GOT WEEDS?

These pesky problems are easy to overcome with a little education and planning.

Here is a little riddle for you. What is small and green, comes up every year and happily is growing in your yard right now? Grass? Sorry, wrong answer; try again. Give up? I am referring to all those weeds that are out in your lawn. You know, the weeds that have taken over your lawn and yard. At this time of year they are really the only things green and growing in your lawn.

Weeds are one – if not the number one – pest or problem found in home lawns. Most of the lawn grasses grown in central Alabama are of the warm season type. Grasses in this category include bermudagrass, zoysiagrass, centipedegrass and St. Augustinegrass. All go dormant in the winter. Weeds can invade these grasses at almost any time during the year but are more visible, and therefore a more noticeable, concern in the winter. When the grass is dormant, an untreated and/or neglected lawn can have several types of weeds that seem to have appeared overnight.

From dandelions to crabgrass to clover, all homeowners have weeds at some point or another, and all they want to do is get rid of them. Any plant growing in an unwanted area is considered to be a weed. For yards, this includes all plants other than the turfgrass that makes up the lawn. Even undesired grasses growing in the lawn, such as bermudagrass growing in a centipede lawn, are really weeds.

Knowing and understanding a little about the life cycle of weeds can help you determine the best control strategy to use. All weeds can be grouped as either winter or summer weeds based upon when they emerge in the lawn. Winter weeds pose huge problems because they emerge and thrive when the lawn is dormant and not in a competitive state. Summer weeds are a problem but tend to have to compete with the actively growing turfgrass lawn, as well as the summer heat.

Weeds can also be classified as annual, biennial or perennial.

Annual weeds complete their life cycles in a single year. Summer annual weeds germinate from seed in the spring of the year; grow continuously in the spring and summer; develop flowers, seeds and fruit during the late summer and fall; and die with the onset of frost.

Winter weeds germinate from seed during the late summer or fall; grow during the fall, winter and early spring; form flowers, fruit and seed during the spring; and die with the onset

of high temperatures in early summer. Examples of winter annual weeds include annual bluegrass, henbit and lawn GARDEN TALK burweed. Many of these specific weeds can be found in the lawn right now.

Biennial weeds complete their life cycles in two years. Typically during the first year, they germinate from seed; grow basal cluster leaves (rosettes) and a taproot; and overwinter in this stage. In the second year, these weeds produce leafy flowering stems; produce Shane Harris seeds; and die at the end of the second year. Examples include cudweed and thistles.

Perennial weeds are those that persist for many years in the same location. They germinate from seed; grow and form flowers, fruit and seed in a single year; and may even die back to the ground with the onset of stressful temperature conditions; however, perennial plants reproduce in other ways in addition to seeds. They form vegetative reproductive structures, such as fleshy taproots, creeping stolons and rhizomes or bulbs, tubers or nuts. Dandelions, for example, reproduce by seed and root segments. Common bermudagrass and bahiagrass reproduce by seed and by stolons and/ or rhizomes. Nutgrass, wild garlic and Florida betony reproduce by producing bulbs, tubers or nuts, in addition to seed.

For every problem, hopefully, there is some type of solution. Weed control, on the other hand, is an ongoing battle, but understanding the life cycle and biology of problem weeds will produce a plan of action. Your two basics options are either prevention or control.

The use of herbicides is a popular choice. Though spraying herbicides for weed control is only a shortterm solution, it is quite effective. A pre-emergence herbicide is applied to the lawn grass surface before weeds germinate and emerge from the ground. This is the prevention approach. These herbicides must be applied before weeds develop and come up; herbicides are ineffective when applied to emerged weeds. A post-emergence Common culprits: herbicide is applied after Previous page: A tip for managing weeds - never let them mature to flower and disperse seeds; Top: Henbit, a common winter weeds have emerged but while they are small and actively growing. This is the control approach because prevention was broadleaf weed, not done or failed. This is recognized by its type of herbicide is applied trumpet shaped purple to the leaf and stem tissue flowers; Bottom: Wild garlic stands alone and prominent in many brown dormant yards of the problem weeds. A non-selective herbicide, which is applied to the

foliage of weeds, kills all vegetation treated and will severely injure or kill desirable plants if they are exposed to it.

Note that most postemergence herbicides are temperature sensitive and are ineffective against weeds when it is cold and the temperature is below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Herbicides also rarely work against large and maturing weeds that have already begun flowering and seeding. Winter weeds will die once their life cycles come to an end with the warmer temperatures of spring.

From another perspective, a weedy yard indicates the lawn is not healthy or happy because a dense, healthy lawn is the best method of weed control. In such a situation, a desirable lawn grass can compete vigorously, and few problems would exist. Sound cultural or management practices, such as proper fertilization and liming, adequate watering, proper mowing height and correct sod selection for the site, will result in a dense, healthy and attractive lawn. The presence of weeds in a lawn generally indicates a problem with one of the cultural practices. In severe cases, these weeds may be covering the entire yard or actually makeup the lawn.

The problem might be due to disease or insects in the lawn, or it might be due to low soil pH. Generally, the cause for turf thinning must be identified and corrected before weed control measures are used. Two cultural practices frequently implemented by many homeowners lead to weed problems in an otherwise healthy lawn. Dethatching a warm-season grass too early in the spring will result in early spring weed problems in the sod. Close mowing of the grass in the fall before dormancy will lead to winter weed problems in sod. If the real problem is not

Unhappy lawn:

Top: Annual bluegrass, with its white seed heads, comes up everywhere and is difficult to control; Right: Lawn burweed, with spurred seeds in early spring, has become a major weed and pain in the foot corrected, the use of herbicides will provide only a shortterm fix, and in all likelihood, the problem will reoccur.

One final word of advice: Planning ahead and correct timing is critical for weed control and other problems that develop in a home lawn. Weeds that are up and growing now could have been prevented if action had been taken sooner. Most of the winter weeds found out in the lawn will mature and produce seeds, so they will return each year to be a problem again. Planning ahead and spraying a pre-emergence herbicide next fall could prevent many of next year’s weeds.

As another lawn season approaches, take time to do those little things to have a healthy, thick, green lawn. Forget about having the perfect lawn because that’s impossible. But doing and paying attention to just the little things will have a great impact on achieving a beautiful lawn.

For help on other home and garden questions, contact your local county Extension office or visit us online at www.aces.edu.

~ Shane Harris is the Extension coordinator for Tallapoosa County.