Dichondra Weed – Controlling

Q: I have lots of dichondra weed growing in my St. Augustine lawn on the north side of the house in partial shade. It is spreading. What is the best approach to controlling it?

A: If your somewhat shade-tolerant St. Augustinegrass is thinning in the shade, you’ll always have weed problems.

Nature has a way of finding plants to grow in any environment. You will constantly fight dichondra, moss or creeping Charlie.

Why not make your life easier and do something in the shady spot that will be attractive and less problematic? You could landscape with shade-loving plants like Lenten rose, hosta, and ferns. Or you could do what I’m doing and plant dwarf mondo grass sprigs six inches apart in the shady area. Eventually the mondo grass will fill the area and give an evergreen grass-like effect.

In other situations, any of the three-way broadleaf weed killers (click for sources) will give moderate control but products that contain carfentrazone (click for sources) or quinclorac (click for sources) are better. Be sure to read product ingredient labels. This will also inspire you to read and understand which lawn grasses these two chemicals can be used on.

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