We have a nasty pest in Florida, one of many household plants that become invasive...asparagus fern. Not a fern, but a nasty, spiky vine with lots of tubers. They bear berries that birds carry off and really mess up hedges, etc. Cut to the ground, wait for new growth to reach about 3" and then paint with a brush and Roundup. Rather fussy, but much easier than trying to dig them up. Did same with a few lawn weeds that were tough. Would work nicely for the occasional dandelion.
Our lawn service and the neighbor's were surprised when we got rid of dollar weed (southern version) with Weed B Gone. Worked very quickly on a lawn that was covered with it. The little that remained was spot treated and S.A. grass fills in pretty quickly...good reason to use after fertilizing grass.
clipped
The first time I walked barefoot on St. Augustine grass it gave me creeps. I've gotten accustomed to most Florida stuff :o) Our condo lawn was half dead and badly neglected when we moved in, partly due to a broken down irrig. system. When my husband and I worked on it, it took a full two years to get rid of all of the nasty crap people had planted around patios, etc. We fert. 3x year, which is what U. of Fla. recommends for "medium maintenance" lawn. We got a lush, healthy weed free lawn. I'm not into spending all my time and money growing grass, but know proper practices will keep it healthy and attractive. I've watched other people dump bag after bag of poison on the lawn (which adjoins waterway) trying to kill fire ants....a little bit of Amdro, used properly, goes a long way. We never broadcast it, just sprinkle along pavement and around mounds. When we were spending a lot of time making repairs, we noticed how the bug populations ebbed and waned...lot of fire ants, no mole crickets. Mole crickets eat everything, but fire ants eat their babies :o)
You water with reclaimed water?
Nope. And don't water at all now...lol No grass and a lower water bill....still have to mow the damn weeds though. Gotta mow today after all the rain we had last week. Wish I could afford one of those artificial lawns.
Weed and Feed will kill St. Augustine grass.
It won't if you water it in. It will kill the grass only if it stays in the gress blades.
Wrong.
"Sand Spurs", we called them. As a kid we had "sand spur" fights. If you step on them bare footed, at the beach, they can be a PITA to get them out ;)
pic:
Not the same thing as what I'm talking about. Globe sedge.
The only solution is a "search and destroy" mission.
My experience with living where St. Augustine flourishes: A climate where everything else grows as well. One MUST mow their St. Augustine every week, or if you don't, you have to do more than one mowing to cut it down a little at a time. Where St. Augustine flourishes, people don't know what an irrigation system is, as there is plenty of moisture and rainfall to keep it going.
Hence, an abundance of weeds. You have gotten some good advice here with specific weeds. Your local nursery and co-op should be able to help you, too. Look into pre-emergent herbicides, and these, if applied at EXACTLY the right time, can cut down on a LOT.
Spendy, though.
HTH
Steve
And always cut with the mower deck at 4".
Whaaaaaat? Florida? Don't know anyone with S.A. grass who doesn't have an irrigation system....too much water in summer, none in winter. Last year, Tampa was so dry they got down to forbidding lawn watering. But, then, during the recent freeze the strawberry farms had to water to protect their crops and caused a rash of sink-hole collapses. Ah, paradise...pythons, fire ants, monitor lizards, poisonous toads, walking catfish, tourists.
Not if the grass is dormant when you apply it.
Jimmie
Ive only had to use roundup a few times on a newly sprigged lawn. This gave it the fighting chance it needed to take off. Only had chinch bug one time and Spectracide took care of that.
Jimmie
Just last week, became an open season on pythons and monitor lizards in Florida. Fire ants, walking catfish and Buffo toads have been there for years.
*Save the oranges and berries
Home 1 that I mentioned in this thread didn't have a sprinkler system.
When it needed watering I used the spikes.
One thing about that lawn though, it was lake front (back of house to the lake) and that part of the lawn looked awesome! Never had to do anything to it. And I'm talking about a LOT of St Augustine. Back yard was about 200' W by 150' D (depending on how high the lake was).
First thing I did after buying that home was go to Sears and buy a 42" riding mower.
How far down in Fl do you have to be for SA to stay green all year round?
I'm in Orlando, and home 1 stayed green all yr long. Just didn't have to mow it in the "winter".
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