re: Can I get advice/tips for my lawn after the winter? ::Updated with pics:::

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Where are you located

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I live near Lafayette.

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Your lawn not drain well

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My front yard, where this was taken, drains pretty well. It's been really saturated this winter though. My back yard does not drain well in spots.

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I’d spray the lawn now with the winter weed cocktail of 8.5 oz of Hi Yield atrazine + 1 oz of Fertilome weed free zone + 2 teaspoons of Hi Yield spreader/stricker mixed in 1 or 2 gallons of water and spray that over 1000 sq ft

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Guessing I can get that at any feed store? Tractor supply? Lowe's?



I really appreciate the help by the way. Looks like I have my work cut out for me. I finally got a chance to get into the yard last weekend. The amount of clovers/weeds growing in some spots was insane.

Thanks I’m also going to lay some prodiamine down this weekend.

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The only thing I’ll add to the above post is be patient. It will take some time because you have a lot of weeds in that lawn but it can be done. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t have full coverage this summer because you won’t.

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This is absolutely so true - patience and persistence - is imperative. The worst the weed problem, the more patience and persistence you need. But you you will see improvement. Lawn might look worst for a while when all these lawn weeds start dying but it will improve.

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Ok thank you. I'm trying to take it step by step to help digest this, because I honestly don't know what I'm doing. I'm about to go look for that stuff you recommended for the first spray. I'll have tons of questions along the way, but right now I'll stick to this. Hopefully you can stay with my dumbass along the way. When I mix this, should I put it all together in a big hand held spray bucket? Is there a specific time I need to do this? When it's fully dry? Right before a rain? When it's not going to rain for a while? Right after a rain?

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Don’t let it over helm you, it’s not as a difficult as it sounds. All of us providing this advice had no idea what we were doing when we first started.

Yes, mix those ingredients in the sprayer, and I’d recommend a 2 gallon sprayer in your case. Specific time of the day, no - whenever you have time to spray. You can spray it now, the lawn need not be dry. The herbicide Weed Free Zone will be rainproof in 1 hour. The Atrazine component will need to be watered in but rain will take of that for you in the next week or 2.

The label instructions on each herbicide you buy will tell you all you need to knows on how to properly apply it - so read the label! All that information is required to be on the container by federal law. 2/3rd of the info will be “safety” info for liability reasons.

Here is a copy of the winter weed cocktail

So just to make sure I'm on the right path.

Tomorrow - mix those three things I just bought and spray.

3 weeks from now - repeat the first step.

When weather warms up - spray MSM. Does the MSM need to be sprayed throughout the entire yard? Or just on weeds that I see?

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So just to make sure I'm on the right path. Tomorrow - mix those three things I just bought and spray. 3 weeks from now - repeat the first step.

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Yes - You got it. See how easy it is.

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When weather warms up - spray MSM. Does the MSM need to be sprayed throughout the entire yard? Or just on weeds that I see?

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Yes - when we consistently get into the high 80s in the afternoon. That is because the 2,4 D in the Weed-Free-Zone will damage the desirable lawn grass. The MSM Turf doesn’t have the high temperature restriction, and it also does an exceptional job killing some weeds that the “cocktail” doesn’t kill, for example bahiagrass that Dr Strahan thinks you have in your lawn. I had bahiagrass in my lawn - I’ve eliminated it with MSM Turf.

You can spot spray (spray what you see) the MSM Turf and use the spreader sticker surfactant, 2 teaspoons per gallon, when mixing the MSM Turf. The surfactant helps the weed to absorb the herbicide, and it’s particularly important for waxy leaf weeds and you have a lot of those in your lawn, the ponyfoot weed for example. The MSM Turf also works slowly (often 2 to 3 weeks to see results) and will usually require re-sprays for some weeds.

Lastly as a heads up since this is all new to you, you may have some weeds that will emerge later this summer like nutsedge, that will require a completely different herbicide than the ones being recommended for the weeds you have now. So there will be some additional herbicides you’ll likely need to apply in a few months but you can cross that bridge when you get to it.

I had a huge bottle of simazine and mixed that with weed free zone. Also put out prodiamine today. Hope it helps this summer.

Ok I got it done. Is there anything I should be on the look out for as far as results at a certain time?

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What exactly is pre-emergent herbicide? And what determines if I'm able to do this in two weeks, or not?

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Your lawn has millions of weed seeds. A pre-emergent herbicide will kill the embryo of a weed seed when it germinates. When applied at the right time of the year it will dramatically reduce the number of weeds in your lawn, reducing the need to spray weeds in your lawn. Fewer weeds, healthier lawn, and vice-versa.

Now is the time in south Louisiana to apply a pre-emergent herbicide for spring/summer weed seeds that will be germinating soon. Another application will be required in the fall, mid-Sept/early Oct to kill cool season weed seeds. Some also apply preemergents in late April/May as a follow up to the Feb application. Not all weed seeds germinate at the same time.

It’s this post on the first page of the H&G board discussing pre-emergents LINK

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Lastly as a heads up since this is all new to you, you may have some weeds that will emerge later this summer like nutsedge, that will require a completely different herbicide than the ones being recommended for the weeds you have now.

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What are you recommending for nutsedge control on Bermudagrass?