Preemergent Sandbur Herbicides for Lawns
Last summer was hard on lawns, the extensive heat, wind, and lack of moisture thinned the turfgrass in many if not most yards. Even with irrigation it was hard to keep grass growing and healthy.
These conditions seem to open the door for the dreaded sandbur to infest youryard. Manyfolks whose yards that were mostly clean of these pests, found them coming-up in earnest after the bit of rain we received late August early September last summer.
If this happened to your lawn or if you have had an ongoing sandbur problem, then you can expect an even higher infestation this summer. It is still a little early, but about mid-February will be the time to start applying a preemergent to help control sandburs and other weedy plants.
Until a couple of years ago we had a limited selection of fair to poor sandbur control products to choose from. Fortunately, we now have an excellent product to use against this irksome pest of the barefoot walker. The products active ingredient Indaziflam has proven to be an excellent sandbur control herbicide. We have conducted several sets of research trials using this active ingredient on sandburs in hay meadows and it has proven to very effective. I am not a salesman for Bayer, but they apparently still have the patent on Indaziflam, so they are the only company I can find that is offering a nonrestricted lawn care product using the herbicide. The product is called Bayer BioAdvanced 3 in 1 Weed and Feed for Southern Lawns. This product also includes nitrogen as a fertilizer source and Dicamba as a broadleaf herbicide. It is a little early for the fertilizer and the dicamba (unless you have winter broadleaf weeds), but you will get some residual benefits from both.
The product is a little on the expensive side at around $50.00 for 1 bag that will cover 5000 square feet, but 5000 sq. ft. will cover most lawns. It comes in a relatively easy to spread granule. It is best to water it in or apply prior to a rain event. If you have a bad infestation, then you are going to have a very large seed bank of sandbur seed in the soil, and I would recommend a second treatment in 8 weeks. It is safe for both San Augustine and Bermuda, but please be sure and follow the label directions.