Grass Weed ID

[woodall1]

Japanese Stilt Grass. Its on the exotic invasive species list from GA to NY.

[joelcoqui]

Youre right. He called to follow up with me to see if I want his services. I told him I was not comfortable because he did not ID the weed properly. I insisted it was Jap Stiltgrass,,,I think hes never heard of it. He was insulted. I dont think there is a product readily available to the consumer to take care of this. I was told that Scotts Weed B Gon MAX might do it as well as kill the crabgrass and it could be applied now....end of August. I have about 65% stiltgrass,, 25% crabgrass..the rest is grass. You can barely see my turf. This is in 20,000 square feet worth. Help!. I cant afford a landscaper to apply hundreds of dollars worth of dangerous chemicals. Can i do it myself?

Thanks.

[JWTurfguy]

You could do it yourself, but it sounds like you might be approaching it the wrong way. If you can barely see your turf for all the weeds, it sounds like you really need a total lawn renovation. What's the point in spraying a selective herbicide if nearly the whole lawn is weeds?

Without having seen your lawn, I'd probably just suggest spraying roundup, raking up the junk, then overseeding and fertilizing. Getting a thick lawn this fall, plus applying a preventative weed control in the spring, should go a long ways towards helping you keep a nice lawn.

[JWTurfguy]

One other point, though....

Just realized you said you had 20k sq ft of lawn....that's a lot of grass to be spraying with a homeowner-sized roundup sprayer. At the very least, you might consider hiring someone to at least get you started for this fall, then take it upon yourself to follow a basic 4 or 5 step fert program next year.

[McGGGS]

Joel, Get off this site. It is for professionals, not homeowners.

[McGGGS]

My suggestion would be to mow it at the lowest setting and then dethatch, aerate and slit seed it. We did that last year for a predominantly stiltgrass lawn and then applied preemergent in the spring and there is no stiltgrass this year. Stiltgrass germinates in the early spring, not the fall. Poa annua germinates in the fall.

[wrxscby]

I believe this site is for anyone who has questions whether it be homeowner or professional. Joel I would suggest you call someone to come give you a price to spray the lawn for you. The chemicals we apply are no more dangerous than the stuff you clean you're house with.

[CHARLES CUE]

Originally Posted by joelcoqui

I am told by professional Lawn Doctor in NY that this is NOT stiltgrass. He insists that its an early stage crabgrass. I dont know who to believe. This is a photo of my lawn. Please tell me what to do. Its August now and I have 22,000 sq of lawn.

I am glad that this professional not a real Doctor

I think this one of guys RIC is always ratting about

The old saying Goes [ if you can't dazzle them with brilliance baffle them with BS]

Charles Cue