3 Common Winter Weeds

Most lawn weeds start to germinate and grow during winter, especially Winter Grass, Bindii and Creeping Oxalis. Now is the perfect time to begin a lawn care regime to rid your lawn of these weeds before the warmer weather begins again.

Winter Grass (Poa Annua) is a low growing turf grass. It has soft, drooping green leaves grown in tufts with triangular shaped seed heads. Winter Grass is widespread in Australia and spreads throughout the Winter months. If you allow Winter Grass to drop its seeds, next winter it will be back, twice as badly as it was the previous year.

Winter Grass can be removed very easily by hand as it doesn’t have particularly deep roots and it doesn’t have any runners, growing in simple clumps.

A pre-emergent like Oxafert combined with a selective Winter Grass control like Winter Grass Killer at the correct time of year should ensure Winter Grass is eliminated from your lawn. Amgrow Winter Grass Killer is safe to use on buffalo lawns (including Sir Walter DNA Certified), blue and common couches, but avoid using on Kikuyu and red fescue lawns.

Bindii is possibly the most maddening weed due to the pain it can inflict to our bare feet! Bindii is a low growing weed with a flower at its centre. When it reaches maturity, the flower produces a prickly seed pod which is a particular nuisance during the warmer months when we are doing our best to enjoy our lawns.

Bindii can be managed by hand or by applying a selective broadleaf herbicide like Bin-Die or Lawn Solutions Australia All Purpose Weed Control. This will help to eradicate these annoying weeds in all lawn types including kikuyu and couch and are safe to use on most varieties of buffalo. You may need to repeat the application.

The best time to focus on Bindii is in Winter before it produces the seed pod and expands further throughout your lawn.

Creeping Oxalis has small light green heart shaped leaves, very similar in appearance to clover which has oval shaped leaves. The flowers are small, about 3-4mm in diameter and bright yellow in colour which include five petals. Creeping Oxalis, as its name suggests, quickly runs along the surface of the soil and produces roots from the leaf as it goes. When seed pods mature they dry out and burst apart, causing the seed to spread.

A selective herbicide such as Lawn Solutions Australia All Purpose Weed Control will help to stamp out these weeds in all lawn types including kikuyu and couch and are safe to use on most varieties of buffalo.

For more lawn care tips and tricks, or to order your new natural lawn, contact the team at Daleys Turf today.