Lawn Burweed

If you’ve ever walked barefoot through a patch of burweed, you know this is a very unpleasant experience. Lawn burweed, also called spurweed or stickerweed, is a low growing winter annual that produces hard, spiny burs that contains the plant’s seeds. These burs or stickers make walking on grass extremely painful for not only people walking barefoot, but pets as well.
Dealing with lawn burweed can be tricky. Because lawn burweed is a winter weed, seeds actually germinate when temperatures are cool in the fall (late October-November). It then remains unseen during the cold months but as temperatures warm up in the spring, lawn burweed initiates a period of rapid growth and forms the spiny burs which may be hard to see but are easily felt. At this stage, the plant has set seed for next year and killing the remaining foliage won’t remove the burs. Moving forward, there are some things to consider.

Cultural Control
Burweed tends to be prominent in high traffic areas or areas where grass is declining so it is important to prevent infestations by maintain a healthy, dense lawn. This can be achieved by fertilizing and liming according to soil test results as well as mowing at the proper height and frequency for your specific turfgrass. A healthy lawn can outcompete burweed for light, water, and nutrients and reduce the level of burweed infestation. For more information on maintaining your lawn visit:
If burweed is only in isolated areas, you can always dig it up and dispose of it. Be sure to wear gloves and watch out for the stickers!

Chemical Control
Post-emergent control: Post-emergent herbicides are most effective applied when burweed plants are young, actively growing, and haven’t set burs yet from December – February. Controlling burweed now is not impossible, but the burs have likely already formed and will remain present even after the weed dies. Additionally, since burweed is a winter annual, it will begin to die as temperatures reach 90F and above.
Look for herbicides containing the following active ingredients to help with post-emergent control:
• Atrazine – sold under many brand names and safe in centipede, St. Augustine, and bermudagrass. Do not use in zoysia or bahiagrass lawns.
• Dicamba, mecoprop, 2,4-D – commonly sold in three-way formulations through many brand names. Generally safe in centipede, St. Augustine, bermuda, zoysia, and bahiagrass lawns.
• Metsulfuron – sold under several brand names and safe in centipede, St. Augustine, zoysia, and bermudagrass. Do not use in bahiagrass. Be careful if used around ornamentals.
• Thiencarbazone, iodosulfuron, dicamba. Safe in centipede, zoysia, bermuda, and St. Augustinegrass. Do not use in bahiagrass.
Pre-emergent control: If you are struggling with a lawn burweed infestation this spring, plan to do a pre-emergent herbicide application this fall. A herbicide containing the active ingredient, isoxaben can be used to control lawn burweed in centipedegrass, St. Augustinegrass, bermudagrass and zoysiagrass. In order for a pre-emergent herbicide application to be effective, it must be applied before the plant sprouts. For burweed, isoxaben can be applied in October or once temperatures fall to 55°-60° F and winter weeds begin to germinate.
Of course before using any type of herbicide, always read the label instructions! If you have questions about lawn burweed control, please contact the UF/IFAS Jefferson County Extension Office at (850) 342-0187.