Help me with weed control

[DennisH]

I'm declaring war on my yard this year and need some advice to get rid of weeds.

I have what I think is barnyardgrass, wild onion, wild violets, chickweed and broadleaf. This has taken over different section of my yard which is about 1 AC in size that I mow.

At this point I'm ready to try anything, I have a 40 Gal 3 PT sprayer, tow behind broadcast spreader and access to a 3 PT spreader so equipment is not a problem.

Any ideas? I have Burmuda grass and live in Huntsville AL.

 

[brin]

Dennis - I have all the same weeds you do and I have tried two different liquid weed killers with 2-4 D and it did nothing...I think it may take a granular weed killer..I have to try something different ...my Mrs. has told me to fix the weed problem...I will watch your thread and see if anyone has advice for us.

 

[oldnslo]

Do you have a local extension agency or Ag Co op like Conserve FS or Cenex, etc. The yare usually good sources for IDing weeds and recommending the appropriate weed control. Other consideration is pets or children. Do they play in this area and how long should you keep them off after applying the chemicals.

I have had good luck using a product called "Speed Zone" but be prepared it is around $80 a gallon or more.

 

[DennisH]

Well I do have pets and can keep them off the treated sections or do it in sections if need be. No children to worry about.

As for cost, at this point it doesn't matter but I don't want to (or think I need to) re-sod 1 AC.

Had one guy at work tell me that IF the Burmuda grass is dormant that I can use Roundup on the whole yard????????????????????????????? I DON'T WANT TO KILL THE GRASS, just the weeds.

Seems the wild violets drink 2 4 d like I drink my morning coffee.

 

[sam5570]

Dennis i don't understand unless your mixture is to week. i have some of the same weed's in you pic's and i use 2-4d on them in the spring and don't see them till late summer when it turn's dry and grass get's brown.my lawn is ky bluegrass and the bermuda is the hardest thing i ever tried to get rid of.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I use a glyphosate herbicide on my weeds year round...
It kills what ever it touches...
Kills down to the root...
Usually takes a week to see the results with 100% kill at the end of two weeks...
Lasts for approximately 6 to 8 weeks as weed seeds re-germinate....
I usually spray 3 times a year and average around 100 gallons per year...
I get the generic Round Up at Tractor Supply when it is on sale...
Usually a 2.5 gallon jug that mixes 2.5 oz. to 3.5 oz. per gallon of water...
This is 41% glyphosate concentrate...
If you mix it 3.2 oz. per gallon that 2.5 gallon jug will make 100 gallons of weed killer...
Very economical @ $39.95 per jug...

 

[sam5570]

I use a glyphosate herbicide on my weeds year round...
It kills what ever it touches...
Kills down to the root...
Usually takes a week to see the results with 100% kill at the end of two weeks...
Lasts for approximately 6 to 8 weeks as weed seeds re-germinate....
I usually spray 3 times a year and average around 100 gallons per year...
I get the generic Round Up at Tractor Supply when it is on sale...
Usually a 2.5 gallon jug that mixes 2.5 oz. to 3.5 oz. per gallon of water...
This is 41% glyphosate concentrate...
If you mix it 3.2 oz. per gallon that 2.5 gallon jug will make 100 gallons of weed killer...
Very economical @ $39.95 per jug...

yeah that's what i sprayed my fence with last year killed everything

 

[JimRB]

2-4d works on weeds for me. I live 35 miles east of Atlanta. You got to spray the weeds with the correct mixture when the weeds are going to absorb the poison. Warm sunny days right now and it might work. I have sprayed Roundup on my lawn and it works, but the Bermuda that was sort of dormant was knocked back. My 50 gallon sprayer will let me do about 4 acres. For small stuff like my yard I just put on the rubber boots and spray with my backpack sprayer.

 

[DennisH]

Thanks everyone, I'm going to put down some 2-4d since I still have some of that this weekend for starters and see how that works as we head into spring.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Do a soil test and see how that turns out. Grass here will out grow most weeds if it has all the goodies it needs to grow well.

 

[sam5570]

Dennis what you might be doing is spraying to early. remember if it has not germanated yet don't mater what you spray with it won't kill it.that's the only thing i can think of that would cause 2-4d not to work.

 

[CosmoAU]

Dennis, I live in Arab and spent 15+ years in the golf course maintenance industry so I'm familiar with the area. 2, 4-D will get your broadleaf and thats about it. The onion is probably wild garlic. Only difference is the stems are hollow, but it is a lot more common in our area. A 2, 4-D ester formulation will have some sucess on it and the henbit in your second pic. Also, will get the broadleaf. Not gonna touch the fescue in one of the pics though. You can spot spray it with roundup at label rate. If you want to broadcast roundup for a one spray solution, use about 2/3 label rate. It wont kill the bermuda. If it has any green down in the canopy, it may slow the spring green up but wont kill it. The garlic & henbit are the toughest. One spray wont kill all of it. It takes multiple apps in consecutive winters. A good spring pre emerge followed with a fall(early sept and again around thanksgiving) will do wonders for annual weeds. Unfortunately, the henbit, chickweed, and other broadleaf arethe only annual weeds in the pics. The others are perennials making them tougher. Need any more help, let me know ot pm me. Also, never go over label rate on ru. Its a waste of money, and actually less effective once you hit about 2x label rate and higher. By roundup, I'm meaning 41%+ glyphosate, not the wtered down stuff.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Dennis, I live in Arab and spent 15+ years in the golf course maintenance industry so I'm familiar with the area. 2, 4-D will get your broadleaf and thats about it. The onion is probably wild garlic. Only difference is the stems are hollow, but it is a lot more common in our area. A 2, 4-D ester formulation will have some sucess on it and the henbit in your second pic. Also, will get the broadleaf. Not gonna touch the fescue in one of the pics though. You can spot spray it with roundup at label rate. If you want to broadcast roundup for a one spray solution, use about 2/3 label rate. It wont kill the bermuda. If it has any green down in the canopy, it may slow the spring green up but wont kill it. The garlic & henbit are the toughest. One spray wont kill all of it. It takes multiple apps in consecutive winters. A good spring pre emerge followed with a fall(early sept and again around thanksgiving) will do wonders for annual weeds. Unfortunately, the henbit, chickweed, and other broadleaf arethe only annual weeds in the pics. The others are perennials making them tougher. Need any more help, let me know ot pm me. Also, never go over label rate on ru. Its a waste of money, and actually less effective once you hit about 2x label rate and higher. By roundup, I'm meaning 41%+ glyphosate, not the wtered down stuff.

100% correct on the mix rate...
I use 40 oz per 16 gal fill up...
That comes out to 2.5 oz. per gallon...
I get excellent results with it...
The 41% concentrate is the only way to go...

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Too bad we can't get MSMA anymore. It works on just about anything but bermuda seems like. But it takes 80 degree plus weather.

2-4-D I think works best in the heat too. You can use a wick type applicator for roundup if you want to get really selective.

 

[DennisH]

Thanks Cosmo, the henbit is by far my worst weed problem due to it covering such a large area in several locations so I will concentrate my efforts on that weed. The broadleaf and wild onion for the most part is located in one area about 20 ft sq so I can killed off or removed it much easier.

I will admit that I have let this get away from me by not staying on top of it due to other prioritys but this is the year to start getting ahead of all that. I know this will take a 2-3 good years to fix and I also need to get smarter on perennials, annuals, ester formulation, Pre-emergent, post-emergent etc.

I will check the Bermuda canopy for any greening and if it is truly still dormant I will go the RU route based on your 2/3 label rate using 41%+ glyphosate and treat the heavy problem areas at the least.

 

[CosmoAU]

Kyle, msma going away hurt, but some of it's replacements are pretty good. Drive is a great herbicide and the new liquid formulation(XL8R I think) works faster than the dry formulation. Celsius is also a good one. It is a sulfonyl-urea and some people consider them slow. Most of them actually kill the weed in 24-48 hrs but may take a week or so for the weeds to start browning out.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Kyle, msma going away hurt, but some of it's replacements are pretty good. Drive is a great herbicide and the new liquid formulation(XL8R I think) works faster than the dry formulation. Celsius is also a good one. It is a sulfonyl-urea and some people consider them slow. Most of them actually kill the weed in 24-48 hrs but may take a week or so for the weeds to start browning out.

Thanks, have to look into those. They advertise something around here to kill nutsedge. It costs like $30 for a small bottle.

You might also look into a residual like Dupont Cimarron. A little goes a long way.

 

[CosmoAU]

Most of the good stuff for sedges are sulfonyl-ureas or even newer chemistries. The key (with all chemicals used) is to rotate chemistries. Not just different products, but different active ingredients with different modes of action.

Add: I forgot to tell you drive's active is quinclorac. You can get a Speed Zone with quinclorac cant remember the name which is great. Speed zone is trimec (24, D, MCPP, and dicamba) that has carfentrazone added. This combined qith quinclorac gives a huge spectrum of weeds controlled.

 

[DennisH]

I did a soil test last year, below are the results (which I still need to do);

Recommendations for Bermuda Lawn:
Ground Agricultural Limestone = 2.0 tons/acre
Fertilizer N-P2O5 -K2O = 80-80-80 pounds/acre


I checked my soil temp and it's 49 degrees with no greening anywhere in the Burmuda, my only green ia lots of weeds.

I went to lowes today and had 2 choices for Roundup; Concentrate that was 18% Gyphosate and Super Concentrate that was 50.2% Gyphosate. The recommend mix rate for the 50.2% bottle is 2 1/2 oz per 1 gal water so that works out to 1.3 oz per 1 gal for the Cosmo cocktail.

I'm starting my attack on the yard starting tomorrow for good or bad, I'm going become Mr. **** about my yard.

 

[sam5570]

Dennis i don't know if i would spray the whole yard, i had the bermuda in my lawn witch i wanted to get rid of and it was so bad i sprayed the entire lawn with round up. the bermuda never came back for several year's, i reseeded the lawn with ky bluegrass that was about 10 year's ago.i would just hate for you to kill your entire lawn trying to get rid of the trash in it.