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What are these weeds and how do I get rid of them? They're thriving in the dry soil while the grass struggles.

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JStorage
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Luke Allison
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2 Answers2

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The last weed I think is creeping indigo. We live in Brisbane and it is everywhere - I have been painstakingly trying to cut off flowers before they become seed pods and dig out the whole plant - tap root and all. I have now been told that probably best to cut off at ground level and drip poison onto the tap root to really kill.

Kerry
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It is tough to see detail in your pictures but it looks like Lotus comiculata or bird's foot trefoil, bird's feet trefoil? Very invasive weed. There is a reason plants like this get labeled invasive weeds. They can out compete all other plants and thus stay vigorous, green and have kinda pretty flowers. Is it normal to allow your lawn to go dormant over there? Allowing a lawn to go dormant is the best way to select for those weeds.

Dormant plants just can not will not be able to compete. Do you have cool season grasses down there or warm? What is your grass species? What are your watering restrictions?

First thing to do is to continue chopping those flowers off before they go to seed. If they have already gone to seed, we can discuss how best to deal with this and we are not talking chemical herbicides...yet. Mow and BAG that lawn LOW to suck up as many seeds as possible. Put those seeds in a plastic bag to decompose, not in your compost pile. Never let this plant produce flowers if at all possible and you'll be able to eradicate it over time. You've got to get your lawn up to snuff or these weeds will be the greenest part of your lawn.

There are a few other ways to produce a lush competitive lawn. First off let's start watering your lawn deeply then allow to dry out before watering again. This promotes deeper root systems while most weeds are shallow rooted. Let me know the composition of your lawn grasses. Do you have a shop vac? I'd go out and suck up all those pods/seeds before trying to use the mower as a vacuum/pruner. When did you last aerate? Fertilize and with what formulation?

stormy
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  • The lawn is mostly comprised of Blue Couch (Digitaria didactyla) and Couch/ Bermuda (Cynodon dactylon). Both of these are very much warm season grasses and go into deep dormancy over the cooler months. The issue is that now the temperature has substantially warmed up to 25-32deg Celsius during the day there has been hardly any rain for months so the lawn is struggling to come back but the weeds and horrendous Bahia Grass (which I consider a weed) is doing just fine. We don't have any watering restrictions. My soil is sandy and compact and probably has never been aerated. I've never fertilized. – Luke Allison Nov 22 '16 at 06:30
  • OK. Excellent information Luke. You know more than you let on! I am pretty ignorant with warm season grasses, I am the queen of cool season grass lawns. Have been learning lots trying to answer stuff I know not...ha ha! How much of your lawn is now this weed called bird's feet trefoil? Let's see if someone else comes up with something else of course. Warm season grasses need to be mowed short. They have very shallow root systems but if kept from dormancy can easily out compete weeds. Aeration, fertilizer (how funny, Luke, NEVER)? Let's get bringing that grass back and we'll talk! – stormy Nov 22 '16 at 06:43
  • Also, it looks like your sod is too high and touching your wood fence. Is that correct? If so, we need to talk if you want to keep your fence...a picture of your entire lawn, or at least a larger picture. Fertilizer. I'd go find a good 'organic' more expensive type of fertilizer meant for warm season grasses. I hate the words organic and natural but I've been blown away with the results of organic slow release fertilizer. I've got to go check on a few things concerning warm season grasses but plants need water and us humans have to replace chemicals needed by our plants in our soils. – stormy Nov 22 '16 at 06:50
  • How cold does it get there when it is considered winter? Does it freeze for instance? – stormy Nov 22 '16 at 06:51
  • Average of 15 in winter and an average of 25 in summer. http://www.holiday-weather.com/brisbane/averages/ – Luke Allison Nov 22 '16 at 07:22
  • Probably worth noting that I rent this place so while I'd love to remove weeds and make my lawn feel soft instead of sharp I'll have to limit my expenditure of time and money. Yes the soil level touches the fence in various places but that helps keep the toads out... and it's a rental so It's not going to be my issue when it rots. – Luke Allison Nov 22 '16 at 07:26
  • That is a very important point, changes everything, sadly. Hummmm – stormy Nov 22 '16 at 10:14
  • Interesting plants these warm season grasses. And what WHOOSIES! 59 degrees causes it to go dormant? Amazing. Although it does well with high temps and traffic. Needs little fertilizer but hey, yours does need some at least twice per year, go slow release. Deep root systems as well, insane root systems. Do you water this stuff or do you rely on rain? The weeds are far more shallow rooted so this grass should be able to out compete easily. Between 75 to 100 degrees F it is in grass heaven, below down to 59 degrees F it actually starts browning? Do you know anyone whose grass is green? – stormy Nov 22 '16 at 23:30
  • I had to go get the conversion formulas for temperatures C to F and viseversa. Good for me. Warm season grasses are in another universe with cool season grasses. I did learn that there is a hybrid of Bermuda that is extremely toxic and can kill cattle/horses. A simple f1 hybrid not some fancy genetically made hybrid. A good thing to be aware about I'd assume. – stormy Nov 22 '16 at 23:34
  • Yeah, the Blue Couch in particular is one of the most common grasses found in South East Queensland. It is found everywhere, especially in estates that are 10+ years old. It is beautiful and lush for 4-5 months with little maintenance and has quite invasive runners. It doesn't brown much over the cooler months, most of that is due to being almost in drought. The Bermuda, however is a crap grass that housing estates use because it is aggressive and cheap. It browns and thins in the cooler months substantially. I suspect that the section of lawn in question is mostly comprised of this. – Luke Allison Nov 23 '16 at 00:02
  • I oversewed with ryegrass during the winter mostly in the shady areas as both of these grasses have high sunlight requirements. It looked great in winter but I have a feeling it won't return next autumn as the summer heat will kill off their roots. It's a challenging climate. The only appropriate grass for this area is a buffalo variety. I water for about 30 minutes every two weeks using one of these https://goo.gl/tWLgpL . The only green grass I see in my street is the neighbour who waters daily but even then they had weeds. It isn't poisonous. My dogs graze like cattle of some reason. – Luke Allison Nov 23 '16 at 00:09
  • These grasses LOVE the heat. Only plant I know that thrives between 75 and 100 degrees F. You don't have buffalo. These grasses get 100% sunlight...59 degrees is BALMY. Weird grasses, grins. All plants should get 1" of water per week. Sandy soil a bit more. Test with straight sided cans placed all over your lawn. 1/4" in 15 minutes of watering is perfect...4X per week. Otherwise adjust the time to reflect water pressure. Lawns ain't free, no sireeeee! Talk to your landlord about the state of the lawn, landscape. Convince him he won't be throwing his money away by changing grasses. – stormy Nov 23 '16 at 05:52
  • And your neighbor with frequent shallow watering is wasting water...but watering every two weeks is just not enough. Especially with sandy soil! And no fertilizer....? Your landlord should want you to do the upkeep to improve the landscape and his investment (and should know he'll be needing a new fence soon). He should purchase materials and you do the labor. Win, win. Educate yourself to sell a plan and educate your landlord. Or get rid of all plant material and gravel everything. This is in fact a very viable choice. – stormy Nov 23 '16 at 05:57
  • AND, warm season grasses are more than borderline invasive weeds... – stormy Nov 23 '16 at 05:59
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    Especially bahia grass. Why on earth council have used this rubbish on their medium strips is beyond me. It has more seed stems than blades of grass and needs more regular mowing than most if not all other warm season grasses. It has invaded my lawn and I'm highly allergic to the seeds so I've just finished applying glyphosate that I mixed into glycerin using the washing up gloves trick! – Luke Allison Nov 24 '16 at 01:32
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    Re: landlord. Maybe I'll ask for Air Con while I'm at it ;) – Luke Allison Nov 24 '16 at 01:33
  • Big grins!! Landlords need to know when they've got a renter worth gold... – stormy Nov 24 '16 at 03:30
  • Be careful thinking you know what you are having reactions TO. Doctors are very bad. I've had many rentals, a few with smart landlords most however are just idiots. I couldn't live with a yard even if it was a rental without adding life and beauty. So I left quite a few rentals far better than I started. I also had a job where I got plants and sod and materials that needed a home. Let us know when you get involved with buying a home. I know construction, especially custom homes and remodeling... the property included with the home is also critical to understand before you purchase. – stormy Nov 24 '16 at 03:41
  • I never succeeded at removing this. I just mow the lawn lower now. – Luke Allison Feb 03 '17 at 00:06
  • Up here in the north with cool season grasses my advice would be mow HIGHER the grass makes more food for itself and shades out the soil to reduce chances of germination. Also, our grasses have genetic large root systems so to train them to grow deeper and allow the soil to dry out at the top also stops germination or rather makes shallow rooted weeds at a disadvantage. Works beautifully. Your dang grass is actually a weed itself. Shallow rooted and low top growth. Ugh. Best thing for you to be doing is NEVER allow that to go to seed. As soon as you see budding cut it back! – stormy Feb 07 '17 at 20:25
  • I live in Queensland. We struggle to keep cold season grasses alive here in winter let alone the middle of summer hehe. – Luke Allison Feb 07 '17 at 23:02