WEEDS

Best Management Practices:

Common Bermudagrass

Common bermudagrass is used as a turfgrass and is a perennial, warm season grass with long rhizomes and wiry stolons (both underground and above ground rooting/budding parts).  This means that it actively grows primarily from March through November and comes back from its root system each year, as well as from seed. 

Controlling bermudagrass is no easy chore.  Unfortunately, pre-emergent herbicides alone will not control this perennial weed.  Remember, this plant comes back from its roots each year, so it will take both pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicides to take out bermudagrass from your lawn. 

Bermudagrass is unlike other weeds in that it can be extremely difficult to kill.  Killzall 41%, Roundup Quik Pro Dry, or Ranger Pro, (All Glyphosates) are the best solution but using this product in other turfgrass sites means taking out your own turfgrass too.  For those of you with zoysiagrass and tall fescue lawns, a good product that will not injury your turf is Ornamec 170 (Fluazifop-P-butyl).  With both Roundup,  and Ornamec 170, it will normally take several applications to obtain good control. 

Unfortunately there are no post-emergent herbicides that are labeled for controlling bermudagrass in St. Augustinegrass.  The ones that will control it can cause a tremendous amount of damage to your St. Augustinegrass.  Another method that will benefit St. Augustinegrass more than common bermudagrass is to mow at a higher height (approx. 3” to 4”) and to not exceed 3-4 pounds of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per year with your fertility program.  Bermudagrass seems to be more aggressive when mowed at a shorter height along with increased amounts of nitrogen.

Best Management Practices courtesy of:

Bes-Tex Supply, LLC P.O. Box 664 San Angelo, Texas 76902 Ph. 325-653-1300

Best Management Practices:

Matt Chafflower

Matt Chafflower is a warm season, perennial broadleaf weed that has opposite, elliptic to spatula-shaped leaves that are dark green and waxy. Its flowers are white and papery and are found in the leaf axils. Being a warm season, perennial plant means that it comes back from its root system each year, normally in the late spring. As with most perennials, it also can be established from its seed source that it produces each year. Another weed that is similar to matt chafflower and in the same plant “genus” is khakiweed. It, too, forms a matt but does not have the waxy coating on its leaf surface as matt chafflower does and its leaves are light green in color. 

Pre-emergent herbicides work by killing germinating seeds and these types of herbicides can assist with the control of matt chafflower, but it will take a post-emergent herbicide to accomplish complete control of this perennial weed. There are several pre-emergent herbicides that can be used to assist with the control of matt chafflower in most turfgrass sites including bermudagrass, St. Augustinegrass, zoysiagrass, and buffalograss. Examples include: Pendulum 2G or Anderson 11-3-11 (Pendimethalin) and Balan 2.5 G . 

Remember, you need to use a post-emergent herbicide on this perennial weed. These herbicides can be effective if used when the matt chafflower is actively growing—which may be from May to July. Examples of an effective product are: Weed Free Zone and Trimec Southern but may require multiple applications, especially with Trimec.  

Read the Product Label to ensure proper application and turfgrass tolerances! NOTE: The same herbicidal program can be used to successfully control khakiweed, too.

Best Management Practices courtesy of:

BES-TEX Supply, LLC P.O. Box 664 San Angelo, Texas 76902 Ph. 325.653.1300