Weeds, weeds, and more weeds (and maybe fungus)

mrwizard93 – posted 17 March 2008 05:16

I have owned a brand new home for about 3+ years now and have gone from a poor, deficient installation of St. Augustine lawn, to a semi-managed, weeds in few places, lawn, to a botanical nightmare. My home is located in Miami Dade county, Florida on the western fringe of “civilization” there i.e. i am a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Everglades.

My lawn was installed over compacted limestone fill, with only 1-3 inches of topsoil cover. I feel that this was not enough and provided little to no moisture storage, drainage, and/or topsoil for the lawn and its roots to take a hold of. Now this is just my rookie idea but I think the solution to this problem, from what I would surmise, would be for me to rip out the lawn and install a new one, over a nice layer of sand and soil. This is too much work and I do not have the time or money right now to do this.

I have decided to continue the battle over the weeds and would like to ask for help. I have a number of different weed types present and would like some help identifying them and finding treatment methods. I took some pictures of the various weeds and put them on a photo site (http://picasaweb.google.com/mrwizard93/LawnCare). Please feel free to comment there or on here, whichever is easiest. These weeds have been a problem for 2 years now. I have tried Lesco and Scotts weed and feed to no avail. Is it that these areas are beyond repair?

I also have a problem with a type of grass that has some thin leaves that drive me INSANE. I have tried removing it by hand and all it does is continue growing and taking over patches of lawn. I also included a picture of this in the site.

I also have a problem (I know you have heard this one before) with areas showing a distinct yellowing. I think it comes from a fungus and I have started a fungus treatment as of last week. I am hoping that this will help the situation by making my lawn less susceptible to weeds in these areas and thus not being a base for spreading weeds.

I fertilize occasionally and cut my lawn every other week during the summer months. I Use weed and feed occasionaly and de-weed manually as much as I can withouth passing out.

I would appreciate anyone that would like to chime in and offer their advice and help.

Thank you,

tgrass1 – posted 04 April 2008 10:32

A healthy lawn will naturally combat weeds and disease. The yellowing may be an iron deficiency in your soil. Get your soil tested to see where you stand there first. Usually you local county agent can do this for a small fee. As for the weeds you have to be persistant and determined. If you have an infestation of many different types of weeds try to find a selective herbicide that will control the most. Don’t expect results overnight, be patient…sometimes more than one application is required especially if you have a bad problem. A few tips when applying a liquid herbicide to increase it’s success: Don’t mow you grass for a couple days before you apply and don’t mow it for 3-4 days after you apply. Why? Most weed killers are systemic and work through the foliage of the plant and work best when the plant is activly growing. You want to have a good leaf surface area when you spray and you want to give it time to work it’s way through the plant. Also not to apply if a rain is expected within 48 hours. Most herbicides can be washed off the plant reducing the effectiveness of the kill. Some require watering in. Be sure to consult the lable for those specifics.

Patients, persistance, and determination along with the correct herbicide applied correctly should do the trick.

Good luck!

Alex_in_FL – posted 06 April 2008 04:32

Busey of University of FL did a 3 year study and found that regardless of the agricultural practices, herbicides are necessary to keep a monoculture.

You made the typical mistakes so don’t feel bad.

Here is the strategy for success:- Apply a preemergent NOW (and again in February next year).- Apply atrazine to your lawn- Apply a slow release fertilizer about a week later- about 2-3 weeks after the fertilizer apply Image- Post what the lawn looks like in mid May and we’ll go from there.- water deeply when you water but water infrequently.

Best of luck to you.

mrwizard93 – posted 09 April 2008 07:03

You know i tried Image once with limited success if at all. I did notice that the areas i sprayed had stunted growth, but the weeds (crabgrass) amazingly stayed put. Don’t know if i sprayed incorrectly or what.

I will be following your recommendations closely.

BTW – I treated for fungus and it seems to be working on the thin and yellow areas that i thought had fungus – which is GREAT. Although some smaller areas still have some yellowing, but this is very limited now. I will be treating them this weekend.

Now, the dayflower is busting my butt and driving me nuts. From one week to the next, you can have a ton of the stuff all over with shoots traveling all over the place. I have resorted to trying to take them off by hand some as an added angle of attack. The weed and feed does have an effect but they come back in no time. They thin and dry out then return in a matter of weeks. Does a flamethrower work???

The other weeds are thinning in most places and starting up in others. I don’t know if this is right, but my experience has shown that you have to fertilize with weed and feed almost monthly in Florida. I seem to have a better response when i am on top of it like that than when i try the seasonal fertilizing and weeding. Any comments?

Thanks for your help!!!