worst areas. Then in two weeks spot spray the remaining weeds.