What can I do about weeds in my warm-season turf in the winter?

You may be seeing weeds popping up that scare the heck out of you too. Most of us struggle equally this time of year, but there is good news! Spring will come, soon! 

These tips here today are mostly for the transition zone and southern folks, but you cool season folks will pick up some strategy as well if you follow along.

Annual BlueGrass (Poa Annua) In Warm Season Turf

So you have warm-season turf, it’s dormant right now, and you are seeing weeds pop up in it.

Probably lots of poa annua (annual bluegrass) and probably some spurge and bittercress too.

If you want to get out and spot spray and kill it (recommended), here are the products to use by grass type.

Mix up a gallon and go spot spray as needed.



Remember, these recommendations are for DORMANT warm-season turf with green weeds and grasses growing in it. We only recommend spot spraying or zone spraying - don’t blanket spray.

St Augustine grass and Centipede

Atrazine is your best bet. It’s cheap and effective on most of the junk you will see this time of year, especially poa annua.

Bermuda and Zoysia

Make sure your turf is completely dormant for sure - then you can spot spray with glyphosate.

This is a non-selective herbicide that kills everything, but won’t harm your Bermuda or zoysia if it is dormant. It’s super cheap and works very well. Add a cap full of baby shampoo to the gallon mix to act as a sticker.

If you are not sure that you are completely dormant (it has been pretty warm) then use IMAGE® KILLS NUTSEDGE CONCENTRATE which you can pick up at most big box stores. It will kill most nasty stuff over winter too.

Keywords: winter, weeds, winter weeds, warm-season turf, warm-season