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How to Kill Sand Spurs in 6 Easy Steps?

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Is your lawn infested by these prickly weeds? Apart from being an eyesore, is it also eating up your lawn space and giving an unkempt look to your garden? Have you tried many remedies, but the enemy has gotten resistant to it?

We cannot agree more that this unwelcome guest in your lawn is sure to cause more harm in the form of painful injuries the dried husks can cause.

It can also lead to unwanted infections and painful wounds if it gets stuck to your clothes. These weeds can also spread rather quickly and devour your lawn if you do not act on time. Better late than never, act on time in getting rid of these troublesome weeds from your garden.

This tutorial on how to kill sand spurs in 6 easy steps is all you need to make your garden sand spur free.

Be rest assured that your lawn will look great, and you will also get rid of this prickly enemy forever from your garden using these methods. Besides, these weeds will also steal the nutrition in the soil that was meant for your plants.

We have remedies at hand that will tackle these weeds that are a lot more economical than hiring specialists for the job.

So why spend a fortune hiring professionals for this job when you can do it yourself with minimum investment. All we need is some necessary garden implements, herbicides, and a lot of your time — attack before getting attacked (pricked) to destroy your enemy unaware.

Necessities Required for All the 6 Methods

First, let us get our hands on all the essentials required for all the six methods we have in this article. Keep some of your gardening implements and accessories such as garden scissors, brown paper bags, and gloves handy as you prepare for the war on sand spurs.

  • Invest in a good pair of garden gloves – Mostly, we use not so thick gloves for our routine gardening activities. When dealing with these pesky weeds, you should get a thicker pair of garden gloves to protect your hands from sharp thorns of sand spurs.
  • Brown paper bags – to collect and safely dispose of the prickly burs that may fall off while you are trimming the plant. While you may be careful about not getting pricked, it can prick or injure your kids or pets around the house. Also, you do not want to sow seeds for the next batch of sand spurs.
  • Mower – To trim or cut off the weeds that have grown in abundance. Using a mower with clippings catcher is a better choice as to if it will collect all the trimmed sand spurs and thus reduce the possibility of re-growth of these weeds.
  • Herbicides and Fertilizers – Herbicides will help to prevent re-growth of sand spurs. Using fertilizers that increase the nitrogen levels in the soil will create unfavorable conditions for their growth.

Now that you have your arsenal stacked up with all the deadly weapons to combat this lawn invader let’s launch the operation as per the detailed modus operandi given below. Our aim here should be to wipe out all traces of this weed without causing harm to the surrounding flora and fauna.

How to Kill Sand Spurs In 6 Easy and Best Ways

Step 1 – Pull Out the Sand Spurs by Hand

This is essentially the first step when it comes to dealing with these prickly weeds. It is recommended you follow this if you spot smaller patches of weed in your lawn or garden.

However, this step is not the most effective one if your garden is already having a rich growth of this weed. For large areas infested by this plant, use the mower.​

Pull Out the Sand Spurs by Hand - How to Kill Sand Spurs

If you are planning to pull out these pesky plants by hand, use thick garden gloves to avoid getting cuts from the sharp spines of the plant.

You can water the area a bit before you set to pull out these plants to make the task easier. Collect the weeds and dried spurs safely in the brown bags.

Step 2 – Use A Mower with Clippings Catcher for The Larger Areas of Infestation

Using mower is recommended if you notice that the growth is much more than what you can pull out with your hands. It saves a lot of time and effort.

You will not have to spend time collecting the mowed sand spurs as the built-in catcher will take care of it. This is rather an effective way to prevent re-growth of sand spurs.

Mowers with clippings catcher is an expensive option. However, if you are considering a mower for your lawn, spend that extra dollar in investing in the mower with clippings catcher.

It is sure to be a valuable investment to serve your regular mowing needs as well as serve as a weed collector.

Step 3 – Have A Regular Watering and Mowing Routine

Please take all the precautions to prevent the re-growth of sand spurs once you have got rid of them. Regular watering will discourage the growth of this weed as love hot and dry places.

They do not care to enter places that are damp and cool. Regular watering will give your garden the required water content while also discouraging the growth of weeds.

Kill Sand Spurs by Regular Watering - How to Kill Sand Spurs

Mow the grass once every week or even daily if you have the time. This will not only help in preventing the growth of these weeds but also help in identifying any weed growth in the initial stages so that you can get rid of them immediately.

A good rule of thumb is to keep the grass in your lawn shorter than 4 inches through regular mowing.

Step 4 – Use Fertilizers with Nitrogen

Sand spurs can easily grow on soil that is low on nitrogen. Increasing the nitrogen content in the soil can help you prevent the growth of these pesky intruders.

Applying one pound of nitrogen fertilizer for every 1000 square feet will take care of your lawn fertilization and also keeps unwanted sand spurs away.

You can fertilize your lawn during the spring season, as this is also the time these weeds catch ground. Alternately you could also consider laying organic mulch to stop the germination of these weeds.

Step 5 – Use an Eco-Friendly Herbicide – Corn Gluten Meal Herbicide

Corn gluten meal is an ideal organic pre-emergent herbicide that can inhibit the germination of sand spur seeds. However, you should be very careful about the timing you apply.

It is not useful to control sand spur weeds once they have established their roots. Mostly they are applied in the summer months. Special care must be taken while using this herbicide and also make sure you are not planning to plant any seeds while you have laid this.

Evenly spread the corn gluten mean herbicide using a rotary spreader. 20 pounds of the meal herbicide would be ideal for every 1000 square feet of land.

Step 6 – Post-Emergent Herbicide – The Last Resort

You will know from experience that the weeds tend to get resistant to most of the remedies over time. So even after following all the above steps, if the sand spurs still manage to make their way into your landscapes, you will be left with no other option than to use a post-emergent herbicide.

This is rather a strong solution that will wipe out all traces of this weed and may affect other plants around the weed growth. So be sure not to spray them on other plants.


Final Thoughts

We have put together the best ways to combat these unruly weeds so that you do not run around for remedies. These tips will help you notice the growth of weeds before it is too late. To quick re-cap of the list of to-dos to keep these weeds bay:

  • Take up regular maintenance of your lawn
  • Watering regularly will discourage the growth of sand spurs.
  • Timely fertilization
  • Prevent germination of fallen sand spur seeds.
  • Spray herbicides if the growth has gone beyond control.

Prevention is better than cure goes a famous saying, so is the case of these weeds. Once they find a place, it spreads really fast.

So, it is in your best interest to prevent them from setting foot in your surroundings. Timely upkeep of your surroundings will help a great deal in tackling this problem. This way, you could also save yourself from the guilt and dangers of using herbicides.

Our efforts in putting together this article would bear fruit if you were able to tackle the issue of sand spurs effectively using the simple steps.

Please do share your experiences after you have devised the methods in the article. Also, we are eager to know if any other ways you found effective in preventing the sand spurs. Happy Gardening!