Pest Control
Control measures at a glance
Keeping your lawn well kept will really help the grass to ward off pests and diseases. However, every now and again our lawns need a hand in fighting off disease, insects and weeds. Here's some valuable tips:
- Conduct regular fertilising, irrigation and yearly renovations
- Water in the early morning rather than in the late afternoon or evening
- Ensure your mower's cutting or mulching blades are sharp for less grass wound sites for disease entry and pest attack.
- Consider doing a soil test once a year
- Don't mow too low - keep grass height above 2.5cm from the soil
Weeds... the biggest pest of all!
As the old saying goes, 'prevention is better than cure' and that means ensuring your lawn remains in good condition. However, even the most pristine lawn can be targeted by weeds once in a while. If there are too many to hand-weed, apply herbicides - but always follow pack label directions.
To be most effective, you need to get them while they're young and growing. Otherwise, they'll rebirth the following year. The five most common problem weeds for lawns are listed on the weed control chart below.
Weed Control Chart
| Name of weed | What they look like | How to get rid of them |
|---|
| Bindii |
A common broadleaf weed with 12 or so tiny delicate leaves per cluster. Bindi's have multiple prickly seed heads that are painful when stepped on. |
Kill off young seedlings just before Spring using a herbicide with active ingredient 'Bromoxynil'. |
| Clover |
A prolific broadleaf weed, clover has three leaves and creamy white flowers. Its leaves are soft and usually dark green and its very common in spring and summer. |
There is a wide range of natural & chemical sprays available at nurseries and hardware stores. |
| Onion Weed |
Grows rapidly upwards with from 3 to 6 long thin leaves coming from the one weed. It has pinky-white flowers and a deep bulbous root system that is extremely hard to kill. |
Check the labels on weed killer sprays to see if it is formulated for this weed. |
| Paspalum |
It is a tall coarse-leafed grass with distinctive sticky seed heads. It establishes itself in thinned areas of lawn in spring and summer. |
Herbicides with DSMA are ideal. Hand-weeding of established plants is also an easy, effective option. |
| Wintergrass |
This grass weed is light yellow-green in colour germinates in the colder months and then emerges in spring. It usually dies out in the heat of summer but its prolific seeding ensures its return if not treated. |
If you have a Wintergrass problem, use a catcher on your mower to collect seed heads. Herbicides such Endothal are effective. |