CrawDude

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I feel like I have tried everything for weeds and nothing is killing them. I even hired a company called Dr Lawn to service it for several months. Does anyone on here have secrets to killing weeds without killing my dog?

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What kind of weeds (post photos) and what herbicides have you used?

The secret to killing- preventing- mitigating weeds is to first identify to the weed(s), and second tell the board what type of lawn grass you have, and then the board can provide you with lawn management recommendations including appropriate herbicides to use to kill-control the weeds you have - and none will kill your dog.

I’m sorry, it ain’t rocket science…it really isn’t….. :lol: ……..but lawn weed control does require patience and persistence… :cheers:

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I’ve always had St. Aug. Purchased a new home that had centipede planted a couple months ago. We do have an irrigation system that covers the entirety of the new sod. 1. How often, how long, and at what times should I run the irrigation? 2. Any fertilizers I should be using yearly? If so, what time of the year, and what type? 3. I have a few similar weeds that are already starting to emerge. Bushy type weed that’s purple/redish in color with yellow flowers. Location is Baldwin County AL.

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1. Irrigation - 1 inch + of water weekly in the absence of rain - calibrate your irrigation for that. One deep watering per week is better than more frequent, less amount, watering.

2. 15-0-x or 16-0-x - lower nitrogen, near 0 or 0 phosphorus. Most land university recommendation suggest no more than 1 lb of N per 1000 sq ft per year for centipede - split application, 1/2 lb N about now, 2nd application mid-June- early July, and you are done for the year. Less fertllizer than St Augustine in amount and frequency. Too much fertlizer can result in centipede decline.

3. Weeds - since you are familiar with St. Aug, any herbicide you can use on St Aug you can use on Centipede, plus a few more. As mentioned Celsius in hot-summer weather, MSM Turf is also a good one in warmer weather and Fertilome Weed Free Zone at “cooler” temperatures - winter, spring, fall - not summer (less than 85 F). Of course pre-emergent herbicide in fall and late winter help.

Lastly, mow centipede at a height of 1.5-2 inches, lower than St Aug, but higher than Bermudagrass.

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Should we just conclude that we should not use it because Red Solo Cup says so? Seems like you’re waiting for an obvious follow up question whose answer you intentionally omitted for some reason. But I’ll put in the extra work. Why?

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I’ll post Dan Gill, a highly respected LSU AgCenter consumer horticultural extension specialist (retired, but still does a 2 hour garden show on WWL radio on Saturday, 9-11 am) comments-explanation on the use of Weed & Feed products in lawn Weed & Feed

Weed & Feed is a convenience product for the homeowner - an attempt to kill 2 birds with one stone, but there is very narrow-constricted time frame in spring where they can be effectively used. Apply early, you can control weeds but it may be far too early to be fertilizing the lawn. Apply later at the optimal time to fertilize, then one has missed the optimal to effectively control many winter weeds, and if it is to warm the herbicide in the product can potentially damage the lawn, depending on grass type and the herbicide the manufacturer incorporates into the product.

Ideally, lawn weed control and lawn fertilization should be treated as 2 separate lawn management activities to obtain the best results from both.

Let me address fertilization of the centipede. You can fertilize now, no specific time frame between applying herbicide for weed control and lawn fertilization. What should you fertilize with? Look for a 15-0-15 lawn fertilizer, something very close, and apply 3 1/3 lbs per 1000 sq ft of lawn - that’s equal to 1/2 pound of nitrogen (N) per 1000 sq ft. Repeat that in mid-June-early July and you are done for the year. Centipede doesn’t need or like high rates of fertilization used on St Augustine or Bermudagrass. Fertilome and LESCO make 15-0-15.

Lawn aeration or aerification is good, particularly for compacted soils or lawns with heavy thatch. If you want to do it, wait until the grass is in active growth - May through summer. Compaction & Aerification - LSU AgCenter

Soft spots - brown (dead or dying) grass? Could be thatch, low areas that hold water and stress grass, could be a lawn fungal disease issue, etc. and those 3 are often related. Photos posted can help here for potential diagnosis. Are the brown grass areas circular in shape? If so, that’s often large patch fungal disease. Large Patch - LSU AgCentet

Assuming you mean lawn burweed LINK numerous post-emergent herbicides can work including atrazine, Trimec, Fertilome Weed Free Zone, Celsius, MSM Turf, ….but if the stickers (seeds) have formed it’s going to be more difficult to control and you are still left with the seeds-stickers.

This weed is a winter annual. This Fall-early Winter an application or 2 of Simazine pre-emergent herbicide to kill the young seedlings as the seeds sprout in winter, and for those that “escape” the pre-emergent herbicide you need to spray the seedlings in Jan-March before the seeds (stickers) develop. Much easier to control when the burweed is immature.

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so why is everyone obsessed with lowering LDL and what if no matter what I try it doesnt go down? everyone tells me with a 1300 calcium score im a ticking time bomb

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Statins also help to stabilize soft plaque, often responsible for heart attacks when it breaks free and “clogs” a coronary artery, by converting it to hard plaque. CAC score often increases when taking a statin as a result of this conversion. If you have coronary plaque you want it to be “hard” (calcified), not soft. You have to weigh the pros and cons of a statin given your CAC score and family history.

Rosuvastatin (=Crestor), 10 mg, no side effects, certainly not joint pain, that I can discern - started treatment a year ago. I’m also a tall, thin guy - healthy - but older than you. Your blood panel lipids though borderline high for LDL are not particularly bad, mine were similar to yours for years and my PCP and cardiologist left it up to me as to whether or not I wanted to take a statin, I declined, as there was no history of heart disease in my family on father’s and mother’s side - and my physicians were good with that.

However, I did go on the statin and low dose aspirin a year ago after a test showed I had a CAC score of 550. As mentioned by another poster, and my cardiologist, it reduced LDL and Total C 40%. Given your family history of heat disease, CAC score and age, and your cardiologists’s advice I wouldn’t discount going back on a statin. My cardiologist did tell me that if one type statin has negative side effects it’s likely another type of statin will likely have similar side effects….so there is that. Maybe dose regulation is key for you to minimize negative side effects.

Elemental sulfur - not to be confused with “sulfate”. Slow reacting, but acidifies soil over a long time period.

Aluminum sulfate (alum) can be used for a quick-rapid drop in soil or water pH but doesn’t have a long-term residual effect. It’s the hydrolysis of aluminum that results in the acidity (pH decrease), not the sulfate.

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I just used the Scotts southern weed-and-feed. It controlled some stuff but definitely not whatever that one weed is that has gotten out of control.

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Going forward, helps to get into a mind-set of treating lawn weed control and lawn fertilization as two separate lawn management activities - applying them them together is seldom optimal for both - that is when it’s time to control weeds is not time to feed (fertilize), and often vice-versa. Applying herbicides during the 2 to 3 week period of lawn green up from winter to spring can potentially damage a healthy lawn grass.

Aeration is good.

St Augustine or Zoysia are going to be the most shade tolerant lawn grasses but you are going to be limited to sod, not seed. With a recommended fertilization schedule and cutting height, St. Augustine would likely “crowd out” the remaining centipede over time - not a bad thing. Although you can replace the damaged-dead centipede areas with centipede sod it’s simply not going to do well with the 1/2 day of sun & you’ll be back at square one in 2 or 3 years - ask me how I know…..lol.

If the area was full shade I’d probably look at some type of ground cover and forget grass altogether but you are indicating at least a 1/2+ day of morning sun, which suggest to me the right type of grass would be doable.

Would trimming tree branches etc. to allow more sunlight in those areas in the afternoon be doable? If so, then replacing with centipede sod could be an option. Anyway, very common problem for many homeowners as trees grow and mature and reduce sunlight in areas where lawn grass use to thrive.

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They don’t provide the box to mail it in anymore. You just get a brown bag to put your soil samples inside. Then you can drop them off on campus or get a box on your own to mail them. I went to 2 different nurseries - one in Prairieville and one in Baton Rouge. Only brown bags and no boxes at both. ??

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Good to know - thanks for the update. Last time I went to Cleggs Nursery on Siegen they still had the pre-labeled USPS soil testing boxes near checkout but that was couple months ago.