Texas – Bermuda, St. Aug, Crabgrass and Spurge

redtex – posted 29 August 2005 22:07

Hello. I’ve just moved to Dallas in July and am new to home ownership (and weed control). Hopefully someone can help with the following.

Backyard – BermudaCrabgrass mixed througout. Also have Spurge mixed in – mostly where a 12-14′ radius is where a prior above ground pool was located.

Frontyard – Bermuda and St AugustineCrabgrass mixed throughout.

I believe I have the weeds ID’s correctly from studying a link in a previous post: http://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/turfid/ . From the site it looks like Ronstar 50WSP would work for the whole yard but a Yahoo search lists it as only available to the pros.

Any advice on how to control these with a product available from HomeDepot, Lowe’s, etc? Any assistance is appreciated.

Buck – posted 30 August 2005 09:35

Speedzone Southern, available at Lesco, will take out the spurge no problem, and does a decent job on crabgrass in my 419.

redtex – posted 30 August 2005 18:13

Thanks. I’ll have to try to locate a Lesco’s. I did a Yahoo search on Speedzone Southern and it led me to another forum that indicated Speedzone should not be used if the temps are above 85 or 90 max. What area and time of year do you use it? I spoke to one of the local nurseries and they indicated to apply a crabgrass pre-emergent as the crabgrass should die off naturally here (Dallas) in the next month or so when the ground temp drops. They said to apply once every three months for 9 months and then drop back to twice a year (once in the spring and once in the fall). Any thoughts from anyone in a similar climate?

redtex – posted 30 August 2005 22:45

Sorry, didn’t mention the spurge…nursery provided a spray treatment (hose) but forget the name now.

Buck – posted 31 August 2005 10:05

Well they are certainly right that it is a whole lot easier to prevent crabgrass than deal with after it has sprouted; and it will die out in a couple/few months. And, you are correct, Speedzone is labeled for use at 85 or below. I look for a window when the temps may be in that range for a couple of days and then apply the treatment. The stuff is rain proof in 8 hours so if some cool weather is coming in behind a storm, spray the weeds, let it rain and if the temps then go backup in a couple of days it should be no problem. BTW, I spot spray the weeds, I do not use a hose end sprayer and hit the whole lawn. But your infestation may be worse then I have experienced.

redtex – posted 10 September 2005 23:00

i’m back. my dad came over and id’d the other non-friendly (he actually did it over the phone but stopped by to confirm). i have nut grass (also callled nutsedge). will this die out when the ground cools or is there somthing i should be spreading/spraying for it? i bought a grub hoe today and am going to knock out the 10′ x 10′ area where the nutgrass and spurge have taken over the most (where the pool previously was). i just don’t want it back.

Turfmiester – posted 10 September 2005 23:10

Get yourself some (CERTAINTY) by Monsanto 1.25 ozs./acre with 1 quart of non-ionic surfactant/100 gallons water in tank mix

If using a hand held sprayer use at rate of0.8 grams/gallon. Covers about 1000 sq. ft.