austinbride

ssinca

question re your grass comment: 

This is great for us because we use corn gluten meal as our organic weed preventative/fertilizer and it discourages all growth from seed, not just weeds, so it doesn't negatively affect the St. Augustine. 

where does one buy this corn gluten meal stuff you speak of?  since it discourages growth from seed, I'm assuming it would only work for st. aug grass? 

I'm so tempted to throw a bunch of bermuda seeds in the yard to see what happens.

AustinBride06

Yeah, if you're wanting to re-seed your lawn, I wouldn't use corn gluten meal.  But if you have existing grass and you're not re-seeding, you should be fine.

Here's some good info about it:

https://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=753&bhcd2=1272471257

You can find corn gluten meal at garden stores that have a decent amount of organic products (so probably not Home Depot or Lowes).  If you live southish, The Natural Gardener is an excellent place to find organic products and information. Though it may be too late to do corn gluten... they'd probably advise you to go ahead and do a dry organic fertilizer and/or compost at this point.  I think they have some good info on their website as well as far as what to do each month of the year.  The next best time to do corn gluten meal is actually the fall... that'll help prevent the spring weeds from coming up.

As with any organic regimen, you have to keep at it to see results over time.  You won't get instant results like with chemicals, but at least you won't be harming then environment, the water, and your own health.  The previous owners of our home had the yard seriously addicted to the worst weed-n-feeds, herbicides, and other chemicals out there so it's been rough getting the yard off that stuff but the good news is that once you do, your better soil will promote healthier and stronger grass that won't need as much watering as the chemical-addicted stuff.  And good, thick grass is the best antidote to weeds.

For spot treating weeds, I like this stuff... it's organic, it works, and it smells good!  Just don't let it get on any plants that you actually want to keep because it will damage those too!   Best for getting rid of weeds/grass that comes up in your driveway, patio/pavers, or sidewalk.

 

ssinca

great, thank you!