What kind of grass/weed is this and how can I kill it?

Half my lawn that is divided by a sidewalk is beautiful green St Augustine with no weeds and grows perfect. Other side is St Augustine as well but doesn’t grow as good or as full. It also has this crap pop up in about a 1/3rd or the lawn. I’ve tried the weed and seed stuff but nothing really seems to work.

Dallis grass

Call gecko green

The fact that you have st. Augustine complicates things in that anything that will kill that will also kill the st augustine. It looks like Dallis grass. I have Bermuda, and I use MSMA...which you can't get anymore.

Yep I used some weed killer last year and almost killed the whole lawn, since i didn’t know St Augustine was considered a weed.

Thanks sir, do they service the Sherman area?

Break out the hoe!

Click bait

Pull it by hand and let the grass fill in.

Get the clusters early and they are easier to pull out.

It is a long process.

I used Weedex and the chemical killed everything. The grass eventually filled in after it died.

If they do I would not pay them. Let me ask some homies what they would do and I will see what they say.

If you don't want to suppress, harm or kill the St Augustine, old fashion pulling up the Dallisgrass with the root is the best way to go.

When the soil is moist it is easy to pull & get all the roots.

MSMA will kill St Augustine when applied at a rate sufficient to kill Dallisgrass.

Pick an area and soak it real well, then pull it.

Spot treat with Roundup.

I don’t know Royal, really I was just joking....

I gave up on my green thumb many years ago, I just use a yard service... for all of it.

MSMA spot it and the St. augustine will come back is what I am hearing. I have the same problem but since it is green I have not killed it yet. I have mainly bermuda though and only a side yard is St. Augustine

concur

Sounds like I got some pulling to do lol. I’ve read that if you cut the bottom of a milk jug off and put it over the top of the weed. Then put the nozzle of roundup in the top of the jug I helps with spot treating. I’ll try that.

Keep mowing and watering, the st Augustine will choke it out.

Hasn’t in 2 years I water everyday and mow once a week.

If your yard isn’t huge - make a wick applicator and paint the dallis grass with glyphosate. Just don’t get it on the st Augustine.

See how it smokes before you kill it all, it might be some good stuff.

Over fertilize It. That is put a cup of granular fertilizer on the center of the crown and pour a cup of water on it every day.
The St. Augustine will fill in the void.
Corn gluten meal and molasses will also work.

https://cdn-ext.agnet.tamu.edu/wp-c...control-guidelines-for-professionals.pdf

For anybody else having this issue, or issues with Dallas grass in general.

You can't kill that Dallas grass until soil temps are above 80 degrees. So, now is the time to poison it. Best thing to do is dig it up. Get a small spade and go in at the edges at a 45, work you way around and pop it out. You'll be surprised how fast you can get them out. Fertilizer and water the hell out of the St Augustine. You e kind of missed the window for it to fill in this year, but it will still grow some.

After a good soaking use an old hunting knife, dig it out like you are using a small spade.

Dallas grass,,,, cows used to get drunk on the seedheads.

Yep, Dallas Grass. Get you a wheelbarrow, a spade, a pair of gloves if you want, and a big hat. Needs to be pulled, then fertilize and water well. Eventually, you will win.

I agree Kyle that is Dallas or Johnson Grass and I've got the same problem in my backyard. After 3 years of spraying myself I finally hired a professional and he told me it was very hard to get rid of and will take him several spot applications with chemicals I can't get. I've got bermuda so will be easier than St Augustine. MSMA is still available but you have to go to a specialized DIY place...big box stores no longer carry it. You probably know this but you might have to mow more frequently to prevent them from going to seed which your pics show. I'd dig them out and then put down pre emergent to prevent all those seeds from germinating.

Tim plants grass seed in a ditch before a monsoon. I would honestly not listen to a damn thing he had to say... That is just me though

Bite me Joshy. Take that to the bank and look it up.

Bite me Froggy. Take that to the bank and look it up. clap

This and throw some compost on it also. Weeds are there because St Augustine is having trouble. Feed the grass some compost and you'll be good to go.

Maybe moose knuckle will chime in. Sounds like he has quite a bit going on tonight though.

I lost my backyard St. Augustine completely last last year. Same with a buddy and others. Some kind of bug so all I got is Dallas grass. I put a trampoline back there now. Sucks but oh well. Front looks good. Your St. Augustine should have taken over by now so you have other issues. Probably need to kill that side and re-sod. Cheap and easy.

Yep. Should have been the first and only response.

It will kill the weed, but does nothing to help the grass. Getting the grass healthy in turns kills the weed. The weed isn't what is killing the grass..... the weed is no more then a symptom.

Healthy St Augustine will choke out weeds. He’s a year from having a healthy yard, but it’s easy to accomplish.

F it, pear burner wide open. Make sure you do it at first light and record your pizzed off neighbors comin out.

Exactly what I saw and posted. Your good grass is dead or dying. Fix or replace it. Something is eating the roots. Mine was too far gone.

And it's Dallis, not Dallas.

Look it up.

I used a sharp garden hoe and spot treated some areas with a weed killer.

Also keep your weeds cut short. The weeds in the pic have already gone to seed. Now when you cut it, it will produce more weeds.

That’s what I’m talking about....

Guess I’ll be digging up the yard this weekend.


I normally don’t, but we just got back from vacation so they were allowed to grow more than normal.

Get your soil tested. Weeds usually flourish in poor soil. See what your turf needs and the St Augustine will benefit. That will help choke the weeds out and better control their spreading. Do some preemergent prevention next year as well.

Good luck I have them in the backyard with my ST Augustine. I just keep it mowed and put the leaf catcher on the mower to minimize the spread of their seeds.

Dallis GRASS isn't a weed, and once it's established nothing is going to choke it out. You are correct that he needs to work on his St. Augustine, but he also needs to kill the DG.

The only surefire way to do it: https://dallas.intelliturf.com/arti...AIj9cvnn4M8hrvHGQ8NUP1ajNM8aAghGEALw_wcB

Well, that or gasoline.

Slightly disagree. All plant's mission is to reproduce. Cutting it down before it goes to seed and it will come back. This is more so on your cool weather weeds.

St. Augustine will choke it out..... it's pretty simple water, feed, and mow.

I would definitely compost the yard to help moister stay in the ground longer, feed the grass, and and help the ecosystem under ground grow good creatures that the soil probably needs. I would be willing to bet the ground is pretty compacted.

Arguing whether, or not it's a weed is trivial.

I will respectfully disagree..... if you keep cutting the weed eventually the root will run out of energy, because the weed will have few leaves to produce, and send energy back to the root. It will die, and will not have had the opportunity produced seed and propagate.

Cut it and it keeps pulling nutrients out of the soil to grow back. It might die eventually but its not going to be fast.

As for seed, don't ever get in a fight with pigweed. Those bastards will be 4" tall and have a million seed on them already

I don’t get it though half the yard is great and the other is terrible. I do the same on both sides. Only difference is one side has tree so it gets more shade. Maybe I should water the side without shade more?

Damn......that one side looks great.

I would compost and water the otherside more. I threw 8 yards of compost on my yard, and it really helped my yard.

One other thing is the summer dont cut your grass too short. The sun can burn the roots if they dont get enough shade from the grass. Also just like the weeds the fewer grass blades the less energy getting back to the roots, and the faster the sun pulls moisture out of the ground. The neighbors on both sides of me cut their yards to short. Needless to say their yards look like crap.

This is what a difference mowing higher and composting can make. It's easy to see where our property lines meet.

Above is another good example, the healthiest thickest St Augustine will be 4" to 6" tall measured from the soil, not the runner / thatch / mat from mid summer to fall. Most of Tx from early to mid June to dormancy stage, then clip it down to 2.5" to 3" if you want it that short anytime before spring green up.

Spraying or applying granule herbicides without 100% knowing why, what & when does far more damage than good.

I’ll dig those Dallis up, water that one side more, and raise my cutting height on next cut. Thanks guys.

Everytime you mow, those little black seeds scatter and create hundreds of new plants.

The actual seeds from dallisgrass are not those little black specs, those are anthars.
That's where the fungus that can cause 'staggers' in livestock attaches / starts.

Dallisgrass seeds are flat roundish ovalish & range in color from green when immature to off white to yellowish to light brown when mature, and are much larger than the anthars, large/ mature plant can produce seeds almost the size of a bb.