Lawn Weeds Questions
 

Just returned last week from 5 months up north. Generally the lawn looks pretty good, but I have an area where these weeds are taking up residence. St. Augustine grass, this area gets full sun, most of the day.

We have Bates doing our lawn fertilization and weed control. I called them today and they said my contracted service takes care of all weeds except "crabgrass"....
I was also told that service comes once every two months, and I am due this month for a service.

First question I have is do you think it's within the normal range of service expectations that even if I'm on schedule with my service, that these weeds can infest like this in between services?

2nd question, can you identify these weeds?

3rd question, any suggestions going forward besides waiting for Bates to do the next service and seeing what happens?

Thanks,

I just had this same issue with the weeds you are showing in your photo. I used Spectracide Weed stop for lawns "with Atrazine". I bought it at Ace Hardware. Easy to use as you hook the spray bottle on your garden hose and apply. After application, do not water or mow for at least 5-7 days to let this product work its magic. NO MORE WEEDS, perfect. Do it now as it looks like no rain for several days.
Waiting for your lawn service company is like waiting for the government to take care of all your needs. I have found that most of these lawn service companies are in good at one thing, taking your money.

This site might help. Plant Identification - Apps on Google Play
For sure they are not all crab grass and I would say in a lawn they are weeds.

Be sure to get the one that states it is for St Augustine/Centipede (if that is the grass you have) otherwise, you will be replacing ALL of your grass.

The third one is perslane.

the middle photo is nutsedge
Sedges - University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

The top one might be pusley. It would have six pointed star flowers
Pusley Control in Florida Turfgrass | Gardening in the Panhandle

Attachment 95522
Crabgrass.

Two of the three you show are not Crabgrass for sure.

PS. Just seen the photo for Nutsedge.

None of those photos is Crabgrass then!

St Augustine grass is similar to crabgrass, we hate it but what can you do. If we find an issue with weeds or bugs we call Deans and they are there within 24 hours no matter when the next treatment is due. Weeds can grow fast.

First of all, thanks to everyone for your helpful responses.
Specifically, for Gary, I take it you have been happy with Deans? We are not overwhelmed with Bates. When I called with my concern the response was "you are scheduled this month" and not "we'll send someone out right away". I suppose I could have been a bit more forceful, and probably should have been.

We bought the pre-owned home 2 years ago (come February), and the previous owner was using Bates so we just extended what she had. We use them for pest control around the perimeter (does not include termites) and lawn fertilization and weeds. Our yearly bill for both services is $516, and they come every two months.

And as I say, we have a nice weed patch in one area, so either that's normal, or the Bates treatment is not up to standards.
What services does Deans provide for you, and how does the cost and efficacy compare. BTW, we have a corner lot.

Laker.....I have Arrow ( formally Falcon) and used to have Bates. Bates did not cut it for me either, but Arrow is great and they also do the pest control around the house. I had them come back once to treat an especially bad area and they came the next day....no charge. Also, no contract

Every 2 months is not enough mine does every 6 weeks and will come out if I have a problem. Most only spot treat and don’t spray the whole lawn so miss a lot of weeds in the lawn. I use Landsculpture for mowing, trimming shrubs, pest control, fertilizing lawn and shrubs. Trimming 4 times a year, pest control, weed control and fertilize lawn and shrubs every 6 weeks. They mow and edge the lawn every week for a $159 a month one guy to call to do it all.

Superior Pest Service 17 years as most of our neighbors on our cul de sac....no problems.

FertiGator treatments practically eliminated the weeds in our lawn
 

One can almost tell which lawn in our neighborhood is serviced by FertiGator- these lawns have fewer weed patches and the grass looks healthy and lush. No the cheapest company but you get what you pay for.

Tru Green
 

I use Tru-Green every other month service. Charges about $55 for each service and lawn looks great. In between I fertilize myself.

Have ours done by Massey. I contract annually because it is cheaper than “by the application or monthly”. I saw some of these weeds pop up. Gave them a call and they were here the next day. Their technician inspected the lawn and treated it right away. He also applied fertilizer as we were scheduled for that next week anyway.

Weeds
 

Yeah the three most common in our lawns and none of them are crabgrass

Q1 - I would not be happy with the service company if this was my yard and would ask the company to come out and look at it and retreat.

Q2 -
The weeds pictured appear to be Florida pusley, Kyllinga (in the sedge family) and purslane or spurge. Can’t tell, exactly, from the picture.

Q3 - you can change service companies, or spot treat the weeds yourself with an appropriate herbicide for your grass type. Also, now is a good time to apply a pre- emergent herbicide. This will prevent certain broadleaf weeds like chickweed, crabgrass and others from germinating. This will prevent weeds from starting and will give you about 3-4 months of prevention. Apply it again in the spring.
Crabgrass drops it’s seed in the fall and it germinates in the spring so spot treating the crabgrass now with an herbicide spray and applying a granular pre-emergent, like prodiamine, will be a big help. These are DIY (do it yourself) ideas. Your service company should offer these options, however they won’t use a granular pre-emergent. They’ll use liquid, which is fine.

Good luck! Weeds are a bugger this time of year.

I have used Atrazine and a newer product called Image that I found on Amazon. They both work but It seems like the Image works a little better. Which ever product you use, mix it with a wetting agent in a spray bottle or tank sprayer to maximize the effectiveness. All those weeds shown are not crabgrass.

-Larry

Find a new service. In addition to the bimonthly service Deans will come out anytime for free to take care of the weeds.

You know I have lots of luck with, “Ortho chemical called “Kills Weeds not Grass”. When weeds die after about 3 or 4 days reseed that area & keep moist. It’s worth a try! I worked with “Chemlawn” up in Ohio for one summer & the only trouble I ever had was with Pea Vine, chemicals didn’t seem to want to kill it. Good luck, there’s lots of good ideas here!

Agree on Superior and they come out right away for any issue.

We had Deans for a year and after repeated call backs, they have destroyed our lawn and several others in our Village. Fired Deans and I went to Ace Hardware in Wildwood and spoke with their manager who was very knowledgeable about turf management. They have a program all printed out for DIY people. My lawn is coming back to life but it will be an entire season before I have it all back to normal and weed free

I am concerned about the 5 months I am up north. From mid-May through mid-October I wouldn't be here to do any maintenance on it.

A little follow up on the weed problem:
The technician from Bates showed up today. We were due by the end of this month, so I don't think this was a special run to address my phone call.
Some of what he told me that might be the issue.

1. Perhaps not enough water. When I told him I had heard it was a particularly wet summer, he said that it wasn't really. It was really pretty dry until the weekend of Ian. Was I mistaken?

2.Sometimes during the summer they don't spray for weeds because some of the weedkillers they use will kill the grass in the summer heat. That's the first mention of that I ever heard.

3. I asked him how long it should take for the weeds to die, and he said about 3 weeks. So I asked him if I should call if the weeds are still there in 4 weeks, and he said I could call but they are way understaffed and he's having a hard time getting out to everyone as it is. (Bingo?)

All in all, not a very impressive showing. I'll keep an eye on it. I don't think I'll be keeping Bates, but I'll give them a chance to get this right before I fire them.

Sounds like they don't want/need your business.

Chinch bugs were bad this year. Brown spots along the road and driveway are a clue.

Dean's is consistent in my experience. They do need to be called back occasionally. But as with everyone, depends on who they send out.

Recommend having a camera front and back so you can watch application.

I have a small yard so I mow my own grass and pull any weeds as they sprout up. Neighbors use lawn care companies and weeds are everywhere. I would guess that their mowers pick up weeds from other yards and soon you have all weeds. My front yard is all St. Augustine and no weeds.

Like anything weed killers are SOLD. A catchy name like,"Kills Weeds not Grass," is a great SALES DESCRIPTION. The side of the bag, the can etc MUST tell you what it is. Most general lawn weed killers are 24D. Used properly it works well and is fairly inexpensive. INSTRUCTIONS will say do not use above 80 degrees. This is Florida. We have two types of grass here ST Augustine and Empire Zoyzia. Beware 24D will KILL St Augustine.

All should have a soil test done. It is not very expensive. Grass likes a PH around 6.5. Most of the Villages is loaded with natural limestone and the PH is likely 7.5 to 8. It is wise to improve what you have. Add organic matter-it takes far more than most people think and you need to get it into the soil not laying on top of the grass. You will likely need to add Sulphur-do not go nuts and apply too much. It takes TIME like a year to work..

Pulling weeds is the best solution. You pull it and it is done. You mention a small lawn. I also pull some weeds. Chemical sprays are far faster.

One of the weeds in the original post is Allium. It produces bulbs on it's roots.
You pull the weed, plant, and you leave the bulbs to grow more weeds. I seem to recall reading you can eat the bulbs and they taste like nuts. I don't remember if the red or the white ones taste better. I've never eaten them. Hum, how much could I charge to allow neighbors to HARVEST my crop?

As far as watering. As stated elsewhere I have added organic matter to my lawn. I used a drill and went down 6 inches every 6 inches across my entire lawn. Roughly 100 50lb bags of manure on a 5,000 sq foot lawn-that is 5,000 pounds of manure. Yes it is a lot of work.

My soil, no longer sandy clay holds a great deal of water. Your sprinkler measure what it puts down in each zone. Clean tuna fish cans work well. You want to check to see how much water is applied and how even it is applied. Typically the people we hire to cut your lawn use a far too large and HEAVY riding mower. You need to check on a regular basis.
We checked. On the side of our home the grass was terrible. We as told run the sprinkler at night. I am asleep. I discovered two heads were cut off, some heads were stuck under the sod and the run time was far too short.

Four weeks for the weeds to die? Many people expect, demand instant results. The common weed killer 24D actually causes the weed to grow itself to death. You will notice the weeds are curling etc in a matter of days. Dead? More like two weeks. People-wow it was better than he PROMISSED.

Im glad you like True Green. After paying money up front I fired that company because they never showed up but always sent me a text stating they treated the lawn.

I had the same experience with True Green.

Ditto, ditto, and HOORAY, such good advice ! We use the EXACT same solution (ready mixed, hose attached, Spectricide for St. Augustine and other "centipede" grasses), and it works great, lawn always looks great and we only use it about twice a year, three times at the most. If a single weed pops up in between (rarely), we just spray it with the same product in the gallon size that has an attached hand spray. Have used on ALL the weeds you pictured with EXCELLENT success, about $12 and takes about 8 minutes (maybe 15 if you have a VERY large lawn on all four sides of your home), and the best part, you can spend the $12 when needed, not get into a "contract" that may cost hundreds per year. Unfortunately, part time residents probably have no choice but to "trust" a service to keep the lawn up ! Unless you have a VERY nice neighbor who already sprays his/her own and would be kind enough to spray yours at the same time... for a nice meal at Bone Fish or Chop House, or similar...LOL ! :a040::icon_wink::icon_wink:

I buy my bifenthrin (insecticide/termiticide) and Atrazine (weeds) from domyown.com. All you need is a sprayer and a bit of time to do everything yourself.

Southern Ag Atrazine Weed Killer for St. Augustine Grass

Bifen IT | Bifenthrin 7.9% Insecticide | Fast, Free Shipping

ATRAZINE, apply Fall & Spring …. Never during Hot Temperatures !
( Farmers also use it to treat weed growth in the fields ) safe on St Augustine FYI , it’s what all the Lawn services use….

FYI, works/worked great on Zoysia grass also.