Sand Burrs..... again or still...

I hate sand burrs.  They are sharp and difficult to remove from your shoes or jeans or hands.  They like to walk around and spread out to make huge patches of very nasty grass with nothing but sharp points.  That's what we had here last year - several large patches that all got sprayed with Round-Up in the fall.  For some pestilential weeds there are methods of erradication that don't require toxic chemicals but sand burrs pretty much require big guns - or getting down on your knees and digging out the rotten plants.  I'm way too old to spend time on my knees digging up much of anything so Round-up was our big gun of choice.

Sand burrs grow best in areas that won't support good grass.  We have a very high percentage of sand in our soil and are prone to years of drought.  Taken together they can encourage the sand burrs.  One of the things that discourages them is frequent mowing so we have tried to mow the pastures often.  I try hard to not use chemicals on the pastures where my animals live and graze.

I have been on the lookout for sand burrs this summer and only just recently have begun to find them.  They are NOT in huge patches and not in the open areas between the pastures and the arena that we worked so hard on last fall.  I am finding them along the fence lines where they don't get mowed.  Last weekend I spent several hours digging out the rotten plants and doing a little light spraying.  I'm hoping I've got them beat but I highly doubt it.  I'll just have to keep checking.

I hate sand burrs.