The broken record spins on.  Weeds are a hot topic this year, so I’ve had hours every day to think about the subject, and what we can do about it.  The quick version:

Funky Weather Patterns - Two years of record heat and drought.  Then an unusually hard winter, including a super hard freeze.  Then 6 months of steady, deep, unusually frequent rains. 

Non-native Turf- unlike a diverse prairie, a mono-culture stand of St. Augustine is hit especially hard during extreme weather and actually dies off in patches.  Two hard summers, followed by a hard winter, have weakened most lawns so severely that large parts totally died.

Surface Disturbance – The ancient prairies had wildfire and buffalo herds.  We had Funky Weather Pattern and Non-native Turf.  Our scenario is actually really similar to the old days, which encouraged natural succession in plant communities; true circle of life stuff. 

Wildfire/Funky Weather Patters severely knock back the surface vegetation.  The early succession weed seeds underground respond by unleashing their energy to grow fast and furiously on top of the bare soil, because there is no competition.  But they don’t spend much energy on roots, and die back when summer hits, adding nutrients and bug food as they decompose, paving the way for the next succession of plants. 

So weeds are nature’s way of paving the way for longer term plants, like grasses.  It’s natural, and it’s happening in lawns all over Austin. 

What to do About it- Well, that depends.  If you’re old school, you can go through the entire cycle again, kill the weeds, amend the soil, and replant St. Augustine.   Or if you’re super old school, or super new school, you can do what the prairies did, and continue to evolve.

If the dead patch is in the sun, heed the call of the Wildflower Center and Native American Seed and plant a “pocket prairie.”  You can try a mix of native short-grasses, like buffalo grass, blue grama, curly mesquite, and Texas grama.  Throw in some taller grasses, like lovegrass or bluestem.  Maybe a few wildflower seeds for seasonal fun. 

If the dead path is in the shade, take the advice of folks smarter than me, and try a mix of native and/or adapted sedges.  Lawn sedge, woodland sedge, blue sedge, meadow sedge, or Cherokee sedge.  Maybe mix in some color with tropical sage or Turk’s cap. 

Either way, nothing is maintenance free, especially in the beginning.  But there are lots of great folks out there to help you with that part too!

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