I strongly advise against using Ammonia sulphate, or urea to green up a lawn.
They are incredibly polluting. They destroy the micro ecology of a soil. The lawn and especially a poor one will use very little of the real nitrogen content of the product. This contributes to nutrient run-off into creeks, rivers and oceans.
Hi nitrogen levels are very attractive for fungal diseases to thrive in as they need nitrogen to live. Fungal diseases are becoming very common as the warm days and cool damp evenings start. that costs you $$$
The quick easy way is to grab a herbicide in an orange box called "Bin-Die" by Amgro. It is a concentrate that you need to preferably apply with a sprayer. It is cheaper than buffalo master and can be used on buffalo, zoysia (my fav Smile) and couches. It will take out Bindies and all other weeds including clover and oxallis except the light green tufftey winter grass or (nut gras in summer). The same company does a winter grass killer containing "endothol" It is far more effective than anyother brand for nut grass and winter grass.
However weedy lawns are always a symptom of a weak lawn. Even if they look healthy, if there are weeds in huge numbers it isn't. That's why the lawn mower man isn't the culprit. weed seeds will come along in the breeze more so than from a mower. If a mower man starts doing a lawn that is weed free it means that for the first time in a while it will be getting cut short regularly. most contract mowers are set to 10mm. This means more open soil is exposed and that means that seeds laying dormant or blowing in will germinate.
Now with regular mowing after a while the lawn gets used to it, but if it is only being fed intermittently or once a year in early spring it will not benefit. also too much water and fertiliser will create a weak lawn, even if it looks lush and green Wink so weeds still grow and the mower man is still blamed.
But if you start a longer term project of getting a lawn strong this all changes. Less more often for feeding is the rule of thumb. Some folks feed once or twice a year and that is like us sculling back a bottle of vitamin pills and saying, "righto, that's me healthy for the year". I am not a fan of synthetic polluting fertilisers. yuck Evil or Very Mad All through winter lots of seasol, powerfeed, molasses ,and best of all, blood and bone every 6 weeks or even 4. Use Olsens Greenbio 2 times a year too, very good stuff
Using fetiliser on cold soils is a W.O.F.T.A.M Once the soil warms look at using a lawn fertiliser every 6 weeks very lightly. The Munns ones are great because the are more organic containing piggy poo and some bentonite clay products Smile Buying these also supports a true family business that is Australian. Baileys 3.1.1.1 plus is a high grade low phosphate lawn fert too. Get some zeolite on there too. this stuff only needs to go on once and it is there for ever. about $25. It traps and holds nutrients and slows leaching. It is natural too Smile all this makes the lawn the boss and not the weeds
There are other big brands that are popular that I don't recommend but if I say why that is slander I guess Sad Avoid gimmicky named cheap fertilsers at all costs, lets just say that Smile go as organic as possible. Why, because it isn't about feeding the lawn or plants for that matter. it's about feeding the soil. Healthy soil= healthy lawn/plants and that = less, to bugger-all weeds.
weed and feeds, weedsprays/herbicides are like when you have a cold and you have some cold and flu tablets to cover over it. All smoke and mirrors Smile It won't get rid of the real cause of the sickness. (Does that make sense?) It's a quick fix that doesn't address why it happened nor prevent it happening again. Get the soil healthy! That fixes it. and it really isn't hard
Now back to the quick fix smoke and mirrors spray
Some basic rules for spraying to maximise your costs and results.
Plants don't photosynthesise in the dark. weed sprays work through the leaves via the little mouth parts (for want of some description) called stomates. They have to absorb the herbicide through there to work. So spray in the early morning so the herbicide is absorbed up throughout the day. It won't happen at night! and by morning the herbicide will have oxidised and weakened to the point it may not be effective.
Don't mow the lawn then spray. There will be bugger-all weed leaf to absorb the herbicide.
Give the lawn/soil a feed and get those bloody weeds growing all soft and green. That way a week or two later they will primed to absorb lots of herbicide.
When you spray add two things to the mixture before you start.
1. a surfactant. That is something added to herbicides and insecticides that makes it stick to the hairy or waxey leaves. Dishwashing liquid is a good alternative for the home gardener. you only need two or three drops, literally. It won't be enough at all to create a bubble bath.
2. use a small dash of seasol or a teaspoon of urea. (Seasol is the better option Wink) It isn't enough to feed the weed but it does trick it into readily absorbing the herbicide. it amplifies it's effects.
Make sure it doesn't rain the day you spray. That will wash it all off the leaf and that isn't cool. Make sure your retic doesn't come on either. If it is dry for a few days after you spray, even better
remember a light feed with a quality fertiliser (not what the pimpley rep tells you is good) that is as close to organic as possible, every 6 weeks will give you a win.
When chosing a weed spray for Buffalo, look at the ingredients in small type at the bottom of the lable. If it has "Dicamba" in it, it's not cool for buffalo
Please don't increase the concentration of the herbicide because it won't be to flash on your lawn. It is a fine balance of what works and doesn't work. Some products will become ineffective with too much or too little so just follow the directions on the label
