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Weed Identification - What This Is?
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Author:  northwesterner [ Fri Sep 17, 2010 9:32 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Weed Identification - What This Is?

The perverse gardener in me wants to suggest that if you try to grow this on purpose,
it will die immediately. :)

I don't know what this plant of yours is. I may have a relative in my yard, where I have a
viney little plant taking over on the St. Augustine side of my front yard. I pull it out
periodically. It has pretty little white flowers, but it doesn't belong in the turf.

Though I hate to ask about commercial weed killers, what have you tried already? If I were to
start attacking the vine in my turf, I'd probably start hitting it with vinegar on hot days to see
if it would die back. That would probably also kill the grass, but the grass will grow back.

Good luck in getting an ID and getting control of it.

Author:  user_48634 [ Fri Nov 19, 2010 5:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Weed Identification - What This Is?

I don't know what it is, either, but it is taking out your St Augustine. While St Aug is great at forcing out grassy weeds, it is terrible against broadleaf weeds.

Author:  northwesterner [ Fri Nov 19, 2010 6:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Weed Identification - What This Is?

But the stuff you chose to take it out with is worse than the weed. That's the trouble with asking
the chemical pushers for answers to your weed problems.

Author:  sandih [ Sat Nov 20, 2010 7:43 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Weed Identification - What This Is?

Unfortunately us non-chemical people couldn't give him a good solution!

Author:  northwesterner [ Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:48 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Weed Identification - What This Is?

Maybe didn't harm the grass, but I am sure it had an impact on the biology going on in
your yard.

Here is the product label

Author:  flatwoodfarm [ Thu Mar 17, 2011 9:46 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Weed Identification - What This Is?

I have this weed and I believe it is a lespadeza; an annual legume with little purple pea family flowers. It will choke out lawn grasses, then die in the winter leaving an ugly dead brown open area for the hundreds (thousands?) of little seeds to get all the light they need to germinate, repopulate, and make masses of new offspring. It's one of the worst!: too low to trim mechanically, too tough for most weed killers, and it kills everything in it's path. It's the Borg of the weed world! And it has spread everywhere on my property, thanks in part to its square sticky seed pods and my little schnauzer. The best solution I can think of is to keep the grass at a height of about 8-9 inches, and very healthy and dense. The problem with this solution is that my lawn mower, and everyone I've ever owned, only mows up to about 4 inches. My diesel Ford 3000 with its bush hog mower can mow the pastures that high, but I'm not about to take that monster into my lawn areas.

Any organic ideas?

Author:  northwesterner [ Thu Mar 17, 2011 4:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Weed Identification - What This Is?

Where are you located?

A little research on Lespedeza shows it as an introduced plant (the University of Missouri has instructions on how to grow it, and some of the history of its introduction). Sometimes backing up through the instructions on how to grow something reveals the way you can kill it - but there isn't any help here - this is one tough plant. Since it is a legume, and since much of the agricultural discussion from Missouri references its similarity to clovers, you might try the product that Howard recommends that works against clover, the Garden Weasel Crabgrass Killer.

You could probably benefit from running a couple of trials on your property, to see what works best, and what is most affordable. Another one that I use around here (North Texas) is Howard's weed killer mix, a gallon of 10% vinegar with an ounce of orange oil, 1 tablespoon of molasses, and a teaspoon or so of soap. No water is added. Spray it when the grass is still dormant and it won't hurt the turf. I use this to kill weeds the come up before the grass comes back, and I use it in summer on places where I want to take out weeds and don't care of it browns the grass for a little while. (Here is that recipe plus several other weed solutions, including the Garden Weasel recommendation). You've missed the winter weed control season for this year, but it looks like using this now and trying the vinegar or the corn gluten meal before the seeds sprout next winter will knock out this persistent plant.

Author:  flatwoodfarm [ Sun Mar 20, 2011 7:43 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Weed Identification - What This Is?

I'm in Florida, and that's probably part of the problem with weeds - they get plenty of water from the sky.
This lespadeza is a striaia form I believe, not the one used in pastures. None of my animals will eat it.
I am trying the weed killer mixture now, but it is not convenient as I have to "make" 10% vinegar from 5%, and have no access to affordable corn meal. I have 20 acres, and so need these things in a good sized quantity, and there is nothing affordable locally ($64. for 50 lbs corn gluten meal at the garden center, no corn meal of any kind at the feed store, $20 a gallon for 10% vinegar shipped in).

And the cinnamon crabgrass killer is also very expensive for use in large areas.

Author:  northwesterner [ Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Weed Identification - What This Is?

See if you can get your grocery store to get the 10% pickling vinegar - that is what the formula is actually based on, to at least give it a try in an area to see if it will work. You may need to shame your local feed store into carrying some of these products in an affordable way. You can print out information from the web site to show them the weed killing formula, and you can even contact the Dirt Doctor folks for assistance in locating these products. Take a look at the vendors in your state (I hope there are some!) and see if you can nudge the local folks into stepping up to the organic program.

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