6 Common Weeds – How and When to Act

Weeds – the bane of every lawn lover’s life. Whether they creep under the fence from your neighbour’s yard, are blown in by Mother Nature or are imported by the lawnmowing guy (true story), weeds are often inevitable. However, if you are vigilant and act as soon as you spot them, you stand a great chance to stop them in their tracks, before they invade your entire lawn.

Here we look at the 6 most common weeds in South East Queensland lawns and how to get them out of your life.

Nutgrass is a pest around the world and can be difficult to eradicate. Be careful not to disturb the nuts below the ground while you are treating this weed or you’ll just make things worse. You can learn more specifically about nutgrass here. 

Buffalo lawns – use Sempra containing the active constituent Halosulfuron-Methyl
Couch lawns – use Sempra containing the active constituent Halosulfuron-Methyl

Hated by backyard sportspeople across the state – Bindii is one of the worst – the pain of those prickles… Bindii is a small weed making it often difficult to detect in lawns. And, when the infestation begins the new weeds don’t prickle. It’s when they naturally die off in summer and the leaves turn into prickles that we really take notice. Get up close with your lawn during winter and treat it with a specialist herbicide as soon as you see it. Do not wait until the weather warms up.

Buffalo lawns – use products containing Bromoxynil
Couch lawns – use products containing Dicamba

While not often a problem in Buffalo lawns (they tend to smother it out), clover does love a spot where the rest of the lawn doesn’t – so keep an eye on moist patches with little light. Clover can strike at any time however it is often more common in winter when your lawn may receive less sunlight and even begin to struggle.

Buffalo lawns – use products containing Bromoxynil
Couch lawns – use products containing Dicamba

With its distinct yellow flower and toothed leaves, the dandelion is often synonymous with childhood but it is a weed and it does need to be eradicated.

To rid your lawn, spot treat with a broad spectrum herbicide like Glysophate or treat with a selective herbicide.

Buffalo lawns – use products containing Bromoxynil
Couch lawns – use products containing Dicamba

With shiny and flat leaves in a rosette shape, the cudweed can be tricky to treat in that herbicides struggle to take hold and offer require multiple application.

You can try adding just a capful of dishwashing liquid to your herbicide application to help the solution to stick.

Buffalo lawns – use products containing Bromoxynil
Couch lawns – use products containing Dicamba

A little like Clover in terms of its growing habits, oxalis is tricky to remove by hand because of its fine leaves and stems. And, since it’s a creeper, anywhere that the stem touches the ground, new roots form – this makes it quick spreading, invasive, hard to control and completely annoying.

Treat with selective herbicides or dig out the entire section and replant. Oxalis is more common in couch lawns since Buffalos like Sir Walter DNA Certified tend to smother it out.

Buffalo lawns – use products containing Bromoxynil
Couch lawns – use products containing Dicamba

Contact the team at Daleys Turf for more lawn care tips and tricks, or if the weed infestations are beyond repair and you need a whole new lawn.