Lawn - how to get rid of other plants/grasses in it?

[masuk]

5 minutes ago, cooked said:

Yes but it's too expensive if it doesn't do the job that the OP wants doing.

The Yates product for weedkilling is a broad-leaf herbicide.   Probably MCPA.

A word of warning about Roundup/Glyphosphate.  It is being withdrawn by some countries as it is a suspected carcinogen, so handle it carefully.   

If you use this on your lawn, my experience is that it will kill everything. 

[PerkinsCuthbert]

The Orwellianly-named Roundup will kill most things including, if a recent verdict in the US can be believed, you, in the long term.

[cooked]

18 minutes ago, masuk said:

The Yates product for weedkilling is a broad-leaf herbicide.   Probably MCPA.

A word of warning about Roundup/Glyphosphate.  It is being withdrawn by some countries as it is a suspected carcinogen, so handle it carefully.   

If you use this on your lawn, my experience is that it will kill everything. 

Please read my previous posts.

[Nemises]

OP: I can “borrow” some of the aforementioned Yates product from my resort’s gardeners for you to test. Will have it back in Thailand next trip (late Oct). Will be good to know if it works for you..... LIKE IT DOES FOR US. What part of LoS are you?

 

I can PM you as many photos as you like of our beautiful resort’s lawns. All 6 acres of them. Nothing but beautiful lawns, featured on a TV show to boot. Not a single weed or unwanted grass in sight. And most importantly never a weed or unwanted grass removed by hand... or the dangerous roundup.

[cooked]

This product WILL NOT WORK for the problem the OP described. Does anyone actually take the trouble to read previous posts?

[mogandave]

Easy.
Tell a Thai woman there is one thousand baht under one of them but you forgot which one.  

Yeah, come bedtime she’ll tell you to go get it...

[mogandave]

The Yates product for weedkilling is a broad-leaf herbicide.   Probably MCPA.
A word of warning about Roundup/Glyphosphate.  It is being withdrawn by some countries as it is a suspected carcinogen, so handle it carefully.   
If you use this on your lawn, my experience is that it will kill everything. 

There is RoundUp & RoundUp 2.

RoundUp kills all vegetation. RoundUp 2 is a lawn weed killer, and does not kill the lawn.

Yes, it has been outlawed in some countries where Bayer has more effective lobbyists than Monsanto.

In any event, don’t drink it...

[Nemises]

This product WILL NOT WORK ...

 

So you keep saying. Hopefully it’ll be ok with you if the OP tries a free sample of the product to let HIM decide if it works or not...

 

 

[Stevemercer]

The OP has a problem with a species of weedy grass! The only thing that will kill it is a herbicide that kills grass! Surely such a herbicide will also kill the lawn!

 

Or am I missing something?

[cooked]

1 hour ago, Nemises said:

 

So you keep saying. Hopefully it’ll be ok with you if the OP tries a free sample of the product to let HIM decide if it works or not...

 

 

HOW is a broad leave herbicide going to kill a grass? And uniquely the grass that you don't like? Do you know the difference between a broad leave weed and a grass?

It seems to be a waste of time giving professional advice on Thai Visa

[weegee]

Hi Bob....There's a wet spot under that grass. Dig a hole where it is located, and removed the dirt down to about 6 inches. Then using different dirt fill the hole again. When you are down 6 inches or so have a look how damp the dirt is...

Ir's a type of Swamp Grass...Pain to get rid of too....Dont water in the new dirt, leave it dry...

This should solve the problem....Otherwise pour Vinegar on it straight from the bottle....Dont water, or do when it's looking like rain....a good hot sunny day is the best...after a couple of days it will be dead, but it will take a while for the grass to grow back on the patch you do....

[mogandave]

HOW is a broad leave herbicide going to kill a grass? And uniquely the grass that you don't like? Do you know the difference between a broad leave weed and a grass?
It seems to be a waste of time giving professional advice on Thai Visa

If we didn’t have time to waste we wouldn’t be here...

I like the stick with a rag on the end to daub the clumps with RoundUp...

Pretty hard to get all the roots out.

[Xonax]

I also have these in my lawn.  Guess they came with the grass at the time of purchase. 

Frequent mowing will keep them from spreading. The roots are very long, and if not removed totally, they will just grow again.  Best time to remove the weed is after a big rainfall, when the soil is moist.  Pull slowly and as vertical as you can.

[Denim]

On 8/22/2018 at 7:16 PM, mogandave said:

Unless you can get a decent lawn weed killer, pulling it out is about all you can do.

Once you get it cleared out it will be easy to keep up with.

Important to get the roots, and don’t let them go to seed..

 

Agreed. Have the same problem. I just go out for 5 minutes or so when it suits me and pull them all out. Eventually got on top of it and now not an issue.

 

However, if you have a big lawn could be an issue.Maybe try to pay somebody else to do it the first time.

[sandyf]

20 hours ago, Stevemercer said:

The OP has a problem with a species of weedy grass! The only thing that will kill it is a herbicide that kills grass! Surely such a herbicide will also kill the lawn!

 

Or am I missing something?

No you are not. 

Weedkillers are either general or selective depending on the active ingredients. Selective weedkillers are able to seek and destroy various broadleaf weeds but as yet not clever enough to include narrow leaf weeds. Same goes for the general weed killer, cannot tell the difference between wild grass and domestic grass, will seek and destroy both.

[Gold Star]

On 8/25/2018 at 10:44 AM, Gold Star said:

For broadleaf weeds, I use 24-D diluted to the manufacturer's instructions in a spray bottle that I walk around the lawn and shoot any broadleaf plant I want to kill. 

To kill all plant life, I use roundup in a different spray bottle that shoots a jet at the plant.

To kill the grasses the OP has a problem with, I use a stick with a small bit of cotton or rag tied on the end which I moisten in a roundup dilution, and just touch the offending plant once. It is absorbed into the entire plant structure, and even kills the roots. Apply when you know you will not have rain for at least a day to give the plant time to absorb the herbicide.  Repeat after a few days to get any new shoots in the clump that were missed.

 

My neighbour just uses a herd of turtles....

Here are some Roundup type products found at Thai garden markets (200 to 250 Baht) that will kill whatever it is applied upon. Again, I apply it  by dipping a cloth or rag tied to a stick, and just touch the offending plant. It is systemic, and soon the plant or grass dies while the others untouched are not affected. I use it in a spray bottle on grass and weeds growing through sidewalk stones, patio blocks, cracks, or also keeping gravel beds plant free. Shoot to kill.

It mixes about 1ml concentrate to about 150 ml water, so it goes a long way.

 

 

[drtreelove]

On 8/24/2018 at 10:29 PM, cooked said:

Last time.

NO weedkiller exists that will only take out only the grass that you don't like. Broadleaves, yes, grasses no.

 

How long you been away? 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Advanced-704115-Crabgrass-Killer-32-Ounce/dp/B004OEUDLE

 

 

[cooked]

5 minutes ago, drtreelove said:

How long you been away? 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Advanced-704115-Crabgrass-Killer-32-Ounce/dp/B004OEUDLE

 

 

I was aware of these products. (vaguely). 41% Glyphosate? Will kill everything RM43 will kill everything.

Quinclorac... "On certain lawn mixtures"? Go for it, maybe they will work on your lawn. I know that you can spray against millets (pre-emergence) and sedges.

 

Is Thai crabgrass equally susceptible to this chemical?

[mogandave]

Well it seems like enough people have enough trouble with lawn weeds that it would be worth trying on a sample area.

[xylophone]

I used a sodium chlorate mix on the weeds and grasses in my garden and it worked very well, but it will kill just about everything it comes into contact with!! Oh, and wear a mask.

 

If that doesn't work, mix the product with sugar and blow up the lawn!!

[Bob12345]

Thanks again all, what i am doing now is the following:

1. cut the grass every 7-10 days

2. 1-2 days after cutting it go over it, when the soil is wet, to pull out everything that grows faster than the grass i want to have there

3. repeat

 

Hope this will do the trick, although i always need luck with the weather: not too hot and sunny and moist soil.

[Crossy]

19 minutes ago, Bob12345 said:

Thanks again all, what i am doing now is the following:

1. cut the grass every 7-10 days

2. 1-2 days after cutting it go over it, when the soil is wet, to pull out everything that grows faster than the grass i want to have there

3. repeat

That's pretty much what we do, we have assistants in the form of geese, chooks and guinea fowl which eat seeds and young shoots (and creepy-crawlies too). They also reward us with eggs (or chicks if we don't find the eggs).

 

We never actually laid a lawn, just mowed what came up and removed what madam didn't like, it's (mostly) green and from a distance looks fine.

 

[Bob12345]

51 minutes ago, Bob12345 said:

Thanks again all, what i am doing now is the following:

1. cut the grass every 7-10 days

2. 1-2 days after cutting it go over it, when the soil is wet, to pull out everything that grows faster than the grass i want to have there

3. repeat

 

Hope this will do the trick, although i always need luck with the weather: not too hot and sunny and moist soil.

Edit: once the rain stops here in Phuket I will also try the poison dipped stick to go after the grasses one by one. 

But currently we have so much rain it wont stay dry long enough for the plant to absorb.

[cornishcarlos]

30 minutes ago, Crossy said:

and from a distance looks fine.

 

I have one of those, from a distance lawns... It's spectacular from about 700m down the road or from drone footage at 2000ft...

[mogandave]

When I got married and moved into my first new house here (after staying in a serviced apartment) I bought a nice lawnmower and was going to do all the yard work. I used it about a year and gave up, grass grew too fast and too thick and had too much rain. Working full time in the province and spending weekends in Bangkok left no time to cut it.

It was a rear-bagger with a Honda engine. Anytime I was home and it was dry enough to cut I would give it a try. Push it 6m and the bag was full....

[Bob12345]

34 minutes ago, mogandave said:

Push it 6m and the bag was full....

It took me quite some time as well, until I removed the bag.

After a holiday i will use a broom to sweep up all the cut grass and put it in garbage bags, but when i cut weekly I just leave the grass on the lawn as furtilizer.

[mogandave]

Now I’m retired I’m back to not having a lawn...

[Stevemercer]

I don't mind mowing (at the moment). We have about 200 square metres of good lawn and about 1500 square metres of rough lawn (looks OK at a distance). It gives me a chance to check out the plants, trees and wildlife etc.

 

But I'm looking forward to the end of the wet season. Then the endless watering will start. 

 

As the OP has now said, mowing regularly will give a competitive advantage to the shorter/slower growing desirable grass. Use the bag to collect the clippings if the weeds etc are starting to flower (eg to collect any seeds).

[tifino]

in those original pix, the 2nd one is a form of small reed

Let grow enough percentage, and a 'reel'mower eventually chokes on it...

 

 

for the broadleaf weeds, rather than flood the lawn with weedkillers; why not start spreading dose of Gypsum,

which favours the grasses for better growth, eventually enabled to overtake the weeds...

[wildewillie89]

On 8/19/2018 at 5:53 PM, Bob12345 said:

used for the dogs to be outside and the kids to walk around on.

Yes, products will not cost the OP much in terms of trial and error, but what are they costing in the health of his dogs and kids? 

Are any of the above products completely safe? You would think if they kill everything they touch then they couldn't be too good for other living things (human and animal). 

Everything goes to shit in rain season. I think best just to keep cutting it and even getting the kids to pull them out (probably check the Melioidosis and Leptospirosis status of the area first and wear protective gear - especially rain season).  

Edited September 18, 2018 by wildewillie89