How to treat Bindii + Clover in your lawn | Winter Weeds Watch

When your lawn has slowed in growth during winter it can become vulnerable to weeds. They tend to pop up in sparse or thin areas, so sending your lawn into winter healthy and thick is the key to prevention. Bindii and clover in particular are known for rearing their heads in winter, so if you have noticed they have started to invade your lawn, here’s what you need to know… Bindii Bindii grows in the Winter and go to seed in early Spring. The best time to target Bindii is in Winter before it produces the seed pod and spreads throughout your lawn. Treatment Bindii can be managed by hand or by applying a selective broadleaf herbicide like Bin-Die or All-Purpose Weed Control. By blanket-spraying all affected areas with one of these selective herbicides, the bindii should die off within 7-10 days. These products will help to eradicate Bindii and are safe to use on most varieties of buffalo except the ST varieties. Bin-Die is suitable for use on most other grasses including Sir Walter DNA Certified Buffalo Lawn, Sir Grange Zoysia, TifTuf Hybrid Bermuda, Nullarbor Couch Grass and Eureka Kikuyu. A couple of repeat applications may be required in order to kill off Bindies that continue to emerge. As I said earlier though, the best way to keep on top of Bindii is through prevention - by regularly fertilising and watering. Clover Another common weed you might see in winter is Clover. Clover may be a lucky charm, but you may not be so lucky to have it infest your lawn. As far as weeds go on the ease-of-eradication-scale; clover is fairly simple to control in most cases. Treatment Once again, Bin Die or All-Purpose Weed Control will help do the trick here, but there is another thing you need to consider for treatment. Clover is a legume, like alfalfa, that actually draws nitrogen from the air and stores it in its roots. As the roots die back, the nitrogen is replenished into the soil. But where there is sufficient nitrogen in your soil to keep your lawn healthy, the clover struggles to survive - so increasing nitrogen by applying fertiliser on your lawn is a must to slow it down and to prevent it from coming back. Another tip is to keep your lawn height a bit higher. Clover doesn’t mind being cut too short, but your lawn generally doesn’t do as well, particularly in winter. So raising the mower height a notch will help your grass get a leg-up on the clover. When weeds do occur, it is important to act early. That way you can get on top of them before they are more difficult to manage.