You say you use "Image" to control nutsedge. I use a product called
"Manage" made by Monsanto. Have you perhaps confused the name or is
there another product on the market to control nutsedge. I'd be curious
to know. I've had very good luck with Manage. I's very specific and
doesn't seem to harm most turf type grasses unless one goes WAY
overboard on application.

RoyDMercer wrote:

Blank"Tim Perkins" wrote in message
...
I'm in Southern Oklahoma/North Texas Area with St Augustine grass. What
type of fertilizer (weed & feed ) do I need to apply?


Tim,

I live in North Texas also (DFW area). I have Bermuda grass, but Bermuda
and St Augustine are both warm season grasses with similar characteristics.
I'm by no means an expert, but here is my advice for what it's worth.

Never, never, ever buy weed and feed products for warm season grasses. It's
a waste of money. The reason is the weed (preemergence) part of the product
is best applied early (mid-february) before weeds really get going. The
feed (fertilizer) part of the product is best applied in May when the grass
really starts to green up well. Weed and feed products work better for cool
season grasses such as rye and fescue when applied just before the emergence
of weeds.

It's really too late to apply a preemergence product to your lawn for weeds.
What you need is a post emergence product. The type of product you should
use depends on the types of weeds you have. Pull up a few of the weeds you
are having the biggest problems with and take them to a good nursery and
they can help you identify them.

Here is what I do. What I use first is Weed-B-Gon, but I've used other
similar products with good results also. Read the labels before you buy
because some of these products are not recommended for St Augustine grass.
Basically what you're looking for is a broad-leaf selective weed killer.
These products kill weeds, but not grass. I buy the concentrate and put it
in a hose-end sprayer, then set the sprayer for the dosage recommended by
the product label. I go around my lawn and hit all the weeds except for
crabgrass and nutgrass (nutsedge). If you don't know how to identify those
weeds, don't worry about it. In about a week all of your weeds will be dead
or dying except for the crabgrass and nutgrass if you have any. Some
products similar to Weed-B-Gon claim they kill broad leaf weeds along with
crabgrass and nutgrass, but don't believe it. Crabgrass grows in big clumps
(like a crab). Nutgrass looks similar to crabgrass but it doesn't grow in
clumps, but generally grows straight up. If I only have a few weeds, I keep
Weed-B-Gon mixed up in a small 32 oz sprayer which I use to spot treat small
weed investations.

Crabgrass and nutgrass are harder nuts to crack and there are only a few
postemergence options. First is Round-up or some other full spectrum
herbicide. These products kill everything that's green. If it's green, and
you spray it, it will die. This includes grass, shrubs, and even trees. If
your grass is completely brown and dormant you can hit the crabgrass with
Round-up and you'll be OK. If the grass is green and you spray the
crabgrass, you're going to have a big brown spot in your lawn all around the
sprayed area. Round-up is effective only on the green part of plants. I
use it right up to my trees and shrubs. You can even spray it on the bark
of a tree or shrub as long as you don't hit any green areas. Later on in
the season products called MSMA and CSMA work well on crabgrass, but they
only work in very hot weather. I'm not sure if they can be used on St.
Augustine. The only selective product I've found that works on nutgrass is
a product called Image. Image is very expensive and should be applied in
late-May, early June for best effect. Again I'm not sure if it's OK on St
Augustine. Always read the labels carefully.

Apply fertilizer in mid-May. On the fertilizer bag, you'll see three
numbers such as 10-20-10. These numbers are the ratio of nitrogen,
phosphorous, and potassium respectively. In our area, phosphorous is
usually abundant in the soil and potassium is not important until your fall
fertilizer application (potassium helps with wintering). What you want to
look for is a product that has a high first number with the other two
numbers low such as 9-1-1, or 20-5-5. I like to use products which are slow
release (such as Scotts) that contain iron. Then I reapply fertilizer when
my lawn looks like it needs greening up (about every 6 weeks but less often
later in the summer). If you use a non-slow release fertilizer (they are
cheaper), use less and probably every 3-4 weeks or so. Many nurseries
offer free soil sampling and they can tell you exactly what your fertilizer
needs are.