Terrible weed with Under surface Runners

Hi everyone, I need your help!

A new garden was put in October 2018 after removal of trees/roots, new fence, under turf soils and new lawn (Empire Zoysia E.Z.), Aluminium Garden Edge and Cyprus Multch. Few issues that need your advice:

• A weed problem started a few months ago, they popped up in the garden beds and when I try to pick them up they break easily leaving the base buried in the soil. All of a sudden the problem exploded and they now have strong under-surface runner netwoks which I discovered yesterday. Not sure if the source is from the neighbour's side, but if anyone could figure out the plant type, then I could find a solution? (I tried to search online and no answers )
• The garden edge is just sitting on the soil and my Empire Zoysia is spreading into the garden beds. It is taking time/effort to pull them out of the garden bed, any ideas on how to restrict the turf (possibly without spraying the garden beds), are there edges with a sharp blade that could be forced into the soil? How deep should the edge be in the soil to prevent this from happening? (I have 60-meter long garden so it is quite daunting )

Any useful comment would be helpful

See Images here as you can see, the white part which is hidden under the surface is almost 10cm long, so they run quite deep!

 

Do you have any issues just spraying the weeds with Roundup?

 

You could also post on the Lawn Fanatics forum.

Also best to post the photo using the uploader on this site as it ensures the photo stays visible on this site.

 

I have young trees in the garden beds and want to avoid killing the turf. Haven't used roundup before

 

Roundup can be used very strategically. You don’t spray it everywhere. You just need to wet a couple of leaves on the weed you want to kill, which can be right beside a plant you want to keep.

 

You can even paint round up on the leaves with a small paint brush to be sure it doesn’t affect anything else.

Could you use ‘weed and feed’ on the lawn (check that it’s safe for your lawn first. It’s used for broadleaf weeds.

 

Thanks @Propertunity and @Joynz , this is really helpful. I will get to use roundup and hope it will fix the issue

 

Otherwise use Yates Tree and Blackberry Killer mixed with a squirt of detergent if the leaf is waxy.

 

Don’t despair if new plants pop up, you will probably have to persist with the Roundup for a while, especially if it’s not being treated on the neighbour’s side.
I’ve done the paintbrush thing and it’s very effective.

 

You need to fertilise and water your grass regularly. And you need thicker mulch.

 

Weeds wont grow in healthy fertiliser rich lawns. eg Dynamic lifter but smells like arse. Initially spray with a suitable weed & feed then two-three weeks later a general lawn fertiliser with slow release is easy to apply then water in. Regularly water to get thickness and health underway. That garden bed mulch is more decorative than functional. Agree it needs to be thicker. That edging is of little benefit - Too thin and probably too shallow. Grass will just grow under. And then if you spray the grass in the garden it may die back on the lawn.

The soil may have been rubbish and after a while will stop sprouting weeds when you poison them off.

 

That zoysia really loves seasol too

 

Sorry to hear your troubles with your gardens and lawns.

From your photos - has a large tree been removed with the stump still remaining underground?

With the poisoning, another option we use is to purchase a dishwashing wand that has a sponge on one end, and a filling reservoir in the other end being the handle. Just fill the wand with Round Up concentrate, then use it dabbing the weeds (in your garden only) in question. We find this more effective than using a paintbrush or spraying (overspray will kill other plants nearby).

With the edging, the edging should be placed below the grass root line to stop the grass roots growing through to the other side of the barrier. The edging should start at least at 50mm below the root line no matter what edging material you use. You can place it lower than 50mm too.

With the lawn, allow it to grow taller, don't cut it too low. Always cut it tall, this allows the grass to thicken and suppress weeds with in the grass. It also maintains optimum health with your lawn. Yes, you may have to mow more often, but it will be much healthier requiring less watering and fertilisers.

 

To kill weeds in the lawn in particular and garden beds the following herbicide has been incredible. However spot treating the weeds in the garden bed with a higher concentrate of glyphosate 360 (roundup is expensive compared to other brands) might be more effective.

Dicamba + MCPA (Kamba M) or any cheaper brand with same ingredients. We have an acre of lawn. This will kill the weeds but not harm the lawn.

EMPIRE™ Turf Maintenance Guide - Recipe To Maintain Empire Zoysia

Also fantastic to make spraying weeds in garden beds easier without spray drift accidentally killing other plants is to get a spray head cone like this to place over the nozzle.

Hozelock Garden Sprayer Weedkiller Cone

Although not as east to get I have one of these which is indespensible:

 

Could probably make a nozzle like that out of a soft drink bottle

 

Never thought of that thanks. Getting the right fit might be an issue but I’ll give it a go.

 

just make the bottle cover - and then squirt into it

 

I have a spray cone like that. It’s good for mulched garden beds, but not good for lawn with dandelions etc as the spray still lands on nearby grass inside the cone.

 

I never never use glyphosate on lawns only in garden beds. On lawns I use the correct herbicide that kills weeds but not lawn. Hence you can spray it with abandon knowing that your grass is safe. Dandelion is particular is dead within days but lawn unaffected.

You need to know what your lawn is though. Buffulo such as Sir Walter requires different herbicides to the likes of couch and kikuyu.

Kambah M and it’s cheaper clones is a miraculous product for our lawns.