Kill pesky sand spurs naturally or with herbicide once and for all

Your lawn is your achievement, your safe haven, the shining green jewel of your home. At least, that is, until you venture out into your lush turf and stick your foot right into a sandbur, coming away with enough prickly pods to bring tears to your eyes. Sand spurs are an insidious and all-too-common lawn infiltrator, but they aren’t impossible to eradicate, which is why we’ve compiled a list of 12 simple strategies to ward off these wily weeds.

Things You Should Know

  • Mow over sand spurs with a bag attachment, or drag an old blanket over your lawn to collect and dispose of mature sandbur pods.
  • Use a post-emergence herbicide to fight mature sandburs, and a pre-emergence herbicide to prevent them early in the season.
  • Water, fertilize, and grow native grasses to promote a healthy lawn that stifles and outcompetes weeds.
1

Mowing

  1. Mow low to the ground, then higher up. Put a bag on your lawnmower to collect any sandbur seeds you mow over, then mow your lawn with your mower at a low setting, about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) off the ground, to collect low-growing seeds.[1]
    • Then, the next time you mow your lawn, keep the mower 2.5–3 inches (6.4–7.6 cm) off the ground. This will keep the grass high, which will stifle further sandbur growth.[2]
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3

Post-emergence herbicide

  1. Apply chemical herbicide to sprouted sand spurs. While post-emergence herbicides aren’t super effective against established annual weeds, they can still help keep the population at bay. Which herbicide you’ll use depends of what type of grass you have in your lawn—select one that will kill the weed but not the grass:[4]
    • For bermudagrass lawns, use any herbicide that contains the ingredients nicosulfron, metsulfuron, imazapic, or glyphosate. Follow the instructions included on the packaging label for application methods.
    • For all other grasses, use a glyphosate herbicide with 0.5% concentration. This will target the sandburs and spare your lawn. Consult the product’s packaging for safe herbicide application instructions.
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4

Hand-weeding

  1. Identify and pull sand spurs by hand. Pull on a pair of gardening gloves and get your weeding tool handy. Once you’ve identified a sandbur, pull the weed by digging a few inches into the soil at its base and ripping up the bulk of its shallow root network near the stem, then discarding the whole plant into a secure plastic bag to prevent propagation.[5]
    • Sand spurs have long green stalks that are red toward the bottom and creep close to the ground; broad and flat leaf blades with fuzz on the top that feels like sandpaper; and of course, the eponymous burs—can’t miss those—growing out of a long flower on top.[6]
6

Livestock grazing

  1. Graze cows in the early spring to remove sandbur sprouts. You can safely graze your livestock in a pasture with a sandbur problem in the early months of spring and summer (April-June). At this point, sandbur hasn’t yet developed its signature burs, and livestock can munch on it to keep it in check.[8]
    • Avoid grazing your livestock in sandbur-laden pastures after the plant has flowered and produced burs. These burs can harm your livestock if eaten.
8

Watering

  1. Water your lawn deeply but infrequently to promote grass growth. Only crank those sprinklers when the entire lawn appears dry. Prime the sprinklers to apply 0.75–1 inch (1.9–2.5 cm) in the early morning, and don’t water again until the lawn shows signs of stress.[10] This keeps your grass healthy, which in turn crowds out weeds.
    • Easy tells of a stressed or dry lawn are a slightly bluish color or grass that feels brittle when you walk on it.
    • Watering practices vary greatly by location, rainfall, grass type, and other factors, so contact your local agricultural commissioner to ask about the best practices for your area.
9

Fertilizing

11

Solarizing

  1. Place a black tarp over your lawn to start from scratch. Purchase a large span of black lawn tarp from your local garden center, one that will cover your entire lawn. Then, prepare your lawn by watering and fertilizing beforehand. Finally, stake tarps across your lawn and weigh them down with bricks, and wait 2-3 weeks until everything beneath is dead.
    • This is the nuclear option, but it’s an understandable measure when pesky sand spurs keep sticking your feet all season.
    • After you’ve culled your lawn, aerate it and spread new grass seeds to get your new lawn growing again.
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12

Planting fresh grass

  1. Plant a new lawn using a native grass species. Native species that thrive in your local area naturally are great for weed prevention—they can keep up and even control weed populations, since they’re suited for growing in the local conditions, which isn’t true for many grass types; most likely, your lawn’s grass isn’t a native species. Contact your local agricultural commissioner for recommendations on which grass types grow best in your area.[13]
    • Plant new grass early in the season or after solarization for the best possible growth during spring and summer months.

About This Article

Luke Smith, MFA
Co-authored by:
wikiHow Staff Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Luke Smith, MFA. Luke Smith is a wikiHow Staff Writer. He's worked for literary agents, publishing houses, and with many authors, and his writing has been featured in a number of literary magazines. Now, Luke writes for the content team at wikiHow and hopes to help readers expand both their skillsets and the bounds of their curiosity. Luke earned his MFA from the University of Montana. This article has been viewed 3,007 times.
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Co-authors: 4
Updated: January 19, 2023
Views: 3,007
Categories: Lawn Problems
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