Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Apr 26, 2010 1:54 pm I have a Kikuyu lawn that is about 2 years old. I have had a lot of trouble with winter grass last winter that it became an epidemic and wiped almost all the kikuyu out. Many nurseries I spoke to last winter told me to leave it as it will die out when Summer came around again. I did this and within weeks I had an epidemic on my hands, You couldn't see the kikuyu for the wintergrass. Eventually I got tired of how it looked - let it grow long and pulled all the winter grass out by hand (took about 3 weeks) and after some love and care with fetilising and seasol the kikuyu has come back reasonably well. There are still a couple of bald patches left but we are nearly there. My grass does not get much sun in winter - by 1:00pm it is in shade but in Summer it has full sun all day. My question is ...... HELP !!! What can I do to stop the winter weed coming back again this year. I can already see it coming and have started to pull it out by hand but everyday there is more and more and I am battling to stay on top of it. I can see this going the same way as last year. Most commercial winter grass killer is for any grass except kikuyu and seeing as I have worked so hard to get it to come back I don't want to kill it all off again. Any ideas ?? Re: Please HELP !!!! Winter grass in kikuyu 2Apr 27, 2010 1:25 pm Hi, depending on where you are in oz, kik has a dormancy period in winter where it stops growing and might brown/yellow off for a few months or less. That means the winter active grasses and weeds come through making the kik look dead when it's not. No much can out-compete kik in a lawn situation for any length of time. As you have been advised just letting it go till it dies in spring is what would do IMO. Actually that's what I do in my front yard and then mow everything short in spring so the kik isn't over shadowed by the unwanted grasses. You probably could go the chemical route when the kik is dormant but you will have still get problems with clover and weeds and it will be an endless cycle IMO. Re: Please HELP !!!! Winter grass in kikuyu 3Apr 27, 2010 2:08 pm Thank you for your help. I am in Sydney South West. Just feeling very down hearted as I have worked so hard this past year to get the grass back after last year's epidemic only to see it starting again. Re: Please HELP !!!! Winter grass in kikuyu 4Apr 27, 2010 2:47 pm Yeah it's annoying, in frost areas of Vic the only green you get in warm season turf is the winter weeds. You do need to understand that no matter what you do for the kik in winter it will not look anywhere near as good as it does in summer. Re: Please HELP !!!! Winter grass in kikuyu 5Apr 29, 2010 1:11 am There are quite a few threads on this very topic Re: Please HELP !!!! Winter grass in kikuyu 6Apr 29, 2010 1:29 am Re: Please HELP !!!! Winter grass in kikuyu 7Apr 29, 2010 8:58 pm Thank you for directing me to those links. I don't fully understand what to do though. I understand about treating the soil with all the things you said in your points 1 - 6. I have over the last 6 months been using Scotts feed and using seasol every 4 weeks. I will add all the other things that you have listed. I realise that getting the soil right is the answer to all the weed problems. I did phone amgro last year when the winter grass problem started inquiring about the same winter grass killer that you suggested but they said it was only for buffalo and would kill the kikuyu. My question now is : Even if I start to treat the soil now will I still get the epidemic that I had last year. I tried to load a photo so that you can see what I am talking about but a message came up that the board quota was full. Re: Please HELP !!!! Winter grass in kikuyu 8May 03, 2010 4:36 pm Then they themselves don't know what they are talking about!!!!! That is a worry to get advice from them like that! The stuff is Amgro "wintergrass killer" it contains "Endothal" and Endothal is in no way harmful to Buffalo or Kike. Go a step further and use molasses and reduce the use of the fertiliser Re: Please HELP !!!! Winter grass in kikuyu 9May 03, 2010 5:31 pm Thank you for your help. I will definately give the amgro a try. I will use the amgro wintergrass killer and then once it has gone give good doses of molasses and blood and bone. I have noticed a new problem now. What I thought was clover now seems to be oxalis ( the leaves are heart shaped ) . Any advice here. Re: Please HELP !!!! Winter grass in kikuyu 10May 03, 2010 6:10 pm That will need to be a separate treatment. You need to have something called Amgro "bindie" for that and it too will not harm buffalo or kike. It is the same as Buffalo master (have a look at the active constituents ) and it's far cheaper than buffalo master too. Make sure you follow the basics outlined in the links. *Spray in the morning only. *Make sure there's no rain on the way for a day or two at least. *Don't spray if it is windy. *Add a few drops of dish washing liquid to the mix. *Most importantly is to add a splash of seasol to the mix. This can make the difference between success and failure. Re: Please HELP !!!! Winter grass in kikuyu 11May 03, 2010 6:26 pm Can I spray both the wintergrass and the bindie together or should I wait a couple of weeks in between. I know I sound like a total idiot but this is the first time I have ever had grass and it doesn;t seem to be going too well. I have been everywhere to nurseries and other plant/ lawn selling places which shall remain nameless and have had no help from anyone. I feel alot more confident now that I have all your advice and really keen to get started on having and maintaining a beautiful lawn. Thank you. Re: Please HELP !!!! Winter grass in kikuyu 12May 03, 2010 6:29 pm Why do you sound like an idiot? It's fine to ask questions Happy to help Wait a bit between treatments if you can. Re: Please HELP !!!! Winter grass in kikuyu 14May 03, 2010 6:41 pm Sterrelig I feel alot more confident now that I have all your advice and really keen to get started on having and maintaining a beautiful lawn. Thank you. My advice is there so you can learn some better skills and go out and teach others what the newer better ways are. There is just such an overwhelming poor standard of advice out there that yourself and many others find themselves encountering day to day. Just doing my bit for the cause As for the lawn, well no lawn is better but if you want a lawn then best it is fertiliser and fungicide free and using as little water as possible Re: Please HELP !!!! Winter grass in kikuyu 15May 03, 2010 6:51 pm I am extremely greatful to you. I have been trying everything and getting nowhere for the last year. finally I can see a light at the end of the tunnel ... and it is not the oncoming train !!! Bought the blood and bone on the weekend. Will go and get all the things you have said ... and here's to a new chapter. Thank you Re: Please HELP !!!! Winter grass in kikuyu 16May 03, 2010 7:11 pm http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/la ... pp950w.htm http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/impor ... 04_017.pdf (Take note of the lawn beetle info) Pointless in treating them Can you peel the lawn back? I would be hard pressed to ever hear of someone who can. Therefore is it ever the problem? No. DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Please help me to answer this question , it will help me a lot as i can go to buy confidently with your recommendation: I want to put synthetic turf in our backyard for… 0 5539 Thankyou so much 😀 I've decided on White on white for doors and trims, White on white 50% on ceiling and Mt buller for walls. 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