January 19, 2003
Question: Maybe you can help me with a problem I’m having with my floratam lawn. I recently bought a five year old house. The problem is that the lawn has had no care for about that long and the yard is full of weeds. I’ve tried Weed-and-Feed and many other brand named products. I’ve also tried a lawn company for about five months and they had about the same luck as I had. Is there anything out there that will specifically target these weeds?
- David, e-mail
Answer: When weeds dominate a lawn, the prudent thing is often to spray the entire area with Round-up and re-sod. You may have already wasted a lot of money in a futile attempt to have grass regrow in an area cleared by herbicide. By their very nature, weeds are aggressive growers. Bare spots created by herbicide applications have to be filled by man or nature. If not for the gardener, weeds have the upper hand when it comes to colonizing these bare spots. Sodding will immediately fill these spots and eliminate competition from weeds. One last thing, an irrigation system, correctly used, is essential in maintaining a healthy lawn and will help to keep weeds out.
Stephen Brown is a horticulture agent with the Lee County Extension.
To submit questions call the horticulture desk at 461-7504 between 9 a.m. and 4
p.m. or via e-mail at
shb@mail.ifas.ufl.edu. Listen to the ‘Garden Show’ at 8 a.m. on
1200-AM WINK/WNOG.