I’m sure you noticed it is still very hot outside. Last week
I wrote about the possibility of armyworms showing up, and Friday morning I got
my first report of birds eating worms on new sod. Last week, I also got that familiar
call from a landscaper (complete with pictures). The jest of the call was I
come to this house with St. Augustine grass every 2 weeks while the owners are
out of town. Two weeks ago beautiful, lush, green St. Augustine, and now
completely dead. The nasty rascal – the chinch bug – strikes again.
While driving around this time of year, grassy weeds taking
over ornamental beds is very common. Fusilade II is what is known as a
selective herbicide. Fusilade II
selectively removes grassy weeds from broadleaf planting beds. You can spray Fusilade II right over the top
of many different plants and it will kill grassy weeds without hurting the
plants (read and follow product label).
It does particularly well in killing Bermudagrass. Roundup is a non-selective herbicide which
means that it kills anything that it comes in contact with. Fusilade II does a better job of killing
Bermudagrass than even Roundup.
Fusilade II lists over 40 annual and perennial grasses that
it controls. Some of the more common
ones are:
·
Barnyardgrass
·
Bermudagrass, Wire Grass, Joint Grass
·
Broadleaf Signalgrass
·
Crabgrass (large, smooth, southern and tropical)
·
Field sandspur
·
Foxtail (giant, green, yellow)
·
Goosegrass
·
Johnsongrass
·
Quackgrass
·
Torpedograss
The list of ornamentals that you can spray over the top of
is in the hundreds. Again, read and
follow the product label.
With all the Zoysia being planted in the area, Fusilade II
has another useful application. Killing bermudagrass in stands of Zoysia;
however, it is not labeled for home lawns (it can be used in residential beds).
Here is part of Syngenta’s Fusilade II label:
Over-spray Zoysia:
Application should be made at a rate of 3-4
oz./A with Fusilade II Turf and Ornamental Herbicide, and a
nonionic surfactant. Applications should be made in late
spring
(around June 1) and repeated about every 28-30 days. Late
summer application can be reduced to 2-3 oz./A as bermudagrass
is preparing for dormancy. During hot summer weather the
rates
could be increased to 4-5 oz./A. Note: The 5 oz. rate could
cause
temporary turf discoloration.
The label does warn that this could be a multi-year process.
As you can see, this part of the label is packed with information. The label
mentions using a surfactant, when to apply the product, how often it should be
applied, when to adjust the rates, and even warns you that you might get some
discoloration. The label also has some very important information throughout
the whole label.
If you are trying to kill bermudagrass and other grasses in
Liriope, juniper beds or other labeled plantings, we also sell other products
that will do that. Vantage, Over The Top, and Ornamec Over The Top are a few of
them. Vantage, Over The Top and Ornamec Over The Top are in smaller “retail”
packaging. Ornamec Over The Top does have a residential label for removing bermudagrass
out of zoysiagrass (read and follow product label).
If you have a few sedges mixed into your beds, look at
Certainty and Image labels, and see if they will work for the landscape
plantings you have (read and follow product label).
Always read, understand and follow product label. The
product label is a Federal Law.
