QuestionI had my yard resodded with Floratam two years ago. I mow at the highest setting on my Craftsman mower and water twice a week and have never aereated or dethached. I bag the grass cuttings. I am seeing a number of weeds, especially in shaded areas. It looks like Veronica, groundsel and maybe dichondra. What would be a good way to get rid of these? Almost all liquid sprays say St. Augustine, but not to use on Floratam. Also, along the edge of my wood privacy fence it seems that all the grass has died and a couple of spots in the center area of the front yard have also died. I used Sunniland for chinch bugs late last summer. I know floratam is not chinch bug resistant as the claims go. I live in Cocoa, Fl.
Answer Floratam is specially mentioned on the labels of plant killers, it is true, but many of them point out the special precautions which must be observed to obtain success. If you follow the label instructions carefully, and are persistent, you will control weeds.
Incidentally, if you mow your lawn frequently (every 7 days) and use a mulching mower, you can leave the clippings where they fall.
Two important things to watch are:
1. You mow before any weed starts seeding.
2. There must be no clippings visible on the lawn the day after mowing.
When the grass along a fence line browns out or dies I first think of string trimming. It is easy to 'burn' the grass by trimming too low. Soap flush the brown area on the lawn to make sure that there are no harmful insects. Set out a straight sided container in this area to catch the water from your sprinkler system. You want to make sure that the patch is getting watered. If these check out OK, then you might have a fungus problem. Except that the weather conditions in this part of the State (Temperature and Humidity) have not been favorable for fungus outbreaks. But Mother Nature pulls surprises.
