I have a back lawn that is now heavily infested with burweed. Before last year I didn't even know there was such a weed. Here's what it is: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/WEEDS/lawn_burweed.html

Any thoughts from anyone? This stuff makes it impossible to walk barefoot in the lawn and is far too widespread to just pull up like regular grass burr or "sticker" plants.

thanks
Keith

You might try spraying it with vinegar on a hot sunny day.

You might be able to pick up the burrs with a piece of carpet or any fabric. Lay it down, pat it down, and pick it up.

what kind of grass do you have?

Unfortunately I don't think the carpet trick will work. This is not the typical grass burr. See - http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/WEEDS/lawn_burweed.html

I can kill it with vinegar but my concern is how to keep it from coming back next year. I've read that pre-emergents may make this stuff worse by killing off more "desirable" weeds and eliminating the competition from them.

This back area is mainly un-maintained so it's a mix of weeds and grasses. Until now I've just pulled out the occasional grass burr. This stuff is not at all like that!

thanks!

But I mean, is there any burmuda or st augustine? Any turf grass growing back there at all? Because if you do, I was going to tell you that you could make the grass take over everything else, including this stuff. David can tell you how. lol

Yes, there is some St. Augustine and Bermuda. I would say that the ratio of weeds and clover to grass is about 75/25. And of the 75% that is weeds, this new burweed infestation is about 1/3 of the total. So to spray vinegar and kill it would realistically mean killing off most of the stuff growing back there!
That's not a big problem if you guys think that's the best solution. Thanks for your help!

Keith

Would you like the bermuda or the st. augustine to take over everything? Chose one and we can tell you how to get rid of the weeds... Fallow the practice for bermuda or st. augustine and you will choke out the weeds.

Can you post a picture of the area? What I'm thinking is to start fertilizing that area with organics and mowing at the mower's highest setting. But I would like to see your picture of the weed first. I'd like to see how it is affecting the grass and whatever you have back there.

HI guys
sorry for the late reply.. I have no preference of St. Augustine over Bermuda. As a matter of fact, if there's something else that would work and need very little water/maintenance I'd be interested. This is a typical back yard that has trees in and around it so there is a mix of sun and shade through the day. We don't have a sprinkler system and in the 25 years we've lived there my limited efforts to grow grass haven't been too successful... My concern now is that this new weed makes going in the yard barefoot impossible. BTW, I would be totally in favor of putting in perennial beds everywhere and retiring my mower, but the expense of doing that is impractical. Thanks again for helping. I'll try to get a couple of photos to send your way.

Hi, I was researching vinegar as a weedkiller(which I discovered by accident) and effectiveness on burweed and found this site and this discussion. I would be interested in further information on eradicating the burweed. I have St Augustine but it does poorly in drought conditions (like now. I refuse to water anymore using a poorly constructed landscape sprinkling system). I know the burweed distributes its nasty little sticker seeds then dies off early summer til the next spring. I do get stickers in my barefeet for months after it has 'seeded'. My last attempt to kill it without poison was with a torch. It kills all the grass as well.

Once the seeds have started, I think killing the plants still effectively reseeds them so I need to kill off before the boogers start seeding. So the day is cooler in early spring. Is the vinegar going to kill everything? Does it work on ground ph and that is what kills the boogers? Do I need a hot day to spray? I have read that to weed kill, I need a more concentrated dosage of vinegar than a food grade one. The concentrated one also can be dangerous to use if gotten on the skin or in the eyes so I already understand to handle carefully.

I sure will appreciate any feedback on these two subjects... burweed and horticultural vinegar. Oh, and making the st augustine stronger. I am a proponent of natural and nontoxic. I do not want any poison or manufactured chemicals advice, please. I won't do those til I totally give up looking for an alternative. I would rather pave the whole near acre over with cement first. I have major health reactions to poisons.

If you are unwilling to water then you might be doomed to weird weeds. I am very happy with my oscillating sprinkler and have put all my other sprinklers on the shelf. St Aug must have water every week if it is to dominate. But if this is a broadleaf weed, you will eventually have to pull it out or spray it with vinegar. St Aug is terrible at resisting broadleaf weeds.

I love all my other weeds just fine. I could water my yard once a week but it takes most of the night to do the entire yard with a hose sprinkler. The sprinkler system I inherited with the yard eats $100 a month in electric just in standby mode. When I shut the power off to the box, I had a fabulous electric bill for the first time since I moved into the home. Plus I have not used it since the hard freeze. It may need maintenance before I can use it again. I am considering ripping it all out and redoing it myself. I used to water all the time before the discovery of the electrical drainage and the burweed dominated it even with the watering.

You can't pull the burweed. It is too tiny and too prevalent. I tried that idea. If I attack the burweed in the spring, I may be able to have better control over it with the vinegar. I will test it when I see it again. How often do I need to water when I use the vinegar?

Vinegar is a foliar spray, not a soil drench. It will kill the grass surrounding the weed, too.

You water an inch a week, to start, no matter what.

As you have figured out, something is wrong with your electrical.

Hmmm, ok, thanks for the needed input. I assumed it would kill everything. I may just do the worst areas at first and let the grass grow back in. Sounds like I may be doing torch, weeding and spraying a little at a time and see if I can get back control over the infestation. I sure appreciate the input here. I have a feeling this will be a long term fight.

I did notice one place I was researching also mentioned to drag a cloth around the yard and pick up the stickers so they would not reseed so much. That will be done on the mature weed specimens next year. I thought I would include that in case another person finds this thread. I am thinking cheesecloth then throw that booger in the trash. Maybe put a cloth bag inside it filled with dirt or sand for weight and tow it around the yard, turning it over and over til the bag was all covered then dispose.