Paspalum

Paspalum (Paspalum dilatatum) is a perennial grass weed that causes problems on lawns throughout the North Island of New Zealand.

Problem Overview

Paspalum (Paspalum dilatatum) is a warm season perennial grass weed that causes problems on lawns throughout the North Island of New Zealand. (Note that this is significantly different plant to the turf variety known as Seashore paspalum). It is a problem in summer when it produces large numbers of seed heads and its low growing wide leaves hug the ground, tending to smother other more desirable species.

It is dormant for the majority of winter, though the crowns are often still visible in lawns that are cut at a low mowing height. The seed heads of paspalum are similar to some other types of annual summer grass, which tend to be prominent at the same time of the year. The leaves are dark green in colour and are hairless with the exception of two tufts the at emerge at the base of each leaf blade.

Solutions

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Fine Fescue lawns: Apply Haloxyfop -P-methyl (Ignite, Gallant) at 30mls per 100m2 when the paspalum is actively growing. Given that this is a high label rate, it is recommended that this is preferably used as a spot spray treatment otherwise some damage will occur to the lawn, particularly if the lawn is under heat or moisture stress.

Other Lawn types: Spot spray the paspalum using Roundup or a similar Glyphosate based product when the plants are actively growing and re-sow those areas in autumn. If the paspalum infestation is heavy then we recommend spraying the entire lawn with roundup at 50mls/100m2 preferably twice with 14 - 21 days to ensure an effective kill and then re-sow the lawn.

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