Common Weed in Georgia

You would thinking living in Georgia that the red clay would be enough to make you want to give up working in your yard. The clay makes it so hard to grow anything in this state, however, once you do find yourself with a green thumb and finding a plant, grass, or bushes that may grow in the red clay, you have a whole other stew of problems and that is those pesky weeds that love to pop up. In LaGrange, Georgia and really through out the whole state we have a few common weeds that love to grace our yard and below I will explain to you in detail about them.

#1 - Dallisgrass
Dallisgrass is a warm season perennial. Yes, this means it comes out as soon as the heat of spring starts to kick into effect. Usually grows in upright clumps, this light green colored weed has anywhere from three to six spikes that have black seeds on both of the spikes. Around the bottom of the seeds on the weed you will find hair like follicles. Dallisgrass thrives in conditions once the soil in the ground reaches around 60 degrees and then blooms into full affect once the humid air kicks in.

To remove this weed from your yard, you have two options. Number one is to simply remove by pulling. Make sure you pull up all the root to the weed. If you are going to do this, also make sure you pull before seeds start to form because this will lessen the chances of the weed coming back.

Your other option is to use a herbicide right when the soil becomes warm enough to where the weed can grow. I suggest using it around 55 degrees for the soil. This way you can spray the herbicide and it will kill any chances the weed has to growing.

#2 - Bahiagrass
Bahiagrass is a coarse textured weed that is also a warm season perennial. Bahiagrass has a rolled vernation. On the thin outgrowth from the leaf (also known as the ligule) there are short hairs on the back side. Light green colored leaf blades which are also coarse are pointed at the tip. The leaf blades are typically folded at the base, however some have been known not to fold.

With a deep root system, Bahiagrass thrives on dry land with little to no water. Having a distinctive "v" shape, there will be two slender spikes along the Bahiagrass, possibly three, with two rows of oval seeds. These rows of seeds pend a big problem because they have rapid growth and requiring intensive amounts of mowing your yard, especially if you have a fine turf yard.

To remove this weed you are going to have to do more then just yanking and pulling due to the deep roots. It will require chemical materials to remove Bahiagrass. Apply a metsulfuron during the mid summer month to control Bahiagrass throughout your yard.

#3 - Spurge
Of all the different types of weeds out there, Spurge has to be my all time least favorite. This weed is hard to get a handle of because of the way it grows. Most weeds tend to grow up and you can just bend down and yank them out of your yard, however, Spurge goes densely outward and close to the ground. If you start pulling it you will sometimes find yourself with a foot long line of weeds in your hand and you still haven't been able to get it all out.
The dark green flower type weed has a milky and sticky sap that oozes out which can cause Dermatitus in humans and animals if it is in contact with the skin. Now if that is not enough, if ingested by either humans or animals, Spurge can cause anywhere from a mild to serve case of digestive tract irrigation, and possibly death. Oh, no lets add one more bad thing to the list and that is it is a host for fungus types of diseases and attracts certain pets that may damage your crops. Spurge may be found from landscaped areas, walkways, roadsides, farm lands of any types and even in your own yard (which is where my problem is).

Spurge's seeds leaves are oval to ob-longed with a rounded tip. This weed is one of the few to have no hair on the leaves stems. The first true leaves of Spurge are usually egg-shaped, slightly hairy and slightly rounded. At the maturest age of the plant the leaves from the spurge can often grow up to 20 centimeters. That is close to two feet.

I have tried every suggestion that people have offered me for Spurge and how to get rid of it. Simply pulling it from the base and removing from the root system only gives about a week with out the weed. In less then a week or so, the weed will start up again. The only chemical that I have seem to find that will work on Spurge is Round Up. Spray a heavy dose onto the plant and then after that pour Clorox right down the middle of where the weed use to be!