IDENTIFYING COMMON FLORIDA LAWN WEEDS

Metro Orlando FL | Kissimmee - Sanford - Leesburg

LAWN WEEDS IDENTIFICATION

Heron Home & Outdoor can help you with maintaining excellent lawn care in Florida. Delve into the nuanced world of common lawn issues, from relentless weeds like crabgrass, perennial weeds, white flowers and dandelions to tricky pests which can cause long term damage. Explore our comprehensive guide offering expert insights and discover how our lawn care services can revitalize your turf, ensuring a weed-free, bug-resistant haven for your outdoor space. Contact us for an instant quote.

Broadleaf Weeds

These weeds encompass a wide array of flowery plants with net like veins including dollar weed, Florida pusley, spurge, oxalis, and Asiatic hawksbeard. Our weed applications will control all of these weeds. Some weeds, such as dollar weed, can be aquatic. Others, such as spurge, may thrive in drought conditions.

Photos of lawn weeds:

Sedge Weeds

These types of weeds are plants with leaves longer than they are wide and solid triangular stems generally with a seed bulb at the top of the stem. Sedges spread by seed and rhizome propagation. Sedge generally grows much taller than grass and therefore take away from the aesthetic of the lawn.

Photos of sedge weeds:

Grassy Weeds

These are a type of weeds that resemble grasses. They have hollow stems and spread vegetatively. Common grassy weeds in Florida include crabgrass, Alexander grass, torpedo grass, and common Bermuda grass. Grassy weeds are uncontrollable. Round-up is generally the only way to remove them.

Photos of grass weeds:

Crabgrass

Crabgrass is a grassy weed that thrives in wet warm conditions. It is an invasive and difficult-to-control weed. We currently aren’t offering service for this weed.

Brown Patch Fungus

Brown patch fungus is a common turf disease that can occur throughout the year. Severe outbreaks occur during fall and early winter when daytime temperatures range between 75–85 degrees, night temperatures fall below 68, and humidity is high causing the presence of free moisture on the foliage for extended periods of time. Shaded lawns that hold excessive moisture are most susceptible, but it may be found in full sun areas as well.

Affected turf will begin to wittle, forming a necrotic ring and expanding outward. The leave blades will turn yellow and the base of the leaf will be brown and slimy.

Gray Leaf Spot

This is a common disease found in St. Augustine and Zoysia grass. Weak and stressed areas of turf are most susceptible to gray leaf spot. This disease becomes a problem during the rainy season in summer. Gray leaf spot can be easily controlled with fungicide applications.

Lawn Pests

Chinch Bugs

These insects are the most serious pest attacking St. Augustine grass. They grow to about 1/8-inch long and damage grass by sucking plant juices and secreting toxic saliva into the leaf blade, which kills the grass. They thrive in hot and dry conditions where grass becomes more vulnerable. Chinch bugs can damage an entire lawn in a matter of a few weeks. There are very few insecticides available to achieve control as older insecticide technology is no longer effective due to chinch bugs becoming resistant. We use the most effective product available to control this very destructive pest.

Photos of lawn pests:

Fleas

Fleas are found indoors and outdoors on lower areas such as floors, turf or mulch. They are avid jumpers and will actively seek out their hosts. Fleas cannot complete their life cycle in full sun and females must have a blood meal to reproduce. It will generally require more than one insecticide application to achieve control. An active infestation will require treatment both indoors and outdoors.

Ticks

The common deer tick is a carrier of lime disease among other diseases. Ticks are attracted to hosts from the carbon dioxide exhaled by mammals. Hard ticks seek hosts by an interesting behavior called “questing.” Questing ticks crawl up the stems of grass or perch on the edges of leaves on the ground in a typical posture with the front legs extended. Certain biochemicals such as carbon dioxide as well as heat and movement serve as stimuli for questing behavior. Subsequently, these ticks climb on to a potential host which brushes against their extended front legs or they can also drop onto a host passing by. Because of their nature to drop onto hosts, ticks are not generally found at ground level but instead perched at a higher level. It will generally require more than one insecticide application to achieve control.

Red Imported Fire Ants

These fire ants can be found anywhere outside including shrub beds, middle of the lawn, inside potted plants and along sidewalks and driveways. They have a painful stinging bite that can cause anaphylaxis, which can be life threatening to elderly people and infants. A fire ant mound has multiple entry and exit ways. Do not disturb the mound because it will spread the colony.

Mole Crickets

These crickets damage turf areas by digging tunnels just under the surface. They disrupt the root structure and will eat the base of grass blades. The ground will be spongy, and grass blades will turn yellow and slide out easily when pulled. Mole crickets will damage a wide variety of turf grasses including St. Augustine, Bahia and Zoysia. Control is best achieved with systemic insecticides.

SOD WEBWORMS

Sod webworms are the larval stage of small dingy brown moths. They are colorless and often look green because of the ingested grass within their bodies. The adult moths have a wingspan of ¾” and do not cause turf damage. At their larval state, sod webworms will however damage grass by chewing on the leaf blades. They are most active at night and will rest during the daylight hours. Damage will resemble mowed down turf that is lower in some areas. Upon closer inspection, chew marks on the leaf blades are an indication that sod webworms are active. These can be effectively controlled with timely detection, resulting in minimal turf injury.

Army Worms

Are hairless caterpillars ranging in color from tan to olive green with yellow stripes running down the body. Dark circles are present on the midsection and a recognizable inverted yellow or white “Y” is present on the head. Unlike sod webworms, these caterpillars are active during daylight hours. Severe infestations will give the appearance of the grass moving and aptly named due to their large “army like” numbers and rapid damage. These can be effectively controlled with timely detection resulting in minimal turf injury.