Killing Crabgrass & Yellow Nutsedge in newly-seeded bermuda lawn

14 years ago

I seeded bermuda 12 days ago. Prior to seeding, I killed everything with roundup four+ weeks ago, aerated and fertilized. Now, I have a profusion of crabgrass and yellow nutsedge. The new bermuda is just starting to peep out from under the straw. Is it safe to spot-apply a selective herbicide such as Ortho Weed-B-Gone with Crabgrass control to such a young lawn? BTW, I know now that I would have done better to till a few times after the roundup and/or not wait so after the roundup to seed. But, barring starting all over from scratch, I want to know if it's worth trying a selective herbicide first. I'm concerned that the crabgrass and sedge will smother the baby bermuda if I let it go too much longer. Thanks for any advice on this

Comments (9)

Billl
14 years ago
You'll need to wait until after the 3rd mowing to apply weed-b-gon.
beav420
14 years ago
I did the same steps as above. I have healthy baby bermuda coming up and now all of a sudden, lots of crabgrass. Can I spot spray MSMA on the majority of the crab grass? I am afraid it will choke the babies.
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I can asure you that what you are looking at is NOT crabgrass. You are either looking at Orchardgrass or Annual Ryegrass. Take a picture of the "crabgrass" as you call it, then post it here. If you can't, then describe exactly what you are seeing. Crabgrass does not germinate in Eastern NC until early to mid April, late April to early May in Central NC - even on South Western exposure lawns.
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I'm no chemist, but I've had great success with sulfentrazone in my yard killing nutsedge, kyllinga & crabgrass. It comes in several formulations from a few different manufacturers, but I like to use a pump sprayer so my preferred product ends up being sedge ender. It has a prodiamine dose built in to prevent new sprouts in the same spot too, which is nice. The nutsedge starts to go yellow within 24 hours & when it finally does come back a few months or a year later, it's already deformed & yellowing. That just makes them easier to see & easier to zap again the second time. There is no one & done treatment for nutsedge, it's a process but sulfentrazone based herbicides are my best weapon
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homie, normally I would suggest posting your own topic, but yours happens to be very similar. The solution might not be, though. So far nobody has mentioned the idea that improper watering might be an issue. Once the bermuda seed is established and up high enough to mow, the watering should be changed. You need to determine how long it takes your sprinklers to apply one inch of water. Put some cat food or tuna cans in the yard and turn on the sprinkler. Time how long it takes to fill them. It might be many hours, so don't just stand there. Check every 15 minutes for the first hour and every half hour after that. When all the cans are full, stop your timer. That is how long you should be watering. Then, and this is the magic of proper watering, don't water again until the grass looks wilted. Never mind that the soil is dried up and cracking, watch the grass. As soon as any part of the grass looks wilted, water immediately for the time it took to fill the cans. Then watch it again until it wilts. It should go longer and longer every time you do this. The grass roots will grow deeper and will be able to pull moisture from deeper in the soil. You should be easily able to go a week or two between watering. When you have reached that point with the grass, weeds tend to dry up and blow away. New weeds can't happen because the seeds cannot germinate on the dry soil. THIS WORKS AGAINST NUTSEDGE, too. You might still have the nuts underground, but they will be dormant until the ground gets soggy for several days in a row (nutsedge is a swamp plant). There are some weeds which can survive this watering regimen. For those I would simply spot spray with RoundUp as a tough love approach. It will kill the surrounding bermuda, but the live bermuda surrounding that will quickly refill the dead spots.
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Where do you live? In most places in the US it would be best to wait until June to seed bermuda. If you live in the desert southwest, then you're on target. Why would you think panicum? Nobody uses that word. My first thought would be crabgrass with a few broad leaf weeds thrown in. You're going to have a weedy lawn early this season, but it can be fixed before the end of summer. Don't get hasty with the herbicide. Let the bermuda get established first. You'd much rather wait and do it right than spray too early and kill off the bermuda. Healthy bermuda will fill back in when you kill the weeds. Now if you end up with lots of grassy weeds, the only way to kill a grass in a grass is with tough love. You'll lose some bermuda. But the broadleaf weeds can be taken out with something like Weed-B-Gone Clover, Chickweed, and Oxalis killer. Generally mulch mow bermuda at the mower's lowest setting 2x per week. Once it is established water it 1 full inch every other week if the air temps are in the 80s. Once every week with temps in the 90s. And once every 5 days with temps in the 100s. When you water give it a full inch every time. Measure that by putting out cat food or tuna cans and time how long it takes your sprinklers to fill the cans. Then fertilize with a high N fertilizer once a month. Bermuda is the only grass that needs (and can take) that much fertilizer.
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schreibdave
14 years ago
I have a lot of nutsedge in my new lawn. I have been pulling it by hand - very time consuming but also thereputic.

The following link from Rutgers.edu might be useful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rutgers.edu
thebman42
14 years ago
I have a 39 day old newly seeded Yukon Bermuda yard that has crabgrass and nutsedge coming up. I purchased some trimec classic and sprayed it with recommended amount. It is slowly killing the crabgrass and nutsedge but it has turned small patches of the bermuda light green to brown. Texas Weed posts on this forum and is usually a good source for advice. You might check out his bermuda bible for ongoing maintenance.
glennds
14 years ago
i ahve been a homeowner and member of this board for five years. i never heard of , or experienced any weed as tough as nutsedge. i found this board and was relieved to know i was not the only homeowner exasperated by this incredibly resilient weed.

listen. screw the hand pulling, digging up your lawn, roundup etc. buy sedgehammer. period. its expensive but worth EVERY penny. it really works. you can find it on ebay. i spent $140, but it is enough to last several years.
wrager
14 years ago
Would it be ok to "paint" the offenders with Weed-b-gone and not hurt the baby bermuda?
texas_weed
14 years ago
Baby Bermuda in Atlanta? Baby Bermuda is an exclusive product of Easton Sod farms located in OK. It is also a hybrid and there is no seed. How did you get it?

Anyway crabgrass is easy to control with post-emergence products. But as stated you have to wait until the lawn is mature and has been mowed a few times. Otherwise you risk injuring the grass.

FWIW you could paint it on, but if you are going to that much trouble, why not just pull it out to begin with and cast that demon back to he!!

Nut Sedge is another issue and very difficult to control. Most of the post - emergence controls just makes it mad and the nut underneath the ground sends up three replacements for every one you spray. There are a couple of product out there like Manage and Sedge Hammer that are effective but very expensive.
schreibdave
14 years ago
I know that weed b gone isnt supposed to work on nutsedge - but it worked on mine. I sprayed half the lawn with a hose end sprayer but ran out and never got around to doing the second half. The part that I sprayed has substantially less nutsedge now.
rdaystrom
14 years ago
It is not necessary to wait for Bermuda to mature before spraying post emergent herbicides. Studies have shown little to no injury and with all signs of injury gone in 30 days.

Killing Crabgrass & Yellow Nutsedge in newly-seeded bermuda lawn

Comments (9)

Billl

beav420

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