by 10 Summer Weeds Afflicting Southern AL Lawns
Are weeds taking over your Baldwin or Mobile County yard? It’s an all summer job to keep weeds out of your yard.
Many weeds affect Southern AL lawns. Some of them clump together to crowd out healthy lawn grass or they have a clever way of multiplying at ground level.
See if the following weeds are in your turfgrass.
10 Summer Weeds
Weeds are either broadleaf or grassy. Here are those top 10 summer weeds—a mix of broadleaf, herbal, grassy, herbal and sedge weeds that find their way into AL lawns:
- Arrowleaf sida: This weed can be considered a perennial for Baldwin and Mobile Counties. It develops white/yellow flowers and has arrow-shaped leaves.
- Bahiagrass: This weed loves the subtropical climate of Southern AL. It tolerates shade and sandy soils. It’s considered a grassy, perennial weed.
- Broadleaf plantain: Like its buckhorn cousin, the broadleaf plantain is a rosette type plant with a tuber root. It has a long, contained bloom.
- Common dandelion: Everyone knows this broadleaf weed with its tooth leaves, its rosette, its yellow flower and its white seed heads. It’s a perennial/biennial weed that spreads through seed.
- Dallisgrass: A grassy weed that grows every year. It clumps together crowding out healthy lawn grass. Like crabgrass, dallisgrass is controlled with pre-emergent weed control. Its short rhizomes spread this grassy weed quickly.
- Dichondra: This perennial weed is a creeper, and it’s difficult to control. It prefers the hot, humid climate of Southeastern AL. It grows close to the ground and its leaves look like mouse ears. It can take over your lawn.
- Dogfennel: This is a fast-growing weed that starts in the spring, continues through the summer and continues to grow in the fall. It’s a perennial, broadleaf weed that smells like red cedar.
- Kudzu: This vine weed can take over a landscape, cover trees and make a mess of your lawn. Kudzu flowers in late summer.
- Nutsedges: Purple and yellow nutsedges are considered some of the world’s worst weeds. Both sedges grow in poorly drained soil. They almost look like regular grass until they grow past your Bermuda or zoysia lawn grass. Sedges are hard to get rid of because they can spread through seed, rhizome and nutlets (small tubers).
- Smooth crabgrass: This annual grassy weed is easy to spot in Southeastern AL lawns. It sticks out like a sore thumb because it grows higher than lawn grass and can take over a residential yard if it’s not managed early.
How Xtreme Turf Lawn Care Helps You Keep a Weed-Free Lawn
It’s difficult to keep a weed-free lawn in Southern AL. The constant stresses of high humidity and heat, plus our sandy soils, encourage weed growth.
However, your lawn grass doesn’t have to submit to obnoxious summer weeds. Instead, you need a local lawn service, such as Xtreme Turf Lawn Care, to design a weed control program.
At Xtreme Turf, we have a weed control program that lasts throughout the year to keep all types of weeds away—including broadleaf, grassy and sedge weeds.
If your lawn looks like it has clumps of smooth crabgrass, dallisgrass, or dichondria, call us today at 251-648-9947 or fill out our contact form.
Xtreme Turf Lawn Care Serves Homeowners in Daphne, Fairhope, Foley, Gulf Shore, Loxley, Mobile, Saraland, and Spanish Fort, AL.
Sources:
Alabama Cooperative Extension System, “Kudzu Control in Residential Areas,” PDF: ANR 2168.
Auburn Agriculture, “Weed Identification.”
