Grub Worms
White grubs feed on the roots and other below ground portions of warm-season turfgrasses, such as bermudagrass, zoysiagrass, and St. Augustinegrass, as well as cool-season turfgrasses like ryegrasses. Visible damage includes irregularly shaped patches of dead grass that may resemble yellow/brown patches. Secondary damage may also occur in the form of damage from skunks, raccoons, and armadillos digging through your lawn to seek and feed on grub.
Chinch Bugs
Chinch bugs are common pests of St. Augustinegrass in the southern United States and often cause significant damage to turf during summer months. While St. Augustinegrass is the only turfgrass to suffer severe damage from chinch bugs, they have also been reported to feed on zoysia and bermudagrasses. They damage grass by feeding on the sap of the plant and injecting a toxin that results in death of plant tissue. If left un-treated, chinch bug damage results in irregular patches of yellowing turf that may spread outward and ultimately result in plant death.
Armyworm
The armyworm is the most common cause of damaged turfgrass on golf courses, athletic fields, and home landscapes. Damage may initially resemble brown stress areas, but will progress to complete loss of foliage if numbers are sufficient and the lawn is left untreated. Armyworms are destructive pests that consume turf grasses, but they'll feed on vegetables and other plants when food is scarce. They eventually become moths, but it's the worm-like larvae stage that cause the most damage. When large numbers are present in your lawn, armyworms may seem to march side-by-side like an army battalion. Heavy infestations can destroy lawn grasses in just a few days.
Fire Ants
Red fire ants are medium-sized red and black colored ants, when disturbed emerge aggressively, crawling up vertical surfaces, biting and stinging “all at once”. The impact of fire ants in Texas is estimated to be $1.2 billion annually! Fire ants are now pests of urban areas and pose a serious health threat to plants, animals and your family members. Fire ants don't confine themselves to lawns; they invade gardens, compost piles, outbuildings and homes. These aggressive pests can sting repeatedly, and attack anything and anyone who disrupts their feeding or their mounds.
Dandelion
Dandelion is a tap-rooted perennial that can often behave as an annual. Leaves occur in a basal rosette, are oblong-lanceolate, and deeply-lobed with the lobes often pointing back towards the base. This common lawn weed tends to appear in April through June, when its flower head matures and seeds disperse. Dandelions are a perennial, it will keep coming back if you don’t take measures to control it. The best defense is to maintain a thick, healthy lawn and treat Dandelion with, selective, liquid weed control.
Dallisgrass
Perennial grassy weed that is very difficult to control due to deep, aggressive rhizomes that often forms clumps. Inflorescences contain 2-8 branches, each with multiple spikelets. Dallisgrass grows in clumps, and it sticks out in the lawn because of its bunch-like appearance, coarse leaves and tall seed stalks. The best control for Dallisgrass is a late fall post-emergent weed control application while it is still actively growing followed by a regular weed control program during the remainder of the season.
Bittercress
Known for its tiny white flowers, bittercress is a winter annual weed that emerges in early spring. It is especially prevalent after rainy periods because it thrives in wet ground. Bittercress has a long tap root. Luckily, bittercress is an annual so the plant you eliminate won’t return next season. But, the key to controlling bittercress is catching it before its flowers turn into seed pods that disperse.
Nutsedge
Nutsedge, also referred to as nutgrass, is a perennial weed with a triangular stem and foliage that sprouts in groups of three. It can grow in dry soils and shoots up more rapidly than turfgrass, so you’ll notice it sprouting up out of your lawn. Because this is a perennial weed, it grows in warmer months, goes dormant in cooler months, and can come back again and again. By treating Nutsedge every year, you’ll make progress by reducing the next year’s weed amount.
Crabgrass
Smooth Crabgrass and Hairy Crabgrass are both annual grasses, and they crop up in the lawn in early to mid-spring. Crabgrass reproduces quickly and can dominate a lawn because it grows faster than most turfgrass. Crabgrass needs sunlight to thrive, which is why crabgrass takes over in thin lawns, and in lawns where grass is cut very short. Pre-emergent weed control in late fall, late winter and early spring can reduce the amount of crabgrass from surfacing. In spring and throughout summer, a timely post-emergent weed control helps control plants when they are small.
Spurge
Spurge leaves are oval and oblong, with serrated edges and have a bit of purple or red in the center. Summer annual broadleaf weed with prostrate growth habit. Leaves are arranged oppositely on the stem, elliptic in shape, and have finely-toothed margins. Like all spurges, the stem exudes a milky sap when cut. This broadleaf weed germinates in late spring and grows throughout the summer. The key to controlling it is applying pre-emergent weed control in late winter and early spring, followed by post-emergent herbicides to manage spurge that appears in the lawn.
Poa Annua
Also known as annual bluegrass, Poa annua grows upright and has creeping stolons. It tends to emerge in late summer and persists in fall. Its seeds germinate through fall, winter and spring, which can make this lawn weed difficult to control. Annual Bluegrass is a troublesome winter annual weed that can persist and produce unsightly seedheads in mowed turf, even at extremely low mowing heights as in putting greens. Like all bluegrasses it’s leaves have folded vernation and a boat-shaped tip. Ligule is membranous and the auricle is absent.
Henbit
Named for the fact that yard birds love to munch on it, this cool-season annual broadleaf weed creeps up in early fall and grows through winter into spring. It has square, slender stems that branch out from the base, and its leaves are circular and hairy. Henbit has shallow roots, and it spreads aggressively during the off-season in north Texas. Year-round lawn care is critical for maintaining healthy turf, free of this stubborn weed. In spring, henbit blooms pink/purples flowers.
Sanbur
A grassy weed with sharp burs, blades are flat and the upper surface may feel like sandpaper. The burs are painful to step on or touch and can spoil a lawn for playing. Each bur contains only two seeds, but one plant may produce as many as a thousand seeds. Seeds are spread to new areas when the burs cling to clothing and animals or are mowed. It is most troublesome in lawns with light, sandy soils as it prefers full to partial sun, mesic to dry conditions, and open sandy soil. Sandbur will grow in non-sandy soil as well, especially where the ground vegetation is sparse. Sandbur prefers areas with a history of disturbance. This is a rather weedy grass and it is considered a nuisance in residential areas.
Clover
Clover is a perennial weed that grows easily in moist areas. This shallow - rooted weed is found throughout the U.S. Clover also performs well in nitrogen - depleted soil, so keeping your lawn well fed can help keep it from coming back. Although some people like to have clover growing in their lawn, others want to control it because they think it looks messy or are concerned about their children being stung by bees visiting the flowers. White clover (Trifolium repens), a member of the legume family, is a perennial weed that is common throughout the U.S. It is closely related to the agricultural crops alfalfa and sweet clover. Since it produces its own nitrogen, clover will thrive in lawns that are under-nourished.
Aster
This plant also goes by roadside aster and slender aster. It grows in clumps, producing flowers that resemble a daisy. While that sounds attractive at first, asterweed can become problematic pretty quickly. Annual weed with simple, linear, and alternate leaves. Heads with yellow disk flowers while ray flowers can be white, blue, purple, violet, and pink. Gets increasingly woody and more difficult to control as it matures late in the season and in areas where it can be a perennial weed. Best practice is to water thoroughly, as it prefers dry soil, and to apply a pre-emergent treatment before asterweed gets a chance to flower.
Bluestem
Bluestem, more formally known as “King Ranch bluestem.” Was introduced into the U.S. from southern Europe and South Africa almost 100 years ago as a source of livestock forage and as a means of stabilizing raw cuts along roadsides. It certainly did all of that, but in the process it became obvious that KR bluestem was also invasive and that it threatened the diversity of native species of plants. Plants can begin as a bunch-type growth habit, but then spreading by rhizomes and/or stolons, especially in mowed turf. Inflorescence is a terminal panicle with spicate primary branches. One of the most common roadside and utility turfgrass weeds in Texas. KR bluestem rarely shows up in really healthy, vigorous home lawns. It’s much more common in lawns that have struggled through drought, lack of fertilizers and infrequent mowings.