Guildford Grass, commonly known as Onion Grass, is one of the hardest weeds to control in lawn.

Manual removal is not a realistic option if you have a lot of Guildford Grass to look after. Besides, it being an incredibly time-consuming exercise because Guildford Grass has a bulb that is notoriously hard to remove. So, it is very common that when trying to remove the weed, one can only pull off the leaf. If this is the case, the Guildford Grass will return.

Selective herbicides do exist BUT they are either very expensive, or very expensive and only available to licensed professionals. This means they are not a realistic option for most homeowners.

Given all of this, here is how you can control Guildford Grass without manual removal or expensive herbicides.

If all of this seems like too much effort or you simply do not want to deal with herbicides, then contact us today. Silverstone Gardening has several licensed spray technician who can help you with any weed control problem you may have in your lawn or garden.

The post The $8 hack that can help you control Guildford Grass in your lawn appeared first on Silverstone Gardening.

A common point of confusion

If you are starting out in lawn care, it can be really confusing to understand how to mix herbicide. Most people know that the information they need is on the label, but when they read the label, they find it hard to understand. In this article, I am going to help you make sense of it so that you can have success when applying Bow and Arrow or Bin-Die.

Reading the label of selective herbicide products like Bin-Die and Bow and Arrow will give a very clear, exact amount of herbicide mls to be applied per square meter (or hectare). However, when the labels give the amount of water needed, they give a range of numbers that are suitable per meter (or hectare).

This often stumps a lot of people so let me explain it to you here.

The most important number to get right is how much herbicide concentrate is being applied to the lawn. That is why there is an exact number given on the label. Too much and you can damage the lawn; too little and you may not control the weeds as desired.

The exact volume of water is important but there is a lot more flexibility before damage, or a lack of success occurs. This is why there is an exact number for the herbicide concentrate and a range for the water: anything within that range will be fine. This flexibility also helps with different types of spray equipment as some need to use more water for an even application than others (there is a big difference between tractor mounted booms and hand-held garden sprayers).

How to calculate how much you need

Disclaimer: I am basing my math here on the screenshots above. This is for an example only, these numbers may be out of date when you read this article, so use the principals shared here but read your label to make sure the numbers are correct.

Bin-Die: If applying to 100m2, you will need 60ml of herbicide. Any amount of water between 10-20L will be effective.
If applying to 50m2, you will need 30ml of herbicide. Any amount of water between 5-10L will be effective.

Bow and Arrow: If applying to 100m2, you will need 50ml of herbicide. Any amount of water between 2-5L will be effective.
If applying to 50m2, you will need 25ml of herbicide. Any amount of water between 1-2.5L will be effective.

If reading this or implementing this still seems too complicated or too much work and you simply want a professional to look after everything for you, contact Silverstone Gardening today. We have several licensed spray technicians who will be able to help with any weed control problem you have.

Jamie

Byford

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As always great communication & lawns look perfect. Thanks again for a professional service!

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Armadale

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The post How much water do I need to correctly apply Bin-Die or Bow and Arrow? appeared first on Silverstone Gardening.

Selective weed sprays can be quite complicated and this is especially true when using them for the first time.

I have seen many clients and homeowners make big mistakes when spraying herbicides on their lawns. As a licensed spray technician with over 10 years experience in lawn and garden care, I am going to help you avoid making the three most common mistakes other beginners have made.

1. Don’t use a cone nozzle, use a fan nozzle instead.

There are a few different types of nozzles used on pressure sprayers. The most common in lawn and garden care are cone nozzles and fan nozzles.

Cone Nozzles

Cone nozzles are the most common type of nozzles. They are usually adjustable and can produce various types of spray from a wide, misting spray to a thin jet of water.

Whilst cone nozzles are the best option for garden bed spraying, they are not the best option for lawn spraying. This is because it is very hard to know the exact amount of product that is coming out of your sprayer and onto the lawn.

This can cause gardeners to unknowingly over-apply products to the lawn. In fact, the main picture of this article (above) is of a lawn that had a correctly mixed Bow and Arrow solution applied with a cone nozzle. The cone nozzle caused too much product to be applied per m2 which damaged the turf. It took about 3 weeks for this lawn to recover.

Fan Nozzles

Fan nozzles are the type of nozzle you want to use when applying selective herbicides to lawns.

They deliver a flat, even, consistent spray. This means that they give even and consistent results. As a result, it is much harder to accidentally over-apply herbicides with a fan nozzle.

The photo on the right is of dual nozzles on a boom which is great for large lawns, but a single nozzle is going to be great for most residential lawns.

One more thing to know is that the different colours of nozzles indicate how fine or coarse the spray droplet size will be. Red, blue and yellow nozzles are all suitable for Bow and Arrow and Bin-Die

2. Don’t guess! Measure exactly how big your lawn is.

Borrow and Arrow, Bin-Die and other selective herbicides are only safe for lawns IF they are applied at the correct rate per square meter. Not knowing how many square meters your lawn is is a recipe for disaster.

I once had a client that made a big mistake with a similar broadleaf herbicide to Bin-Die and Bow and Arrow. Even though they mixed the correct ml of herbicide per litre of water, they made way too many litres of total solution. This was simply because they overestimated how much lawn they had (their estimate was almost double the actual lawn size).

They applied way too much solution to the lawn which yellowed 90% of the lawn within 24 hours. It took about 6 weeks for the lawn to fully recover. The exact same problem can happen with Bin-die and Bow and Arrow.

To measure your lawn area, the easiest option is to use Google Maps. Google Maps is quite accurate and does the math for you ( if you need a video tutorial on how to do this click here). However, sometimes newer houses and estates aren’t yet on Google and in these situations a measuring tape (or measuring wheel for larger lawns) and a calculator will be needed.

Once you know how much area you, have you can read the label to work exactly how much product and water you need.

3. Use 2 sprayers; 1 for the lawn, 1 for the garden.

If you are going to be spraying herbicides on your lawn, don’t cut corners. Buy a dedicated sprayer for lawn-safe products and a dedicated sprayer for your garden weed killer. Use a Sharpie and big writing to clearly identify which sprayer is which. Some people will even buy two different brands of sprayer to make it more obvious.

If rinsed between uses, your dedicated lawn sprayer can be used for liquid fertilisers and pre-emergent herbicides too.

Conclusion

These three simply tips will help you avoid a lot of mistakes others have made when spraying herbicides.

1. Use the correct nozzle
2. Know how exactly much area you are spraying
3. Use a dedicated sprayer for lawn-safe products

Here are two more articles that can be very helpful when applying Bow and Arrow and Bin-Die

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If reading this seems like too much effort and you would simply prefer to have a professional take care of your lawns and gardens, contact Silverstone Gardening. We have several licensed spray technicians who know how to identify and control even the most difficult weeds.

The post How to avoid the 3 most common mistakes beginners make when applying Bow & Arrow/Bin-Die appeared first on Silverstone Gardening.

Weed and Feed and other hose-on herbicide products are notoriously bad. In this video, I explain why. Below are some links to the products that actually work and are shown and mentioned in the video.

Products that actually work

Sprayers that deliver a fine spray and have interchangeable nozzles:

Nylex Sprayer – $27.90

Silvan ProGrade Backpack Sprayer – $173

Herbicides with the same active ingredients talked about in the video:

Yates Buffalo Pro

Amgrow Bin-Die

Surefire Buffalo

If controlling weeds in your lawn seems too difficult, confusing or time consuming, call Silverstone Gardening. We have several licensed spray technicians who are able to identify your problem weeds and create a professional plan to control them.

The post Why Weed and Feed is notoriously ineffective + weed products that actually work! appeared first on Silverstone Gardening.

Weeds can be inclined to thrive in the sandy soil of Kwinana Lawns. As homeowners, this is not ideal so we’ve put together this guide about weeds in your Kwinana lawn, why they might be thriving and what you can do to get on top of them. If you would like any assistance or advice about weeds in your Kwinana lawn, feel free to ask a friendly Silverstone Gardening gardener, or head to Lawn Mowing Kwinana for more info!

Weeds are taking over my Kwinana lawn! What do I do?

Prevention is always better than a cure. If you can, inspect your lawn regularly and pull out any weeds by hand that may be popping up. When you do this, make sure you get all the roots. For bigger weeds, it may be better to use a weed spray.

If your lawn is at the point where its more of a weed patch than a lawn, then you may be falling prey to one of the following mistakes. Read on to see what they are and what you can do to fix it!

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1. You may be scalping you lawn.

On some occasions, healthy grass can out-compete weeds and drown them out. But when lawn is being cut too short or ‘scalped’, it is not getting the chance to grow and flourish. If you notice divots or brown areas on your lawn, you’re probably scalping it. Weeds do grow faster than lawn but they are not as strong. Lawn that is consistently weakened by scalping gives the weeds the chance they need to grow up and take over your lawn.

The solution to this is to lift the mowing height of your lawn mower. Try mowing higher and more regularly and see how you go!

2. Your lawn may have a case of Compaction.

If your lawn is too compact, there’s not enough room in the soil layers for oxygen and water to flow freely. Some weeds don’t need as much root space, oxygen or water to establish. As a result, your lawn is struggling and your weeds are thriving.

Compaction is prone to areas of your lawn that have high traffic. The best way to identify if your lawn is suffering from compaction is to test it with a garden fork; if your fork doesn’t go in at least halfway up to tines easily, your lawn has compaction.

The way to solve compaction is a process call aeration. You can do this by hand or with a machine. To aerate your lawn by hand, simply take a garden fork and push it into the lawn and wiggle it around a bit, at intervals of about 50-100mm. This creates pathways for water to penetrate the soil.

Aeration using a machine is a service that Silverstone Gardening provides, and this is best for larger areas. Call us for advice and a quote!

3. Your lawn may be thirsty.

Head over to our post on 3 Tips for Baldivis Lawns to find out if you’re not watering your lawn enough.

Because weeds need less water to survive than grass, if you’re not watering your lawn enough, the weeds will thrive while your lawn will struggle. Silverstone Gardening recommends less frequent, long soaks of your lawn, preferably in the early morning. In the early morning, there’s less chance of water loss through evaporation.

If you think your lawn is suffering from these problems, Silverstone Gardening can help! Contact Us today and one of our friendly gardeners can come to your property and assess your lawn.

The post 3 Tips for Weeds in Kwinana Lawns appeared first on Silverstone Gardening.

The short answer is yes, once the herbicides has dried on the leaf after application. Whilst the herbicide is being mixed, applied and is still wet on the leaf it may pose a risk to pets.

About our spraying services

At Silverstone Gardening we are a licensed pest management business. Our qualified spray technicians help hundreds of clients get great results in their lawns and gardens every year.

We choose the highest quality herbicides and take special effort to use the safest possible option for each weed control service we do. All of our weed control services are sprayed to the professional standard for each product.

All the herbicides that Silverstone Gardening applies are safe for people and pets once the product has dried on the leaf. This can take 15 minutes to several hours depending on the conditions and the product. With people we simply recommend that you stay off your lawn or gardens for a few hours until you are confident that the herbicide has completely dried. For most people this is no problem at all.

However, pets and other animals can be a lot more challenging especially when the owner is not home or the pet is not allowed inside. This is especially important considering that pets do not have shoes or clothing as a barrier to the herbicide if they where to walk over a freshly sprayed area.

Best Practices With Pets

So to ensure that your pet is safe follow these best practices.

Keep your pets indoors, off site, or restrained at least 10m away from the spray technician and the area being sprayed whilst the chemical is being mixed, applied and until the applied herbicide is dry. This could be 15 min to 6 hours or more depending on conditions like temperature, wind, sunlight and humidity. Test the area if unsure.

To test if the area has dried place a piece of paper towel onto a section of treated area.  If the paper is dry then the product has dried. If the paper is wet, allow to dry for another hour and then re-test. 

Do not feed any treated turf to pets (rabbits, guinea pigs etc.) until treated turf has been removed through mowing. Do not feed treated lawn clippings to pets.

What if I can’t follow these best practices?

Sometimes it is difficult to follow these best practices. If it is simply the specific day the spray is scheduled for that is a problem the best solution is to reschedule. However, we do ask for patience as we may be booked out for 2-3 weeks in the growing season. This can make rescheduling to specific days very difficult or even impossible.

For most people in this situation the solution is to ask a friend or family member to look after their pet for the day.

If there is no possible way that you can follow these best practices then the best solution is most likely to cancel the service.

Silverstone Gardening is a professional lawn and gardening service based in Perth, Western Australia. If you are looking for high quality, professional lawn and gardening services contact our friendly admin team today.

The post Are the herbicides Silverstone Gardening uses safe for pets? appeared first on Silverstone Gardening.