Clover is winning in my lawn

[PFMills]

Any suggestions as chemical/product to use that will leave the grass still alive after. Am trying to avoid digging the whole lot up.  tks

[Pogust]

Not an answer to your question but....

If I had clover over the whole area I would be very happy. It stays low and green with small yellow flowers. It is a legume so collect it's own nitrogen from the air, no need to buy fertilizer. And no need to mow.

 

If you want to get rid of it, sow something that out-compete it and grows more vigorously. If you have seeds in the ground it will come back, after digging or spraying. There are plenty of grasses in Thailand that will take over.

 

 

 

[kickstart]

4 hours ago, Pogust said:

Not an answer to your question but....

If I had clover over the whole area I would be very happy. It stays low and green with small yellow flowers. It is a legume so collect it's own nitrogen from the air, no need to buy fertilizer. And no need to mow.

 

If you want to get rid of it, sow something that out-compete it and grows more vigorously. If you have seeds in the ground it will come back, after digging or spraying. There are plenty of grasses in Thailand that will take over.

 

 

 

First off it will not be clover that we know of , that is a temperate crop, it will not grow here ,to hot,

You could try leaving the grass an inch or so longer ,let the grass grow taller than the weed ,and in time the weed grass will die out.

If you do not already ,put some urea fertilizer on the grass ,encourage the grass to grow  and thicken out,other grasses should die out .a few hand full's  of lime would not go a miss. 

 

[drtreelove]

14 hours ago, Pogust said:

Not an answer to your question but....

If I had clover over the whole area I would be very happy. It stays low and green with small yellow flowers. It is a legume so collect it's own nitrogen from the air, no need to buy fertilizer. And no need to mow.

 

If you want to get rid of it, sow something that out-compete it and grows more vigorously. If you have seeds in the ground it will come back, after digging or spraying. There are plenty of grasses in Thailand that will take over.

 

 

 

This is an intelligent comment in my opinion.  Embrace the clover and the diversity, would be my preference too. 

 

But I do understand the desire for uniform healthy turf grass and I have succesfully managed yaa malaysia (broadleaf carpet grass) and  yaa nuan noi to dominate over weeds without herbicide. Its a year-long process or more, but to do this I use organic lawn care methods. (good soil preparation, good water management, mow weekly during growing season, mow high at 3 inches (don't scalp with a krueng tat yaa), mow without catcher to return clipping to the soil (works best with yaa Malaysia, yaa nuan noi is too dense and clippings will sit on top), aerate annually and input high quality compost and COF - complete organic fertilizer, hand pull or dig weeds regularly, before they go to seed).  

 

Selective herbicide will kill broadleaf weeds in grass. Yaa Malaysia is sensitive to broadleaf herbicide damage, so only use herbicide with the Zoysia. The turf-specific herbicides available in the US, like SpeedZone, Weed-B-Gone and others have 2,4-D and dicamba as primary active ingredients. I have not seen those here in Thailand, but I haven't really looked. See this TV discussion for a recommendation from a member, but also note my caution about using broadleaf weed killers in proximity to trees. I have had many cases where tree roots have taken up the broadleaf herbicide and caused extreme leaf distortion, discoloration , leaf drop and even branch die-back.

 

If your 'clover' is extensive, with the use of herbicide you will go through a long transition period with ugly patches of dead clover.  The grass dominance will depend on your diligence and good management that favors it and at what season you start the treatment program (grass doesn't grow as vigorously during the cooler months). 

 

The best method would be to completely remove the existing turf and clover growth, prepare the soil to a 6" depth with compost and COF roto-tilled in, then overlay new sod. Then the weed management will be limited to spot pulling of new weeds and cultivation of your new turf grass to dominate. 

[drtreelove]

11 hours ago, kickstart said:

First off it will not be clover that we know of , that is a temperate crop, it will not grow here ,to hot,

You could try leaving the grass an inch or so longer ,let the grass grow taller than the weed ,and in time the weed grass will die out.

If you do not already ,put some urea fertilizer on the grass ,encourage the grass to grow  and thicken out,other grasses should die out .a few hand full's  of lime would not go a miss. 

 

Yes, 'let the grass grow taller' is consistent with the OLC (organic land care) practices. 

The only time I use chemical fertilizer any more is sometimes for lawn grass where I want maximum green and lush. But only a lite application every six to eight weeks, and I prefer Ammonium sulfate 21-0-0.  But heads up, I notice that with high salts chemical fertilzer, surrounding shrubs and trees with root zones extending into the lawn, will start to get more pest damage. As we know now, high NPK chemical fertilization causes severe imbalances and can be an arthropod (insect and mite) pest magnet.