Thursday, July 16, 2009
Talking with the experts, controlling hillside clover
John Arbogast
Landscape consultant John Arbogast answers your questions every Thursday. Send questions about your lawn, garden, plants, or insects to:
Dear John
5102 Greenfield St. SW
Roanoke, Va. 24018
Or send an e-mail. Answers will be given only in this column. Please don't send pictures or samples.
Recent columns
Q: I just happened to stumble on one of your articles on Bermuda grass control (I do not know when this was printed). I think the person with the question did have some product names confused. Shawn Askew, our Extension Weed Specialist, has come up with a protocol on eliminating Bermuda grass from cool season lawns. It's part of a podcast that Mike Goatley, our Extension Turfgrass Specialist, did over a year ago. Here's the link to the page where you find that podcast titled, "I Think My Lawn Has Died This Winter." (click on Archives in the middle of top banner, then scroll down to February 2008 and click on this title). You can listen to it or just click on “transcript” and read it. There is also information in that article about other warm-season weedy grass controls, in particular nimblewill. Just thought I'd pass this information on.
--Barry B Robinson, Extension Agent - ANR/Horticulture & Acting NRV Master Gardener Coordinator, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Montgomery County Office
A: Thanks for the information from the specialists at Virginia Tech. I did click on the link you provided so that I’d have an idea of what readers will see.
I learned from the Virginia Tech specialists on the linked page titled “Chemical control methods – Bermuda grass” that the recent questioner who mentioned a combination including “Furflon” to eliminate wire grass in a fescue lawn had that name written incorrectly. That note probably meant to ask about a combination with a product called “fluazifop” instead.
I have not used that product mentioned by Askew and Goatley, but I understand that timing is critical. I would suggest caution.
I must repeat that readers should start their lawn and weed control questions with their local cooperative extension office. If the local extension agent doesn’t have confidence in any new product, ask them to contact their lawn or weed specialist at their state’s Land Grant University.
Q: I’m losing my hillside lawn to clover. Over the past three years it’s gone from small patches to being about half clover. It’s green, but how can I stem the tide of clover taking over?
A: My answer makes the assumption that you have “white clover”, so-named because of its white blooms that the bees love, and that the lawn being taken over is a bluegrass and/or fescue lawn. Both the specific type of weed and type of lawn are important for control recommendations.
Clover is a legume that likes to grow in poor or under fertilized turf. So, my first recommendation is to fertilize your bluegrass/fescue with two or three nitrogen turf fertilizer applications starting in late summer and repeated at four to six week intervals into the fall with no fertilizer in the spring. Measure your turf area first so you’ll know how many thousand square feet you have to apply and follow all turf fertilizer suggestions, especially the spreader setting given for a medium-size application.
My second recommendation here in Roanoke, Virginia, is to follow the Virginia Tech Pest Management Guide (PMG) white clover control recommendation for a bluegrass and tall fescue lawns. The PMG suggests applying a lawn weed control product that contains the active ingredient dicamba or a 3-active ingredient weed control product that claims to control white clover. The PMG states that the preferred time of year to apply controls for white clover is in October and November. I understand that some lawn owners fighting an invasion of white clover will make a control application in early October followed by a somewhat weaker application four weeks later.
Q: Is there any way to kill wire grass that is growing in my juniper ground cover without killing the juniper?
A: I don’t have any experience in doing this, so I’m leery of suggesting that you try any chemical for this with my fear of killing or injuring your juniper. However, here in Virginia, the Virginia Tech Pest Management Guide suggests that the product called Ornamec can be used over the top of selected ornamental plants if strict adherence to all label directions is followed. Your first job will be to see if the type of juniper that you have is listed on the product label.
Landscape consultant John Arbogast answers your questions every Thursday. Send questions about your lawn, garden, plants or insects to: Dear John, 5102 Greenfield St. SW Roanoke, Va. 24018. Or send an e-mail. Answers will be given only in this column. Please don’t send pictures or samples.
