Is there any chemical that can inhibit the growth of grass? If so, where can it be purchased.?

Question

I live in New Orleans. I do not ever fertilize my lawn. I have a rental that I signed the demo contract on last week. There was 11.5 ft of salt water in the neighborhood where it is located because of the levee break. And yet, grass came back. Luckily, not the St Aug but some kind of thinner, less lush grass that nevertheless needs to be cut regularly. Hence, the question. Normally I would never ever consider using chemicals on my yard. Lots of people here are having trouble keeping their yards cut. So if there were a product that would inhibit but not kill grass, it would be great to know about. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

A few years ago some lawn care companies were experimenting with growth regulators to slow the rate of grass growth, but they were unreliable and ineffective. Currently, I don't believe there is a product that does what you are asking. What you can do is use a different kind of fertilizer. You are probably using inorganic chemical fertilizers which make your grass grow significantly faster than products such as Milorganite or Houactinite, which will not burn your grass in the summer. My recommendation is simple-switch to fertilizing your grass with organic fertilizers throughout the growing season, and aerate and top dress with topsoil-the latter two in the spring.

Answer 2

The problem I find with using chemicals to kill grass is that these chemicals end up either in the water table or run off into streams.
What's wrong with a low-cutting lawn mower? I know of people who use diesel or roundup but neither of them is environmentally friendly and they make the lawn look parched and brown. Those might kill more than just grass also.

Boaz.

Answer 3

Roundup, it'd kill it off for a bit but it should grow back.

Answer 4

gasoline and a little twig with a red head, there are usually 32 of them so you cant mess it up

Answer 5

deisil works better than gas, it is not as combustible.