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That Little Blue Flowering Wandering Jew Look-a-Like Growing in Your St Augustine Turf Grass Lawn is Dayflower
by Rick Orr Winter 2013
That wandering jew look alike with the little blue flowers growing in your St Augustine turf grass lawn is dayflower. My first encounter with dayflower was in flower beds at the Vinoy golf course. After months of unsuccessful attempts to kill with Roundup, I gave up. “This stuff is from another planet”, I thought. When I started lawn spraying, I found dayflower growing in St Augustine turf grass lawns and thought “Here we go again”. But, I had better luck controlling dayflower in lawns because I use Basagram not Roundup to control dayflower. Why? Dayflower is resistant to Roundup!
How to Control Dollar Weed in St Augustine Turf Grass Lawn
by Rick Orr Fall 2012
The waxy glossy green leaves of dollar weed present themselves just above and horizontal to the mowing plane of the lawn – making dollar weed one of the most visible and noxious weeds in a St Augustine grass lawn.
But that highly visible leaf is only a small part of the problem because dollar weed lives primarily below ground - about 90% of the plant is below ground. So, killing the leaf does little to control the plant!
What to Do About Weeds in Lawns, Mulch, Nooks, Crannies and Cracks – A Brief Guide to Weed Control
by Rick Orr Summer 2012
It has been a great rainy season. The rains have been good for everything in the landscape – including weeds. Weeds are in the lawns, planting bed mulch and seem to be growing in every nook, cranny and crack. I am seeing weeds where nothing grew. So what to do about the weeds? The answer is a good plan and sticking to it.
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This Weed Has Round Leaves Similar to Dollar Weed but is Dichondra
Spring 2012Often mistakenly called Dollar Weed, this is Dichondra. Dichondra is a Dollar Weed look-a-like. The round leaves grow parallel to the soil and are seen growing in groups much like Dollar Weed. But Dichondra is smaller and prefers shady moist areas of the lawn. Contrast that with Dollar Weed that tolerates a wide variety of soils, temperatures and water conditions and will populate the entire lawn, Dichondra is usually isolated to a few small preferred spots in the lawn.
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What to Do When Weeds are Taking Over Your Lawn
by Rick Orr - A Promised Land Lawn Spraying Fall 2011
“Weeds are killing my lawn” or “My lawn is being overtaken by weeds” are the most often heard complaints about weeds. But the truth is weeds don’t kill a lawn and don’t smother a lawn. Weeds do have seasons when they grow faster than the St Augustine turf and seasons of maturity (weeds are at their maximum size) that make them appear to be getting the upper hand on your lawn. But the truth is St Augustine turf is far more aggressive than common weeds and will kill and smother the weeds.
Turf Myth Buster: Weeds
Fall 2010So many myths and so little time! When weeds in the lawn are discussed, there are many false accusations leveled at weeds. Rumors, lies and urban myths about weeds range from “weeds are lawn killers” to “herbicides only kill weeds”.
War on Weeds: Amateur Attempt Ends in Disaster
Spring 2010The winter freezing temperatures damaged lawns and scarified weed seeds (increased germination) making for a weedy spring. Most lawns had far more weeds than turf in the beginning and it was ugly! But what may even be worse than winter damage is when a homeowner goes after weeds with a bottle of Roundup!
Best Crab Grass Control: Remove and Replace
by Rick Orr Winter 2010
Crab grass is persistent, aggressive and there is no effective control. For years there were some very effective herbicides but they are now ineffective because application rates have been cut in half by regulations.
Truth About Weed Control
by Rick Orr Summer 2009
A customer wrote:"I see that the dollar weed is all but gone but what is the other turf/grass/sod/weed that is infused with the Floratam and what’s to be done?"
Good question because it addresses a serious problem with lawns in Pinellas county – the problem of a having a weeds mixed in with turf The short answer is there is nothing available from any source that you can “spray today and weeds will be gone tomorrow”.
People think that by hiring a lawn spraying company that they will “spray today and weeds will be gone tomorrow”. Simply put, the technology to spray a lawn and rid it of everything but St Augustine does not exist.
