sandburrs: how well does corn gluten meal work as a pre-emergent? How much sense does it make to keep the grass short, put pre-emergent down in the spring to prevent leftover seeds from sprouting,to be rid of sandburrs?

Wow! I've been away far too long.

Sand burrs are easily controlled. They do not grow in well maintained soil, so all you have to do is fertilize and water them. Weekly deep watering should be plenty.

I suppose you want to get rid of the actual seeds themselves, too. The easy way is to get an old rug and put the soft side down on top of the burrs. Walk over the back side of the carpet and carefully pick it up. Take it somewhere safe to scrape the seeds off. Then repeat until you don't get any more seeds. Any fabric will do but carpet is easy to clean them off of.