keepitlow Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 I've got St. Augustine that does pretty well. Recently, however, I've noticed this weed that is growing and spreading. It is on a runner system, appears to be some sort of green broadleaf weed, has little white flowers and green seed pods on the stem / runners. I've gone to a few nurseries with a freshly plucked handfull and have had no success on IDing the weed and, therefore, no plan of attack to rid my lawn of this pest. I have been hand pulling it to date. My wife and neighbors say I'm obsessed with it and they are probably correct. Any ideas? I've looked all over the intraweb for an IDing picture and have none to present here (lazy, lazy, lazy). Any help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 We need a picture or two! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Does it look like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashman Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Buttonweed.About the only thing you can do is pull it.My wife HATES buttonweed!Me, not so much. It's green. That is all I ask for in a lawn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashman Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 I am not sure if we have Virginiaor CommonButtonweed here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 I am not sure if we have Virginiaor CommonButtonweed here.While we're on the subject of weeds, anyone know how to get rid of dallisgrass (other than digging it up)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashman Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 MY wife has engaged a company called Greenworks (we are a user, no financial association with these guys) who are all natural lawn control.Whatever they do, it must work, as I don't see her obssesivly pulling Buttonweed on the weekends anymore. PM me for the contact information if you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbaNerd Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 My guess would be some form of Dichondra. I actually like this little plant, and I allow it to grow in certain areas.http://www-staff.it.uts.edu.au/~don/larvae/plants/conv/dichondra-repens.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepitlow Posted September 15, 2009 Author Share Posted September 15, 2009 Nice work, Columbo. Virginia Buttonweed it is. Exact match. Thanks, Flashman! Looks like I have some weed pulling in my near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toadfroggy Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 I've got the stuff, too. It's not so bad, really, because it's not unattractive and it's soft underfoot. I have noticed, however, that where I've stayed after it (been really thorough and persistent in pulling it up) it concedes to the St. Augustine in pretty short order. Even though it can spread like wildfire, it doesn't seem to be tenacious enough to be a real problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keepitlow Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share Posted September 16, 2009 I like being outside and I am not scared to get out there and pull the stuff up (I enjoy it in a weird way...kinda like looking for the big mother Alien and having a final showdown). Thanks for the all the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiderroller Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 It is Virginia Buttonweed. I confirmed that with a huge bag of it I took to Southwest Fertilizer on Bissonett. They gave me Weed Free Zone... but... from now on I plan to use pre-emergent weed killer about 3-4 times a year. I've yet to find a post-emergent weed killer that doesn't screw the grass up. My goal is to prevent the suckers from ever appearing. Weed killer - any kind - to spray on weeds suck.Back to the Virginia Buttonweed.... yes... it grows "within" your St. Augustine.... once I began to spray the mass I saw after raking up an area.... as I walked around... I noticed it EVERYWHERE... but... with good mowing you actually cannot see it. It doesn't really "sprout" and become very visible. I only noticed it when raking up some dead grass.Problem is there is so much you'll either kill your entire lawn spraying it, or end up tearing up your lawn by spending a 40 hour week attempting to pull them all out along with their root network. Good St. Augustine will normally choke out weeds over time... but not the dreaded VB. And I hear that pre-emergents don't work well because VB spreads underground. I've decided to live with it. Fresh mowing and a nice lawn... and I don't even see it. If I had never raked an area... would have never even known I had it.And I got a history lesson on it to: Supposedly back in 1998 or something... forgot exact year he told me... Houston had a HARD FREEZE.... temps down around 10-11 degrees, etc. A lot of St. Augustine lawns died that Winter and didn't come back in Spring.... so massive amounts of St. Augustine grass was brought in ... from Virginia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heights2Bastrop Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 I had a problem with a similar weed when I lived in Timbergrove. It was a broad leaf plant with runners that radiated out from a central point. These runners were like twisted hemp rope. They ran along the top of the soil, and had tendrils than went straight down into the soil for 4-5”. Once the plants took over, these runners crisscrossed each other until they were like a woven rope carpet, and impossible to dig up.I didn't mind them so much, except for when they sprouted along the sidewalk. A Weedeater and a regular edger would not cut through a heavily infested area. After I noticed the problem in my yard, I saw that the grassy areas between the sidewalk and 11th near Durham were solid with this weed, so I assumed there was no easy way to control the spreading. Even the esplanades on 11th had been taken over.I never learned what it was, but I looked it up just now, and what I had was not buttonweed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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