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Having trouble identifying those pesky weeds?
Here’s some helpful pics of the most common weeds in turf grass and our recommendations for how to treat them.
Winter Grass
Winter Grass (Poa Annua) is a low growing turf grass with soft, drooping green leaves grown in tufts and triangular shaped seed heads. If you allow Winter Grass to drop its seeds, it will be back twice as nasty next winter.
Treatment:
Winter Grass can be removed very easily by hand as it doesn’t have deep roots or runners, and grows in simple clumps. You can also use a combination of a pre-emergent like Oxafert (Sir Grange) or Oxa-Pro (Nullabor Couch, Sir Grange, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium & Tif Tuf), and a selective Winter Grass control. Amgrow Winter Grass Killer is safe to use on buffalo lawns (including Sir Walter DNA Certified, couch and kikuyu varieties.)
White Clover
White clover is a creeping perennial weed, green with elliptical leaves and white pom pom like flowers. It spreads easily throughout lawns via stems attached to the soil which grow into new plants. It thrives and spreads in spring when soil temperatures are mild and warm.
Treatment:
All Purpose Weed Control – is the perfect solution to control most common weeds. This product is a ready-to-use herbicide agent specifically developed for use on home lawns (Nullabor Couch, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium & Tif Tuf)
A premergent herbicide/fertiliser such as Pendi Pro (Nullabor Couch, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium & Tif Tuf) or Oxa Pro (Nullabor Couch, Sir Grange, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium & Tif Tuf) is also recommended.
Capeweed
Capeweed is an invader that’s notoriously difficult to control. It’s an annual stemless or shortly stemmed herb, with a taproot and a basal rosette of leaves. It has yellow petalled daisy flowers with a black/brown centre.
Treatment:
All Purpose Weed Control (Nullabor Couch, Sir Walter DNA Certified, Eureka Premium, Tif Tuf);
Pendi Pro & Oxa Pro (Nullarbor Couch, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium & Tif Tuf)
Oxa Pro (Sir Grange)
Cats Ear
Cats Ear is a common flowering weed that is often mistaken for a dandelion. It has a long stem with yellow flowers that give way to white, puffy, wind borne seed heads, and a solid, forked stem.
Treatment:
All Purpose Weed Control (Nullabor Couch, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium, Tif Tuf)
Pendi Pro & Oxa Pro (Nullarbor Couch, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium & Tif Tuf)
Oxa Pro (Sir Grange)
Summergrass
Summer grass is an annual weed with soft hairy leaves that grow close to the ground in clusters. The grass roots at the node and the sheathes of the leaf are usually purple-tinged in colour at the base.
Treatment:
Oxafert (Nullabor Couch, Sir Grange, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium, Tif Tuf)
Creeping Oxalis
Creeping Oxalis has small light green heart shaped leaves, very similar in appearance to clover, except that it has oval shaped leaves. The flowers are about 3-4mm in diameter and bright yellow in colour containing five petals. Creeping Oxalis 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 explode, causing the seed to spread quickly.
Treatment:
All Purpose Weed Control will help to eradicate these weeds in all lawn types including Nullabor Couch, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium and Tif Tuf.
Plaintain
Plantain has thin veins on the leaves that form in rosettes and slender flowering stems with dense brown seed heads.
Treatment:
All Purpose Weed Control (safe on Nullabor Couch, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium & Tif Tif);
Pendi Pro & Oxa Pro (Nullarbor Couch, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium & Tif Tuf)
For Sir Grange we recommend Oxa Pro.
Bin-dii
Bindii is possibly the most annoying weed – due mainly to the pain it causes to our bare feet! Bindii is a low growing summer active weed with a flower at its centre. At maturity, the flower produces a prickly seed pod which is a menace during the warmer months when we are trying to enjoy our lawns.
Treatment:
Bindii can be managed by hand or by applying a selective broadleaf herbicide like Bin-Die or All Purpose Weed Control. This will help to eradicate these weeds in all lawn types including kikuyu and couch and is safe to use on most varieties of buffalo except the ST varieties.
Pendi Pro & Oxa Pro (Nullarbor Couch, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium & Tif Tuf)
For Sir Grange we recommend Oxa Pro.
The best time to target Bindii is in winter before it produces the prickly seed pod in summer and spreads further throughout your lawn. Repeat treatment to prevent this annoying and painful winter weed from running rampant in your lawn.
Crowsfoot
Crowsfoot or Crabgrass, has a spiked flower with a similar appearance to that of a crow’s foot. It is a summer annual that grows in tufts, staying fairly flat to the ground with almost white flat sheathed stems and smooth strap-like leaves.
Treatment:
All Purpose Weed Control (Nullabor Couch, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium & Tif Tuf)
Pendi Pro & Oxa Pro (Nullarbor Couch, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium & Tif Tuf)
For Sir Grange we recommend Oxa Pro.
Cudweed
Cudweed is an annual weed that forms in rosettes. The leaves are light green on top and have a white furry underside.
Treatment:
All Purpose Weed Control (Nullabor Couch, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium & Tif Tuf)
Pendi Pro & Oxa Pro (Nullarbor Couch, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium & Tif Tuf)
For Sir Grange we recommend Oxa Pro.
Dandelion
Dandelion is a perennial herb that has a very long tap root. The leaves are mid green and deeply divided. Its flowers are yellow petalled heads not dissimilar to double daisies. After flowering, the fluffy round seed heads appear.
Treatment:
All Purpose Weed Control (Nullabor Couch, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium, Tif Tuf)
Pendi Pro & Oxa Pro (Nullarbor Couch, Sir Walter, Eureka Premium & Tif Tuf)
For Sir Grange we recommend Oxa Pro.
Nutgrass
Nutgrass belongs to the sedge weed family and can be identified by a lighter green leaf that will grow taller than the rest of your lawn. It has 3 leaf blades that shoot up from a triangular stem.
Treatment:
Nutgrass is incredibly difficult to eradicate so act quickly before it spreads. Treat with Amgrow Sedgehammer (safe on buffalo, couch, kikuyu)
Check out our SHOP for products that will rid your lawn of broadleaf or grass weeds.
Please check related information about:
ColourGuard lawn paint | Webisodes | Seasonal lawn care | Lawn mowing | Lawn Fertilising | Lawn irrigation | Weed Identification | Lawn without water | Lawn FAQ’s
