hello-

this is my first winter in the house i purchased in May.
i have a St. Augustine back yard and it appears this weed is beginning to
take over. what the heck is it and what can i do about it? somehow,
i figure "get down on your hands/knees and start pulling" is going to be the
most popular answer, but i thought i'd ask the braintrust to see just what
kind of invader i'm dealing with.

here's a pic:

http://home.austin.rr.com/swas/ftp/weeds_1.JPG

thank you very much in advance for the info/help.

marty.

________________________________________

Making the World a Noisier Place

On Sun, 19 Jan 2003 22:53:48 GMT, "marty lester"
wrote:

i have a St. Augustine back yard and it appears this weed is beginning to
take over.

I have it also in my St. Augustine. I ignored it but it became
relentless. There are some herbicides that work but the best is just
to take some time and go out and pick it out. I would almost say comb
it out. It has fibrous roots and comes out when you find the main
ground connection. So kind of pull on the clumps til the central root
system is located then pull it out. It is matty in the way it grows.

It is a Cerastium I think.

Rusty Mase

"marty lester" wrote in message
...
| hello-
|
| this is my first winter in the house i purchased in May.
| i have a St. Augustine back yard and it appears this weed is
beginning to
| take over. what the heck is it and what can i do about it?
somehow,
| i figure "get down on your hands/knees and start pulling" is going
to be the
| most popular answer, but i thought i'd ask the braintrust to see
just what
| kind of invader i'm dealing with.
|
| here's a pic:
|
| http://home.austin.rr.com/swas/ftp/weeds_1.JPG
|
| thank you very much in advance for the info/help.
|
| marty.
|
| ________________________________________
|
| Making the World a Noisier Place
|

Could it be purslane? It's hard to tell from the picture, but it
appears to be a fleshy creeper (how creepy sounding!). Depending on
what it really is, you may find that you don't need to do the
hands-and-knees thing. Some of the items that appear in mild winters
or in early spring have such shallow roots that a going over with a
rake will do the work. Other types, of course, just vanish when the
sun gets stronger, because they can't take the heat.

In article ,
"Texensis" wrote:


Could it be purslane? It's hard to tell from the picture, but it
appears to be a fleshy creeper (how creepy sounding!). Depending on
what it really is, you may find that you don't need to do the
hands-and-knees thing. Some of the items that appear in mild winters
or in early spring have such shallow roots that a going over with a
rake will do the work. Other types, of course, just vanish when the
sun gets stronger, because they can't take the heat.

ok...thanks to all who replied. with all that goes on in the yard from
month to month, i feel like i'm in grade school again learning everything
for the first time.


marty.

________________________________________

Making the World a Noisier Place

"Karen" wrote in message
...
| "Texensis" wrote in
| :
|
|
| "Karen" wrote in message
| ...
| | "Texensis" wrote in
| | :
| | Could it be purslane?
| |
| | Is purslane a weed? I had some growing in front and I rather
| | liked it. I thought the flowers were pretty.
| |
| | Karen
|
| I like a lot of things that some think are weeds. Some hanging
| baskets are filled with some sort of hybrid between the old,
| inconspicuous portulaca/moss rose and a wilder version of
| purslane--result: brighter, bigger flowers and more resistance
| to drying out--these are often sold as purslane, but they're not
| the wild version.
|
| Hm. Whatever's in the front just sprang up on its own. But it's
| under the eaves that have hooks for hanging baskets. I wonder if it
| escaped from a basket of the previous owner. Thanks for the clue!
|
| Karen


Moss roses/portulaca (the ones with the little ferny foliage) and the
cultivated, hanging-basket purslanes are related. H-E-B sold a lot of
those hanging baskets for a couple of summers a few summers ago and
then I haven't seen them since. I suspect that seeds may produce
plants that revert to the wilder version.

"animaux" wrote in message
...
| On Fri, 24 Jan 2003 14:17:32 GMT, "Texensis"

| wrote:
|
|
| Moss roses/portulaca (the ones with the little ferny foliage) and
the
| cultivated, hanging-basket purslanes are related. H-E-B sold a lot
of
| those hanging baskets for a couple of summers a few summers ago and
| then I haven't seen them since. I suspect that seeds may produce
| plants that revert to the wilder version.
|
| this is what purslane looks like:
|
| http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/porol.htm

The bottom pic is an especially good one for the weed, though it's not
great for scale.

I agree. I think it is probably chickweed.

St. Augustine goes to sleep a bit during the winter and a lot of strange "weeds"
appear sprinkled throughout. But as soon as the sun and heat hit it again in
March, it takes off like crazy and strangles everything that grew into it during
the winter. So unless you have nothing to do this winter, do not bother to weed
your yard until next spring, then if any weeds are left.

The little wild onions and rain lilies usually survive its strangle hold and look
cute with their tiny flowers, but the chickweed and others bite the dust.

animaux wrote:

On Fri, 24 Jan 2003 19:58:45 GMT, "Texensis"
wrote:

sion.
|
| this is what purslane looks like:
|
| http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/porol.htm

The bottom pic is an especially good one for the weed, though it's not
great for scale.


Oh, the description gives inches, and description. I guess the bottom photo I'd
say was about 7 inches for the longest stem. The plant can get larger, even the
uncultivated form. Either way, I don't think it looks anything like what the
original poster's weed was. That weed looked like chickweed to me.

"Gae Xavier" wrote in message
...
| I agree. I think it is probably chickweed.
|
| St. Augustine goes to sleep a bit during the winter and a lot of
strange "weeds"
| appear sprinkled throughout. But as soon as the sun and heat hit it
again in
| March, it takes off like crazy and strangles everything that grew
into it during
| the winter. So unless you have nothing to do this winter, do not
bother to weed
| your yard until next spring, then if any weeds are left.
|
| The little wild onions and rain lilies usually survive its strangle
hold and look
| cute with their tiny flowers, but the chickweed and others bite the
dust.
|
| animaux wrote:
|
| On Fri, 24 Jan 2003 19:58:45 GMT, "Texensis"

| wrote:
|
| sion.
| |
| | this is what purslane looks like:
| |
| | http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/porol.htm
|
| The bottom pic is an especially good one for the weed, though
it's not
| great for scale.
|
|
| Oh, the description gives inches, and description. I guess the
bottom photo I'd
| say was about 7 inches for the longest stem. The plant can get
larger, even the
| uncultivated form. Either way, I don't think it looks anything
like what the
| original poster's weed was. That weed looked like chickweed to
me.

I've got a bad monitor right now. All that I could see was that it was
a sprawly item.
|