Lawn Weeds

[Prashun Patel]

Does this topic depress you as much as me? Spray, compost, crouch-and-pick. The more time I spend on it, the more they thrive.

I have this ONE light green, tall grass that I just can't get rid of. I tried picking them out manually, repeatedly, but they grow back. Does anyone know what this is and how I may eradicate it?

I am in Central New Jersey and use a typical Mid-Atlantic seed mix: KBG + rye + fescue.

I realize there's crabgrass and other weeds in there, but these have been easier to get under control than that bright green stuff. It starts coming up mid July, and augments through August.

[George Bokros]

Probably need to use Roundup and reseed the spots.

[Brian Deakin]

I live in the Uk and I have a problem lawn
I would suggest the following advice

(1) Identify a suitable blend of grass seed
(2) Determine the best time to plant
(3) Make a wooden frame one yard square and use this as a grid to work across the lawn (removing or spot killing the offending grass and weeds) then overseed the area
(4) Set yourself a target eg 2 square yards per day and methodically work across the whole lawn

[Jim Becker]

The best thing I ever did for "weed control" in our lawn was to start cutting it much higher...3.5"-4". I've never used chemicals. Yes, there are still some "weeds" but new ones struggle to get a foothold because the taller, thriving grass blocks the sunlight and makes germination conditions less than ideal for "weeds". Most "weeds" thrive in poor soil where there is plenty of light available to them.

To get things stable as a baseline, you could indeed do a "wipe and replace", but you could also do things like core aeration followed by over seeding of a good grass seed (not inexpensive seed) that is suitable for your lawn's light conditions. As the new grass grows in and establishes a strong root system, it should spread and fill in between the aeration points. Using corn gluten meal very early in the subsequent season should help keep germination of new "weeds" (which are generally annuals) down to a minimum.

[Doug Dawson]

The best thing I ever did for "weed control" in our lawn was to start cutting it much higher...3.5"-4". I've never used chemicals. Yes, there are still some "weeds" but new ones struggle to get a foothold because the taller, thriving grass blocks the sunlight and makes germination conditions less than ideal for "weeds". Most "weeds" thrive in poor soil where there is plenty of light available to them.

To get things stable as a baseline, you could indeed do a "wipe and replace", but you could also do things like core aeration followed by over seeding of a good grass seed (not inexpensive seed) that is suitable for your lawn's light conditions. As the new grass grows in and establishes a strong root system, it should spread and fill in between the aeration points. Using corn gluten meal very early in the subsequent season should help keep germination of new "weeds" (which are generally annuals) down to a minimum.

Agreed on the cutting height.

I have to mention something about corn gluten meal however. (Years of experience playing around with it.) It may work well in the North, but here in the South it barely works at all. It seems to rely on well-defined seasons, seasonal boundaries. Here in the South we have no such things, and there is a broad overlap among the many varieties of weeds we have, re their germination and growth periods, so what you end up doing with it is just fertilizing "most" (it seems) of your weeds. Even if you _could_ pin down when things were about to germinate, it's unpredictable year over year.

Corn gluten meal does, however, seem reliably effective against annual bluegrass, even down here.

(Yes I know Prashun is in New Jersey, but just in case anyone else much further South may be tempted by it.)

[Brian Elfert]

The best thing I ever did for "weed control" in our lawn was to start cutting it much higher...3.5"-4". I've never used chemicals. Yes, there are still some "weeds" but new ones struggle to get a foothold because the taller, thriving grass blocks the sunlight and makes germination conditions less than ideal for "weeds". Most "weeds" thrive in poor soil where there is plenty of light available to them.

I've been cutting at 4" for several years and I still have as many weeds as ever. It might not help that I don't fertilize so the grass isn't real thick.

One issue with 4" is the lawn never has that fresh cut look to me. The lawn also looks kinda ragged even with new high quality blades on the mower. A lot of people are cutting their lawn when it gets to around 4" and if you start at 4" you are probably not cutting until 5" or taller. 4" is at least better than my neighbor who cuts so short that his lawn is scalped everywhere.

I'm lucky I don't live in a neighborhood where a lot of emphasis is put on nice looking lawns.

[Jim Becker]

I don't fertilize, either, Brian. I do know that while I have weeds, they certainly are less prominent. Yes, it doesn't look as well groomed after a week, but I personally don't mind about that. Subjective thing...

[Nathan Johnson]

I've been cutting at 4" for several years and I still have as many weeds as ever. It might not help that I don't fertilize so the grass isn't real thick.

One issue with 4" is the lawn never has that fresh cut look to me. The lawn also looks kinda ragged even with new high quality blades on the mower. A lot of people are cutting their lawn when it gets to around 4" and if you start at 4" you are probably not cutting until 5" or taller. 4" is at least better than my neighbor who cuts so short that his lawn is scalped everywhere.

I'm lucky I don't live in a neighborhood where a lot of emphasis is put on nice looking lawns.

I've settled on between 3.5 and 3.75 as the sweet spot for cutting height. 4 inches seems just a tad high for me partially for reasons you stated.
Keep in mind too that not all mowers are created equal. The higher you cut the better suction you need under the deck and a good blade won't matter if the grass won't stand up.
Water is more important than fertilizer, and always mulch your clippings back into the yard.
A good core aeration and overseeding would probably fill in quite a bit.

[John K Jordan]

I've settled on between 3.5 and 3.75 as the sweet spot for cutting height. ...

I mow about 3 acres around the house, approach, the little orchard, around the outside of the fences, and another 10 acres in the pastures as needed. I cut shorter or higher, depending. (My mowers cut 5' at once so it doesn't take long.)

In the spring I cut most grass at around 3". A lot of our honey comes from clover so when it's blooming I raise the deck as needed to leave the flowers.. When the weather is hot and dry (like now) I mow at 3.5-4", mostly to cut off the undesirable seed heads. Pastures get 5.5", the upper limit of my Kubota mower. Letting the grass in the pasture get too high can reportedly cause fine seeds to irritate the horse's eyes. Keeps the weeds and things the horses won't eat down too.

Fortunately, changing the height is so easy on the diesel mower - foot pedals operate a hydraulic deck lift. I can easily lower from full height to 1" while moving to "spot mow" a patch of weeds or raise the deck to miss a stray rock or limb.

Also fortunately for my time, I'm not too picky about perfectly manicured and weedless lawns. I always remember what a neighbor told me in 1972 - "if it's green, I'm happy."

JKJ

[Brian Elfert]

I've settled on between 3.5 and 3.75 as the sweet spot for cutting height. 4 inches seems just a tad high for me partially for reasons you stated.
Keep in mind too that not all mowers are created equal. The higher you cut the better suction you need under the deck and a good blade won't matter if the grass won't stand up.
Water is more important than fertilizer, and always mulch your clippings back into the yard.
A good core aeration and overseeding would probably fill in quite a bit.

I have two different 60" commercial mowers. One is rear discharge only and the other is mulching only. The mulching one seems to cut a bit better.

[John K Jordan]

I have two different 60" commercial mowers. One is rear discharge only and the other is mulching only. The mulching one seems to cut a bit better.

I wonder if it has something to do with the rear discharge. I recently bought my second 60" Kubota and the new one can be ordered for rear discharge. The guy I deal with (and trust) said he didn't recommend the rear discharge version. I think he said it tends to clog up which might affect the air flow and the quality of the cut but maybe it's just the difference in the air flow path. Just wondering.

JKJ

[Brian Elfert]

I wonder if it has something to do with the rear discharge. I recently bought my second 60" Kubota and the new one can be ordered for rear discharge. The guy I deal with (and trust) said he didn't recommend the rear discharge version. I think he said it tends to clog up which might affect the air flow and the quality of the cut but maybe it's just the difference in the air flow path. Just wondering.

I bought the mower used so I didn't have a choice on the type of deck. I would prefer mulching. The mower is made by Jacobsen. I found out Jacobsen will fabricate just about any metal part they don't stock since they fabricate everything in house. I have not called to see if the mulching kit for the rear discharge deck can still be ordered.

[Tom M King]

I've been looking at getting a 72" zero turn mower lately, and had settled on wanting the Ferris because of the nice suspension system. Some of the stuff that would be cut with it gets fairly long, so we don't have to cut it so often. For cutting longer grass, I was thinking that a rear discharge would be better, since it doesn't throw grass out to one side to be cut over again. Ferris has a 72" rear discharge deck that is only available in Europe. Here, their only 72" deck is a side discharge, which seems a bit odd to me.

I don't really want mulching, since most of what will be cut with that mower will be cut as fast as possible, and some of it not cut so often, as one would a lawn.

[John K Jordan]

I've been looking at getting a 72" zero turn mower lately, and had settled on wanting the Ferris because of the nice suspension system. Some of the stuff that would be cut with it gets fairly long, so we don't have to cut it so often. For cutting longer grass, I was thinking that a rear discharge would be better, since it doesn't throw grass out to one side to be cut over again. Ferris has a 72" rear discharge deck that is only available in Europe. Here, their only 72" deck is a side discharge, which seems a bit odd to me.

I don't really want mulching, since most of what will be cut with that mower will be cut as fast as possible, and some of it not cut so often, as one would a lawn.

You might want to try the mower first. As mentioned above, my dealer said the rear discharge mower deck tended to clog more. I think he said it was worse with tall and wet grass.

I usually cut in a counter-clockwise path that throws the grass clippings away from the uncut grass.

I thought about the 72" deck but it wouldn't work for me. I plant and build things with the mowing in mind, leaving at least 6.5-7' clearance for the 60" deck plus side discharge chute.

JKJ

[Tom M King]

You might want to try the mower first. As mentioned above, my dealer said the rear discharge mower deck tended to clog more. I think he said it was worse with tall and wet grass.

I usually cut in a counter-clockwise path that throws the grass clippings away from the uncut grass.

I thought about the 72" deck but it wouldn't work for me. I plant and build things with the mowing in mind, leaving at least 6.5-7' clearance for the 60" deck plus side discharge chute.

JKJ

I wish I could try them. The dealers for the ones I'm considering don't even keep the 6 footers in stock, so would be a special order anyway. Someone sent me this link, and I think this will do what I need to anyway.https://www.advancedchutesystem.com/ I'm used to a side discharge, but think this would solve a couple of problem spots where we don't like to keep throwing the grass in one direction.

Our yard doesn't need much cutting. It's mostly moss. Everywhere that would need this mower if pretty open, but I'm just trying to cut down on the mowing time. We keep up several historic museum house properties, and they're pretty open, but too much trouble to load up the tractor and 7' rotary cutter, and I don't let any of my helpers drive that rig anyway. I had a guy that could take a regular riding mower, with 48" deck that I provided, but he's having health problems, and I've ended up doing more than I wanted to myself lately.

A 72" zero turn would cut what is an all day job into a half day for the properties, and be used about half the time here.

I had left on my list the Ferris 3200, or Scag Cheetah, either with the 37hp EFI gas burner engines.