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Old 09-17-2014, 10:03 AM
 
222 posts, read 416,829 times
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So I treated that patch with pesticide for chinch bugs and the spots seem to be gone now. However, I have huge weed growth in that area now. I left for a week and returned to tall weeds on my sidewalk. I have trimmed it down again. What can I do to encourage the remaining grass on this patch of sidewalk to take over the weed? Currently, I cut the weed down really small. Should I water the grass in this area more frequently to take over the weeds in the short-term? Already, I water my lawn twice a week and it looks fine. The weed is probably crabgrass.
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Old 09-17-2014, 10:54 AM
cla
 
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I would manually pull up as much of the weeds as possible, being sure to get up as much root as possible. Do it after a good rain or watering to make the job easier. You may not need to water more often, just deeper, to encourage the St Aug roots to grow deeper (better root system = better St Aug).

Once you have the weeds mostly gone, continue to pull-up as needed. The dormant season for St Augustine is approaching, so you will probably have to wait until the next growing season for the St Aug to completely grow in. Don't forget winterizer and pre-emergent herbicides.
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Old 09-17-2014, 11:10 AM
 
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Yep, the dormant season is near. Ideally the grass would have grown over in the summer. Bummer it didn't grow over the weeds in time. I think you can grab some st augustine squares and flop them over the weeds and water it. It won't grow much in the fall and winter but it will take root and should flourish come spring and summer.
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Old 09-17-2014, 11:21 AM
 
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If you lay a few squares of St A, please don't just lay them over the weeds. Take some time to till up the dirt so the new square look level with the rest of the area. A few houses in my neighborhood patch up some bad spots in their St A by just setting down the new squares and it looks like ****, not to mention most of it dies before a few roots take hold. Now is a good time to plant St A, as the roots will continue to grow through the fall and the heat won't kill it off like it would have last month.
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Old 09-17-2014, 11:45 PM
 
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Winter is coming and crab grass dies in winter. Research some pre-emergent herbicides to use. They will help keep the crab grass seeds from sprouting for next year. Something that might work, get in the habit of cutting your lawn to 4 inches no less. Supposedly at 4 inches your grass will shade out the sprouts of the weeds killing them in their youth. Also cut once a week or 2, this is because crab grass grows back really quickly while your grass does not. You want to cut the crab grass down to level often, it doesn't compete as well as your st Augustine at 4 inches.

Unfortunately there isn't a good pesticide to use for crab grass that doesn't hurt your lawn. The farmers have herbicides they use, but they're super toxic so I wont mention them.
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Old 09-18-2014, 07:02 AM
 
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Also, using fertilizer when you see signs of stressed St A is the worst thing you can do.
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Old 09-18-2014, 08:36 AM
 
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Thanks everyone. I learnt a few things like not using fertilizer when the grass is stressed. Unfortunately I already found this out the hard way

Anyway, the plan is to go ahead with manual de-weeding for a few weeks until the area is clean. I will water the necessary areas a little bit heavier (two times a week) to encourage the grass. No plan to use a weed killer for now.

However I did notice that almost everywhere (on the common street sidewalks, etc.) that there are more weeds now (crabgrass) for the past few days. Is it because of the rain?
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Old 09-18-2014, 12:10 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slbnoob View Post
I have a patch of sidewalk that has dead, yellowed grass. It has weed all over it. I am partly to blame for the yellowing since I applied some vinegar to a part of it which had crabgrass. It looks ugly now especially when compared to my neighbors. Any suggestions on how I can revive this before it becomes worse? I want to resolve this soon because this is rather public and an eyesore.
That piece of grass should be banned in Texas.
When I bought my house in San Antonio, I pulled it out and "xeroscaped" it with lava rock
Looks 100 times better and I saved a lot of money on water
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