whats taking over my lawn?

About 3 years ago I sprayed off weeds, got new topsoil, albeit bad quality, and sowed new grass seed. The grass came over this time but kept noticing patches of a lighter green, broad leaved grass appearing in patches.
It has now begun to take over the lawn in many areas.

Any advice on what it is/ how i eradicate?

I've attached some pics

blackbox

no attachments

looksee

I'm afraid you haven't (attached pics), but it could be scutch grass. I'm not sure what the solution is, but I suspect it will involve a systemic weedkiller. Put the pics up though.

Pics up now

runawaybishop

Looks like crab grass. You are probably cutting your lawn too short. Let it grow higher and cut it regularly.

runawaybishop

runawaybishop wrote: »

Looks like crab grass. You are probably cutting your lawn too short. Let it grow higher and cut it regularly.

I cut it once a week and never too short.

I have even missed a few cuts when away on holidays allowing it to grow long.

runawaybishop

TheTorment wrote: »

I cut it once a week and never too short.

I have even missed a few cuts when away on holidays allowing it to grow long.

It looks pretty short there in the pics. Keep it clipped to 2.5/3 inches and it will be better placed to outcompete. You can also feed it or apply a herbicide but cutting it that bit longer is easy enough

shane b

That's interesting regarding the height. I had some one out last week to look at my lawn as weeds were taking over. Apart from clover, creeping buttercup and Plantains I was told that I was cutting the lawn too high (about 3.5 inches)
I was told about 1.5 inches was about the correct normal height and to cut lawn weekly. is 1.5 inches very short or not?

evolving_doors

Check the grass seed box, they're sometimes a mix of different varieties so they could have clumped together if the box wasn't shaken well at the start.

I've just spent the morning reading up on crabgrass. I am unsure if it is crabgrass which I have. The main reason being that crabgrass dies away each year but I don't remember the happening. Thee is an area of the lawn that is completely overrun by it and I am sure I would notice this area dying away.

It is most definitely spreading too so any help on how to control and kill what ever it is would be greatly appreciated.

Water John

Looks like scutch grass.
If it is a grass, I'd be inclined to leave it grow a bit and then, rather than spraying, use a weed licker like below.

http://www.thegardenshop.ie/weed-wiper/

You rub the weed killer to it, rather than spraying. Leave it uncut for 10 days to let systemic weed killer get down to the roots.

runawaybishop

TheTorment wrote: »

I've just spent the morning reading up on crabgrass. I am unsure if it is crabgrass which I have. The main reason being that crabgrass dies away each year but I don't remember the happening. Thee is an area of the lawn that is completely overrun by it and I am sure I would notice this area dying away.

It is most definitely spreading too so any help on how to control and kill what ever it is would be greatly appreciated.

Could be scutch grass, they both look pretty similar but its hard to tell when its cut. Crab grass grows in clumps. The method to remove both is the same though. It all depends on how much effort you want to go to - cut height, feed it correctly, dig it out, apply herbicide, etc.

In general letting the grass grow that bit longer and keeping it cut high with regular cutting allows the grass to shade out weeds (and their seeds) and outcompete them. If your grass is sparse then the weeds have a chance to get away so you will need to feed it. I've seen recommendations between 2-4 inches but I have found that 3 inches seems fine for our climate and also stops the lawn looking messy.

Some more pics of it

Mooooo

Yeah it's scutch grass imo. As John said above it grows taller faster than lawn grass so a weed licker would be one way. If it's very bad on the whole lawn a reseed may be best with a fresh start. Spray whole lawn off allow the plant to die off, and rotovate the soil set the seed and a bit of fert and roll it. Edit put out some lime also

Will weed killer eradicate it though? Its very prominent in one area.
I started on the lawn on a completely blank canvass having sprayed the entire area with round up then rotavated it before sowing new grass seed.

If I attempt a whole re seed whats to say that it wont come back again?

I will try the weed licker.

Thanks for the advice.

Would something like Dicopher kill it whilst protecting the lawn?

Water John

You can use the Roundup or similar with the weed licker. The plant takes the chemical down to its roots. That why you leave it a couple of weeks, until it browns off, until mowing. the rest of the lawn won't be affected.

Did you wait after spraying until it had all died off, before cultivating?

Water John

Water John wrote: »

You can use the Roundup or similar with the weed licker. The plant takes the chemical down to its roots. That why you leave it a couple of weeks, until it browns off, until mowing. the rest of the lawn won't be affected.

Did you wait after spraying until it had all died off, before cultivating?

Yes. I had sprayed the area a few times before rotovating it. I obviously hadnt killed it all off completely.

This area is where the raised beds and other planting areas are. I am just happy to keep it green so might just leave it be as the affected area is really quiet large at this stage.

I have seen the scutch appear in another lawn area separate to this one so I will focus my efforts on eradicating it from this area.


Thanks again for the advice.