Weeds?

[slcskihorn2]

Any recommendations for products to kill large quantities of weeds?? In particular, those damn thistles. I have a bermuda yard, so something that will kill everything BUT bermuda.

 

[mishatx]

dig up yard. re-sod

 

[stupidgringo]

I bought a weed-hound at Home Depot. It works great. Get them early and they're gone - seeds and all. I have fewer than half as many as last year even with all the rain.

 

[Brak]

People don't want to hear this but weeds are a sign of an unhealthy lawn. Apply a thin layer of compost in the spring and fall, water regularly, mow frequently and most weeds will go away. The grass will crowd out the weeds.

 

[TheRealBizHorn]

Brak has it. Top dress with compost. Better still: aerate your yard prior to adding compost. You can rent aerators or have it done for you. If you try this you will be amazed by the results.

 

[hornfan_82]

forgive my ignorance, but what does it mean to aerate a lawn?

 

[rksg1]

That's not ignorant, if you don't know, you don't know.

It's when you poke little holes all over the yard, usually by one of those machines that has a bunch of spikes on a roller.

This will allow your yard to breath (they use these on golf courses, if you play it is when it has all those little holes).

 

[TheRealBizHorn]

There are different types of aerators. The ones I have rented have steel tynes which pull plugs of soil out of the yard. Less effective types simply push spikes into the ground, compacting the soil around the spike hole. Since increasing oxygen flow/reducing soil compaction is the goal of aeration, the type which pulls out plugs is preferrable.

 

[slcskihorn2]

Yes, my yard is EXTREMELY unhealthy. I just bought the house in January, and the prior owner let it go. So, I'm starting anew.

The soil needs aeration, no doubt. Just like a golf course. First things first, I plan on killing the bastard weeds. I'd rather have brown spots, or no grass than weeds. Then I can allow the bermuda grass to fluorish, since it grows really fast and spreads really well once you fertilize. Aeration will come eventually.

 

[MirrOlure]

Fertilome Weed Free Zone.

Read the label, and use it on the "low end" of the recommended mixture.

It will be available only at specialty nursery and hardware stores..........not Home Depot or Lowes.

It's the best on the market............and that comes from a veteran of more than a decade of serious weed warfare.

 

[idigTexas]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[Brak]

Re: weeds in landscape beds. Mulch the beds and this will reduce the weeds. The ones that do pop up can be pulled up by hand (you have to do this regularly) or spray with 20% vinegar or roundup. Be carefull with the roundup so that it doesn' get on your bedding plants.

 

[idigTexas]

The problem with our beds is that we've gone with a southwestern desert approach (mostly cacti and succultents with a crushed granite top layer). Mulch wouldn't really work. We've been pulling them by hand, and we use Roundup or the equivalent where it is safe to do so, but it gets old. I guess that's just part of the deal.

 

[Traffic]

You could put down a layer of plastic in the beds and cover that with the crushed granite. That way, the weeds couldn't get to the soil. We did this in El Paso when we landscaped with stone. (It might be a hassle to do since the granite is already down, but it's a thought.)

I f'ing hate weeds. And, they are BAD right now.

 

[idigTexas]

Thanks. We thought of that too, but the landscaper who prepped the beds didn't feel that it was necessary. He gave several reasons that sounded legitimate at the time, though I can't really recall what they were.