# Stickerburrs are overunning my lawn, what to do



## therealbigman (Jul 14, 2010)

I have stickerburrs growing everywhere in my St, Augustine lawn, what can I do to kill them and from keeping them from coming back, someone mentioned to me , Pre emergent, what is that and where can I get it, also they told me to spray Image weed killer on my lawn, I was gonna do that and my neighbor said its to hot and I will kill my lawn, Please help, I'm in desperate need, Thanks


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## fletchoman (Nov 30, 2008)

therealbigman said:


> I have stickerburrs growing everywhere in my St, Augustine lawn


A picture would really help...


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## Woreout (Apr 4, 2010)

*weeds*

I would pull a piece of what you have up, take it to a feed store or a VERY RELIABLE garden center and ask them.


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## w_r_ranch (Jan 14, 2005)

Probably lawn burrs... Here is a thread on them:

http://2coolfishing.com/ttmbforum/showthread.php?t=211966&highlight=burrs


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## therealbigman (Jul 14, 2010)

Have yall heard about this pre emergent


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## Torque (May 22, 2004)

I had these. The problem is the stickers are seeds. So, when you mow the grass, the stickers are thrown around to seed other areas. 

Bottom line: These will not grow if your grass is healthily and thick. This is what happened in my yard. My grass was getting sparse and in the March timeframe I was getting a lot of weeds growing. 

Here's what I did to get rid of them: Developed a two prong approach.
1. Improve condition of soil to promote healthy grass. 2. Remove sticker plants to recover much quicker. It bothered me that every time I mowed it was spreading them around to grow in other areas. 

So, in March timeframe, two years in a row, I got on my hands and knees and pulled the plants out of the soil. This is an area of about 12 x 30. It was backbreaking (we had it bad). My wife plus my neighbors thought I was crazy. 

The first year we bought humus and piled it on. This also helped killed the weeds while improving the condition of the soil. The next year I bought this improved soil (basically finely ground compost/mulch). I am going to do this for another couple of years. According to MAAS, you can do this every (1/4" layer) year and slowly build a soil base that will be the envy of everyone. 

The second year of this, I had isolated patches of the stickers. So it was much easier to pull them out. 

The third year, my yard has none and my grass is thicker than it ever has been. Now, the kids can run around, pain free and no hopping. 

Also, if you take this route, don't use the typical fertilizer. It will kill the healthy bacteria. Use organic based fertilizers.

A side benefit, the root system is much better and during this dry summer I can see where I spread the soil. 

Good luck and keep us posted on what you did......


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## therealbigman (Jul 14, 2010)

Torque said:


> I had these. The problem is the stickers are seeds. So, when you mow the grass, the stickers are thrown around to seed other areas.
> 
> Bottom line: These will not grow if your grass is healthily and thick. This is what happened in my yard. My grass was getting sparse and in the March timeframe I was getting a lot of weeds growing.
> 
> ...


Glad to hear your lawn is thriving and burr free, but in other words, dont start putting anything down till March, why not now, Thanks


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## castaway300 (Oct 6, 2007)

therealbigman said:


> Have yall heard about this pre emergent


Preemergent herbicide prevent seeds from greminating, it will not kill weeds you already have.


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## Viking48 (Jan 24, 2006)

I sprayed them with Weed B Gone down at the bay and it took care of them without hurting the grass. Maybe I was lucky.


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## Torque (May 22, 2004)

we couldn't get rid of them with weed killer. In fact, it looked like they were spreading.
So, we took the approach of making our grass thick, which you can start with now.


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## reeltimer (Feb 5, 2010)

Dad use to make us pull them down to the roots until we were left with patches and the i went around with a blow torch and had some fun!That is one thing in my childhood i don't miss.I don't know what's worse stickerburrs or fire ant's...Good luck!


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## therealbigman (Jul 14, 2010)

reeltimer said:


> Dad use to make us pull them down to the roots until we were left with patches and the i went around with a blow torch and had some fun!That is one thing in my childhood i don't miss.I don't know what's worse stickerburrs or fire ant's...Good luck!


Yea, I don't think I want to be pulling and torching , To much work, Now on the other hand, If I had a son that was ols enough HMMMM, Thanks


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## inxpress (Mar 2, 2007)

*sticker burrs*

We had this problem in a bermuda grass yard. sounds weird but "CORN GLUTEN MEAL" hand spread over the area worked for us. something about the enzymes or acid kills it off. didn't affect the bermuda. It took a season or two to do the job but it worked. you might want to do a little research about the St Augutine. I worked @ a feed mill and had access to CGM. might try a feed store in your area. hope this helps.


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## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

Corn Gluten acts as a pre-emergent and prevents seeds in the ground from germinating. It does nothing to kill or remove plants that are already there.


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