Henbit Mayhem

Hi,

We have just realised that we have potentially dug a big hole for ourselves due to lack of gardening knowledge. We're from the UK so were totally unaware of some of the things that should be done in Texas in terms of seasonal weed control. What started out as what looked like a little bit of clover growth in the dead lawn got to the point where we started to do some research. It appears that we have a big problem with Henbit in the lawn. Now we really don't know how best to approach this problem as we can't really afford to bring in a professional and to remove it all by hand would take us a month of Sundays.

It seems that there are some suitable chemical solutions (Trimec perhaps?)but I'm concerned because we've found a number of things saying that these shouldn't be used until a lawn has started re growing.

We also considered just getting a power strimmer to it to cut it back and just waiting for it to die out and then hitting it properly in the fall to kill it off for next year. Our worry there is that because it's a dense infestation the lawn will struggle and may not be able to regrow properly.

So, what's the best way to handle this problem (if there is a way) on a lawn that has not started to regrow?

Thanks in advance

Henbit is the springtime bane of most southern gardeners with manicured lawns. A broadleaf weed control is usually your best bet to get it under control. Getting your lawn thickened up can thwart and eventually stop most of the regrowth in future years.

Agree with Terry that you'll need one of the broadcast broad leaf controls, and they can be used most anytime after regrowth of the lawn starts and then more heavily in the fall. Scotts makes a couple of good products that are applied with a spreader. OrthoWeed-B-Gone (a liquid spray) also works.

In the mean time you can spot treat the Henbit areas with Roundup but do it on wind-free days only and using a very narrow applier. I prefer to tape a 16 oz Solo cup with a hole punched in the bottom over the end of the nozzle and set it over the patch to be sprayed. That prevents drift and damage to the surrounding lawn.

Dave

love your extended nozzle suggestion, Dave!

Dave- how about a new verse for the song "Red Solo Cup" by Toby Keith?

We mow. Lots of weeds in Tx. You are still not introduced to many yet, you wait til lawn is up, but wait- what lawn do you have? Bermuda, st augustine, bahia? I will need to check where Prosper is...bermuda doesn't show green til June usually. Hmmm, up by McKinney. That area was once pasture and fields not too long ago.You could prob use a pre emergent now, get a jump on what isnt up yet...doubt St Augustine grows well there.