weed control for lawns w/ citrus trees

[p27159]

I have 3 citrus trees in our backyard, with a surrounding lawn. We're getting a lot of weeds now, and it's a lot of work to pick them all by hand. I was hoping somebody would know of an herbicide that is:

1) safe to use around citrus (toxins don't get into the fruit, and tree won't get damaged)
2) won't kill the grass (bermuda)
3) will kill the weeds

If you know of a product that does this, please let me know. If you could also email me at p27159 @ yahoo .com (remove spaces), that would be helpful since I probably won't be checking this site every day. Also, if you wouldn't mind mentioning the active ingredients of whatever you recommend, that would be helpful too in case the product goes by a different name in my area. By the way, I live in the Phoenix, AZ area.

Thanks.

[Newt]

Hi P27159,

The best way I know of to control weeds in Bermudagrass is to use a pre-emergent early in the spring before active growth begins. A safe one would be corn gluten meal. Also keeping the Bermudagrass vigorous with deep irrigation would be helpful. If your trees have an appropriate mulch ring, they shouldn't get too much water from the irrigation as citrus prefer to dry out a bit before being watered. Here's some helpful links.

Bermudagrass Lawns
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/hort2/MF1112.PDF

Corn gluten meal
http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/greenl...295_384.html#3

Mulching tips
http://www.treesaregood.com/treecare/mulching.aspx

From this site with lots of helpful info:
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/pitt/ag/hort...newsmay18.html

"Mulch should be placed around plants to a depth of two to four inches. If trees are planted in lawn areas, an area of mulch should be placed around the tree. The mulch ring should be based on the tree size. A good rule of thumb is two feet in diameter for each inch in trunk diameter. If you plant a two inch diameter tree, the mulch ring would be four feet in diameter. The mulch ring should expand in width as the tree grows until the tree is established. Establishment takes six months per inch of trunk diameter or one growing season for container grown plants. Do not put any mulch within three to four inches of plant stems. Mulch placed against the stem can cause bark decay, root suffocation just like planting too deep, and prevents checking the moisture of the root ball."

I edited your post by adding spaces to your email addy so it can't be harvested for spam. Hope that's ok. Most folks that answer questions on forums don't reply directly to email addresses. If you set your notifications so you get a notification in your personal email account, you will know when someone responds and won't have to check back daily. You can also set notifications for a particular thread by clicking on 'Thread Tools' in the dark green line above a thread.

Newt

[wallance]

Lawn weeds may conveniently be divided into two classes based on the way in which they emerge from the seed. Monocots emerge with a single seed leaf whereas dicots emerge with two seed leaves. Most monocot weeds found in turfgrass are from the family weed.
The most effective method of controlling lawn weeds is to maintain a dense and vigorously growing turf cover. Weeds are often an indication of problems in the grass plant environment, and killing the weeds without correcting the underlying problem will lead to unsatisfactory results. For example, a problem with knotweed is usually an indication of severe soil compaction. Control of knotweed without correction of the soil compaction will only lead to sparse soil cover until the area is again invaded by weeds that grow in compacted soil.

Next to weed the main problem these days are the termites.

[porkyduo]

I find the best way is to use Bermudagrass Control For Lawns, it's great for oldies like me and very inexpensive.

[lilypotter]

I've read a lot about using vinegar as an organic weed killer (herbicide) and since my daughter uses the back yard as her playground I was interested in using it there. It'd be nice to use an organic "Round-Up" that I can spot spray weeds and not worry about her running barefoot back there the same day.
I understand that regular vinegar in grocery stores is only 5% acetic acid and that concentrations of up to 25% or so are sold for horticultural use. However, I wanted to give the regular stuff a try.
I went to Wal-Mart and got the cheapest thing of regular old vinegar I could find. I got 1 gallon for $1.47

[porkyduo]

You can use the bermuda grass control I've found online.

[wallance]

Controlling diseases in your rose garden is really not very difficult at all. There is no need for harmful fungicides that can cause severe physical problems or have a negative affect on outdoor pets and bees as well as wipe out entire earthworm populations from a single spraying. Balanced nutrition and a couple of minerals can keep your garden disease free without weekly exposure to chemicals.

Most diseases of plants will leave a healthy plant alone. It is the same with us, if we're healthy we don't get sick. Plants also have immune systems. This is where a balanced diet that contains the proper amount of copper, sulfur, potassium, magnesium and calcium will ensure that certain very commonplace and damaging fungi don't get a foothold in your garden.

Potassium is very important for resistance against powdery mildew and rust on roses. Not in some crazy amount that is available to the plant in five seconds after application but instead long lasting natural sources from mineral deposits or from other natural source. When potassium is broken down in the soil by a healthy soil it will actually help to prevent the onset and spreading of powdery mildew and rust, which are tough problems for most chemical gardeners to control. High calcium levels along with an abundance of naturally available magnesium will cause your roses to produce thick healthy canes without problems with of slow root development in our heavy soils. Copper and sulfur are the two elements, which I use as a spray fungicide if absolutely necessary. Other than dormant spraying minimal spraying should be necessary to prevent fungus and disease if the roses are fed naturally.