Does anyone know how to get rid of sandspirs out of a yard?

Question

We have just bought a home and our frond yard is covered in them, is there a way to get rid of them?

Answer 1

The presence of Sandspurs indicates the soil is nutritionally poor. In addition to getting rid of the sandspurs I'd have my soil checked at a soil lab (or you can get soil test kits at your better L&G Centers) We offer both services are ours. The kit's are popular and only cost about 5 bucks to test N, P, and K as well as pH. Increasing the fertility of your soil will help to keep them from coming back.

Anyway, to get rid of them you have to keep them from re-seeding themselves. The are an annual that dies in the winter and comes back from seed in the spring. You can attack it 2 ways. First, you can mow very often (as mentioned above) to keep the grass from maturing and producing seed. This takes a lot of work but if you have an aversion to chemicals it might be your best bet. However, if you use a crabgrass preventer in the spring check the bag you get and see if it lists sandbur (or sandspur). Some do and some don't. If you get one with sandbur listed you can apply it and it will control both the crabgrass and sandbur with one application. You can also get fertilizer with crabgrass preventer and that would take care of the problem grasses and fert too. If you're not sure check with your L&G expert where you go.

Answer 2

Mow your yard every other day for two weeks and bag your clippings. If your mower has a bagger, use that and then afterward rake up any extra that you can. Good luck, we had the same problem a few years ago.