Help, my lawn's being attacked!

**Kurgen** · 30-04-2013, 07:56 PM

My once lovely lawn is being overtaken by a clover like weed. I've spent hours and hours picking the nasty bastid out to no avail.

Does anyone know of a good napalm that won't kill my grass?

**Mid** · 30-04-2013, 07:57 PM

pics ?

**Pragmatic** · 30-04-2013, 08:09 PM

I'd go with anything that contains 2,4-d. http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/...e.aspx?pid=370

**aging one** · 30-04-2013, 08:13 PM

nope not here, once they are in you have a problem. Thai weeds are the worst. Long thin grass used to drive me nuts. Gone since the flood and putting in Malay turf.

**misskit** · 30-04-2013, 08:14 PM

Oxalis

Real pain in the butt to get rid of. Seems to be worse this year around my house than usual.

Farmer supply store has poison for just that kind of weed. Take some in and show it to them.

**Kurgen** · 30-04-2013, 08:15 PM

Originally Posted by Mid

pics ?

I'll attempt a pic tomorrow.

**Rural Surin** · 30-04-2013, 08:16 PM

It's just a bladdy lawn.
Get over it.

I might prefer clover as a general lawn-ground cover.
Easier to manage than hybrid grasses.....appears more exotic.
Different from everyone else.

**Rural Surin** · 30-04-2013, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

^^^ Not a "clover like weed"

Some might consider grasses as weeds...
Semantics.

**aging one** · 30-04-2013, 08:24 PM

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

It's just a bladdy lawn. Get over it.

But in mine, in the small space that it is in, no. Some things in life you just like to have at my, perhaps our age.

If it would just like hang out that would be okay, but it will take over the whole yard. Thus depriving the turf of nutrients, and starting a natural cycle I dont like.

I have seen it before. Never used a pesticide, but it was a pain.

**misskit** · 30-04-2013, 08:37 PM

This is the bad one around here. Creeping oxalis.

You can pull it but little pieces break off in the ground and it comes back more. It also grows from seed if left too long.

I hate it.

**Kurgen** · 30-04-2013, 08:53 PM

Originally Posted by misskit

This is the bad one around here. Creeping oxalis.

You can pull it but little pieces break off in the ground and it comes back more. It also grows from seed if left too long.

I hate it.

That's the stuff I think.
It's got roots about 6 inches long. Mind you I've never seen yellow flowers on it.

**sabang** · 30-04-2013, 09:00 PM

Mate, it's grass.

**BugginOut** · 01-05-2013, 03:11 AM

Originally Posted by aging one

Originally Posted by Rural Surin

It's just a bladdy lawn. Get over it.

But in mine, in the small space that it is in, no. Some things in life you just like to have at my, perhaps our age.

If it would just like hang out that would be okay, but it will take over the whole yard. Thus depriving the turf of nutrients, and starting a natural cycle I dont like.

I have seen it before. Never used a pesticide, but it was a pain.

Nutrients!?!?! It's not like you've got a garden growing there, Shakespeare. Just mow it down. You're worried about losing (<--notice it's not loosing) nutrients but you're willing to pour poison all over the ground to kill a bloody bit of clover. WTF is wrong with your head?

**Boon Mee** · 01-05-2013, 05:36 AM

Originally Posted by sabang

Mate, it's grass.

My take too.

As long as it's decent-looking ground cover, I don't get worried. This time of year with the strong sun, anything that holds in the water is OK with me aside from that creeping vine-like thing.

Mot Daeng (red ants) are on my shit-list tho...

**misskit** · 01-05-2013, 06:41 AM

I'm no fan of cement and use stone instead for patio area, walkway, and utility areas. The noxious weed is about to cover it all.

Usually, I attack it with a hoe but its too far gone this time.

I was thinking of burning it.

**SEA Traveler** · 01-05-2013, 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by misskit

This is the bad one around here. Creeping oxalis.

You can pull it but little pieces break off in the ground and it comes back more. It also grows from seed if left too long.

I hate it.

there has got to be some 4 leafed clovers int her somewhere. "Good Luck" and all that.

**ralphlsasser** · 01-05-2013, 02:41 PM

Originally Posted by aging one

nope not here, once they are in you have a problem. Thai weeds are the worst. Long thin grass used to drive me nuts. Gone since the flood and putting in Malay turf.

Dispite watering every day, my Malay grass has died. I guess the drought up here in Nong Khai has had an effect.

**ataloss** · 01-05-2013, 03:30 PM

Weed Killers
Buying Guide: Weed Killers
"Contact/Translocated: Some herbicides kill plants on contact when applied while others operate by translocation or by working their way throughout the plant's system. Contact herbicides only kill the part of a plant where the herbicide is applied. This type is best used to kill annual and biennial weeds and usually causes plants to die quickly.
Translocated herbicides are absorbed through a plant's leaves or roots. This type works well against perennial weeds because the chemical attacks the whole plant, including the root system.

Contact herbicides are ideal for clearing ground prior to sowing or planting
Contact types don't kill perennials but repeated application may exhaust reserves
Common contact herbicides include paraquat, diquat, glufosinate and sodium chlorate
Translocated herbicides may take two to three weeks to work, or longer for woody perennials
Common translocated herbicides include glyphosate and amitrole"
end of extract

I recommend using Roundup, which is a glyphosate, not only because of its efficacy but because my children and pets can safely enter the sprayed area once the Roundup has dried.
It is sprayed on the weeds’ leaves and thus is absorbed into and thus throughout the plant stem of the weed all the way down to its roots.THUS IT IS SELF DEFEATING TO HACK AT THE PLANT leaving only the stem, and PULLING OUT STEMS more tha naught leaves stray root parts which triumphantly greet you within a few days.
Roundup Ultra is a scale up; as it adheres more thoroughly to the leaf surfaces assuring better adsorption.
Roundup is a selective weed killer used by farmers throughout NA and many countries around the world. It is more animal-friendly than others. This requires at least 2 weeks to destroy weeds. It is termed ‘selective’ because it doesn’t destroy the entire village or lawn area to save it, as the old analogy goes.
Contact herbicides clear an entire area before planting grass, but depending on which you use, it may hamper growth of the newly-laid lawn.
Weed control - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikipedia does a long dissertation on defining a weed.
A weed is simply any plant growing where it is not wanted.

Here: Roundup Weed & Grass Killer - Kill Poison Ivy
an easy read on Roundup.

Good luck and pls let us know your results.

**Kurgen** · 01-05-2013, 05:09 PM

So roundup kills grass as well then?

**misskit** · 01-05-2013, 05:22 PM

Is Roundup available in Thailand? If so, is it available in a ready-to-use bottle? Anyone seen it?

**Gipsy** · 01-05-2013, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by misskit

Is Roundup available in Thailand?

I've seen bottles and larger cans of Roundup in Chiang Mai but all had a manufacturing and sell-by date long gone. In Thailand Glyphosate 48 is sold but beware for the 'Chinese' copies, very often diluted. Glyphosate is a non selective herbicide.

Something more nasty for sale here is Paraquat but is very toxic to humans and animals, so stay away from that unless you know what you're doing and have the proper protective gear...

Clover? Clover returns nitrogen to the soil, stays green in drought and can be mowed just like grass. I wonder whether the real problem is not enough maintenance on the lawn. If the grass is growing poorly, then clover and other weeds will pop up, slowly but sure replacing the once beautiful lawn.

A lawn is high maintenance; it needs regular fertilising (at least 3 to 4 times a year), a good soaking every week and should be mowed no shorter than 3" high (unless you have the grass they use at golf courses).

If there's a lot of traffic on the lawn (walking, kids playing) then it should be aerated every other year. You should also top dress the lawn at the beginning of the rainy season with a thin layer of compost or top soil.

The safest pesticide is no pesticides and good cultivation practices.

Oxalis stricta. Comes with tiny yellow flowers and 2 cm. long seedpods, which 'explode' once touched, scattering all their seeds.

**DrAndy** · 01-05-2013, 08:14 PM

Originally Posted by Gipsy

The safest pesticide is no pesticides and good cultivation practices.

agreed; people reach for the killer chemials far too easily

if you don't want a high maintenance lawn, think of something else

**ossierob** · 01-05-2013, 08:42 PM

if you use Glysophate it will kill your other grasses as well as the oxalis...it is only the bigger hardier stuff it may not roll. Glysophate is bio-degradable so dont water near it for a couple of days so it will work its way through the plant. Spray it onto the leaves as well as stem.

**Kurgen** · 01-05-2013, 09:02 PM

Originally Posted by Gipsy

A lawn is high maintenance; it needs regular fertilising (at least 3 to 4 times a year), a good soaking every week and should be mowed no shorter than 3" high (unless you have the grass they use at golf courses).

I have to say I'm shit at gardening and all I do is water the green place from hell most nights, mind you the bastid is 15mX 30m so it takes ages.
I think I throw fertiliser a couple of times a year and I get a fella to mow it quite often but a lot shorter than 3".

Any more tips?

EDIT.

PS it's not that Oxalis but does look similar. Give me a cuppla daze and I'll attempt to load a pic, lifes so short.

**IsaanAussie** · 02-05-2013, 07:24 AM

If you use a herbicide strong enough to kill the entire weed population you will also kill off the soil biology. Without a healthy microbe population most lawn grasses will not thrive. Wind blown weed seeds and stubborn roots will shoot. It is a dilema.
If you have the time ans energy you can try getting the lawn rotary hoed to a depth of 4 to 6 inches. This will chop everything up, the weakest will die off but most will re-emerge. After the hoeing than douse the soil with an EM solution. This will force any seeds to germinate and will compost the stuff that got chopped up and buried. After a week there will be new growth started, these are the enemy. Selectively spray them. Note that the new growth will adsorb herbicide faster. You could make up some vinegar based weed killer if you dont like chemicals. It will be a constant daily thing to do. I use a bucket and a hand pump sprayer so application is where you want it. Hand hoe the weeds out as they die off.
Once you are happy you have beaten most of it, top dress with an inch of good manure based compost that is not full of weed seeds and rotary hoe that into the top inch or so. Now you have a base to replant or lay turf. If you use seed you have the chance to weed the lawn as it grows. If you use turf then the weeds will push through but be harder to pull out. I would use 1/4 to 1/2" of a mixture of rice hull biochar and vermicompost as a seed raising mix then spread you seed and rake it in.

Thread: Help, my lawn's being attacked!

Thread Tools

Display

Help, my lawn's being attacked!

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

Posting Permissions