Field Madder

[Kestas]

My lawn is overrun with what I've determined to be field madder here in SE Michigan. I try to practice good basic turf care - generous mowing height, timely fertilization, watering, and hand-weeding - but this weed is too much to keep under control by hand weeding. It's spreading into relatively healthy turf. Can someone please recommend a good program to control these weeds? Thanks in advance.<p>----------<br>k. smalinskas<br>

 

[AB Lawn Care]

Are you asking what you should do or if you should hire a company????????I will give you my honest opinion.I do not spray and so on.But what I can tell you is hire a company to get rid of that weed!!!!The guys who spray lawns do this on a daily basis know what they are doing!!!Often the weed control that you buy at a store will not be as good as what the pro's use.I get the Weed Man to spray all my lawns and have seen some awsome results!My lawn last year was allmost all weeds this year I don't see 1 weed and it looks awsome.Some homeowners think buy doing it themselves they will save $$$$.Often they will just waste their time and end up getting a company to do it.I have been in the lawn cutting business 6 years now and this is my honest opinion!I am not making any $$$ from saying this.I hope this will help!!!!<p><p>----------<br>from:Adam<br>AB Lawn Care

 

[Jim B]

Field Madder? Never heard of that. Is it actualy a weed or is it a type of grass. A weed killer won't do a thing to it if its a type of grass ie. crab grass, creeping fescue, field grass, quack grass, etc.<p>Where abouts in SE Mich.<p><p>----------<br>Jim, PROSCAPE<br>

 

[Kestas]

Adam and Jim, thank you both for your responses. I am a do-it-yourselfer, so I won't be hiring a professional lawn care company. I've done just enough research on this so I could be specific when I posted this. I went through a lawn care book - it may have been a book published by Ortho or some other company - until I felt confident enough to call this weed field madder. It is a weed (at least on my lawn it is), not a grass. The book also mentioned that there are chemical products that can control this weed just like the broadleaf weeds. I have some five year old weed killer. The bag didn't specifically list field madder as a target weed. Anyway, I put some of this weed killer on the trouble spots a week ago. It may have helped; I can't say for sure.<p>I was hoping someone could recognize this weed and recommend a program to get rid of them either this year or next year. I live in Livonia, Michigan.<p>Adam, I understand what you're saying about products being watered down for the general public, and that the good stuff is reserved for the pros. It's true in other trades. And there's some truth to that reasoning. All too often, I see other homeowners indiscriminantly using chemicals on their lawns. I prefer to know exactly what I'm doing. It may come down to deciding whether to hand weed or hire a professional for access to the proper chemicals for this problem.<p>----------<br>k. smalinskas<br>

 

[lawrence stone]

You need to be able to identify the weed for<br>correct contol.<p>If you can post a pic I can identify weeds<br>in cool season grass from color plates of<br>different weeds.

 

[Evan528]

you need to use a professional selective herbicide... go to your local lesco and buy momentum. works great on most weeds.

 

[Evan528]

<br><p><font size="1">Edited by: Evan528

 

[GroundKprs]

If you have any broadleaf weed to control in a lawn, most any weedkiller will suffice. 2,4-D will kill your grass just as well as your dandelions; but at proper application rate the broadleaf dandelion gets a fatal dose, and your fine leafed grass is slightly stressed.<br>To get more specific info, your county extension agent will be most helpful. The diagnostice lab at your state land grant college can also be useful.<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/&quot;&gt;MSU Extension&lt;/a&gt;<p>----------<br>Jim<br>North central Indiana

 

[Jim B]

Just looked on the Lesco weed chart, and there is nothing called &quot;Field Madder&quot;.<br>Kestas, can you describe it?<p>

 

[Doc]

Kestas & Others,<p>I hope it is ok for me to add my 1 cent to this.<p>Rubiaceae (Field Madder)<br>Low-growing, mat-forming winter annual with square stems. Leaves whorled, four to six per node, elliptic in shape with sharply-pointed tips. Flowers, lavender to pink, in clusters at ends of stems. Reproduces by seed. Found in the mountains and piedmont of the southern states, west into East Texas and Arkansas, north into southern Canada, California and the Pacific Northwest. Also found in the West Indies, Central America, Hawaii, Europe and Australia.<p>I hope this will help.<p>Doc <p><p><font size="1">Edited by: Doc