Getting Rid of Spurweed

Q: We have an infestation of spurweed. We would love to know how to get rid of the existing weed.

A: Spurweed, aka burweed, is a winter annual weed. It is a tiny plant with parsley-like leaves and grows close to the soil line. Spurweed seed germinates in the fall and winter months.. During the winter, spurweed remains small, low-growing and barely noticeable. 

In late winter, spurweed blooms are tiny white flowers. In the spring when temperatures begin to increase, the pollinated flowers of lawn spurweed begin to set fruit. As the fruit matures in mid to late spring, the seed in the fruiting structures develop spines, and when the fruit dries, the spines become sharp enough to penetrate bare skin 

You can prevent spurweed by keeping a healthy lawn. A healthy lawn competes for water, nutrients, and space. Fertilizing, irrigation, and mowing height can encourage a healthy lawn. If your lawn is bermudagrass or zoysiagrass, it may be helpful to adjust your mower to its highest cutting height for the last cut of the season in fall, to ensure the thickest canopy is present over winter. Spurweed can be easily controlled chemically during the winter months of December, January, and February with a preemergent herbicide that contains simazine or isoxaben.  

I think your best option now is to spray a postemergent herbicide that contains some combination of 2,4-D, dicamba, MCPP, or quinclorac. The problem with spraying now is the weed may die, but it has flowered and set fruit already. The best month is March, before flowering