Have you noticed some new weeds starting to pop up in your lawn this autumn, but are not sure on what they are and how to remove them? In this blog post, we look at a few different lawn weed types that can appear in autumn, and look at the best way to remove them.
Skip to: How to Remove Clover, How to Remove Winter Grass, How to Remove Soursob
How Do I Remove Clover from My Lawn?
Clover can easily be identified by its oval-shaped leaves and white circular markings. This weed will usually grow in leaflets of 3 and produce either a white or pink flower. Due to its small creeping stem, it can often be difficult to remove by hand.
*Often Soursob is confused for clover, note the leaf shape is oval where Soursob has heart shaped leaves.
To remove Clover, a broadleaf herbicide will be able to get on top of it fairly quickly. Something like All Purpose Weed Control Hose-on or Estate Herbicide.
It’s also recommended to fertilise your lawn if you haven’t recently as clover can be a sign of low-nitrogen soil (where it loves to thrive). We recommend a high NPK fertiliser like LSA Premium Lawn Food.
How Do I Remove Winter Grass from My Lawn?
Winter Grass Key Features:
- Grows in tufts
- Low growing
- Soft, drooping green leaves
- Has triangular shaped seed heads
- Can appear as early as March in cooler regions of South Australia
As the popular saying “one year of seeds will bring seven years of weeds” suggests, stopping Winter Grass before it has a chance to go to seed is key. If only a small amount of Winter Grass is growing, the best and quickest way to remove it is by hand. This can be a relatively easy task as it doesn’t have a particularly strong root system.
If more Winter Grass is growing than can be removed by hand, we recommend using a Winter Grass specific herbicide like Amgrow Winter Grass Killer.
If the Winter Grass growing in your lawn has already had a chance to seed, or if you had Winter Grass growing last season, we recommend using a pre-emergent herbicide to help prevent its spread. For pre-emergents, we recommend using our Oxafert 3kg and Oxafert Plus 20kg.
How Do I Remove Soursob from My Lawn?
Soursob Key Features:
- Heart-shaped leaves
- Yellow, 5 petal flower
- Fast-growing bulbed weed
- Prevalent in South Australia
- Appears Autumn and Winter
Completely eradicating Soursobs from your lawn will take a bit of time and effort. Unlike many other weeds, it is not recommended to remove them by hand, as the bulbils will break off and continue to grow beneath the soil allowing it to reappear. There are also no selective herbicides readily available for domestic lawns that will target the Soursobs, so you will need to take a few other steps to try and remove it.
Mowing them off regularly will weaken the plant helping your grass to overcome the infestation. Bulb exhaustion occurs just before flowering, so this is the perfect time to implement your mowing and non-selective herbicide application, when the plant is weak.
Spot spraying carefully or using a weed wand with an application of Glyphosate (Round Up or Zero) will be your best course of action, but you must be careful when applying as it will kill your turf as well.
Prevention is smart Autumn lawn care
Weeds are an annoying, but often inevitable part of lawn care. Prevention products are so underrated – they can save you months of headache and weed eradication! We recommend applying Oxafert weed pre-emergent in early Autumn and again in early Winter to ensure your lawn is protected through the vulnerable seasons. Available now in a larger 20kg bag for up to 660m2 of coverage.
