When Sun Zhu said “know thy enemy” I’m sure in part he was probably referring to bindii, that painful thorn that ravages backyard cricket games, super soaker fights every Summer across Australia. Ok, I’m willing to concede that maybe he wasn’t but it’s an idea that is very true when taking on an enemy in your garden, regardless of whether it be bindii control, disease or an insect you’re fighting. Understanding the best will allow you to use the right product solution at the right time. After all the right product and the right timing gives you the right result.
What is bindii?
Bindi is that pain in your foot as you take a quick single during Summer to win the Christmas backyard cricket match, It’s the thorn you get as you take the washing out to the Hills Hoist. It’s such an Australian icon that it’s hard to believe that anyone hasn’t come across bindii at some point in their life.
In short, it’s a broadleaf weed, with carrot like leaves that grows about 5 centimetres off the ground and can spread up to be about 10 centimetres wide, producing a seed in Spring that ruins the feet of children around Australia come Summer.
Where did bindii come from
Weeds are generally called weeds because they are unwanted. In Australia bindii has thrived because the climate is perfect for it. So, it’s not surprising to discover that bindii came from South America, an environment with similar soil and temperature conditions to Australia.
The bindii life cycle
Bindii is a broadleaf weed, that is a winter annual. In Australia many common lawn weeds are winter annuals. A winter annual is a weed that germinates in Autumn grows through Winter and dies out during Summer. Bindii follows this exact pattern, with weed emergence occurring when soil temperatures drop below 10 degrees in Autumn. Bindii then grows through the Winter period, flowering in Spring creating seeds and the dying out in Summer.
When to control bindii
Bindii can be treated at any time in its lifecycle. However, it is best to stop it spreading seed that will require treatment next year. So, treating bindii in June and August is the perfect time, it and all other Winter annual weeds have emerged but have not yet started to flower.
What to treat it with
Bindii is a broadleaf weed and therefore can be knocked out by a broadleaf herbicide. At The Lawn Shed we carry professional quality broadleaf herbicides that are very powerful in the control of bindii and many other broadleaf weeds. Broadleaf herbicides include Dicamba M, Bow & Arrow.
To help prevent bindii
The best way to prevent weeds including bindii is to remove the conditions that allow it to thrive. Firstly, treating in the June to August window reduces the number of bindii seed in your lawn. Next, bindii loves heavily compacted soil that is dry and hydrophobic, which usually leads to thin turf. The best way to resolve this is too aerate the soil using a coring machine and filling the holes with an organic plus sand mix. To improve water penetration the addition of a wetting agent like Lawn Play Aquaturf should also be used.
Lastly, offer to spray your neighbours bindii too, after all they will eventually seed and be spread to your lawn.
If you’re looking for fantastic advice on any aspect of lawn care then you should follow along on our YouTube channel, LawnFlix where our resident Lawn Genius shows you how to apply, how to calculate and just generally everything lawn related.
Thanks for reading this blog, if you have any questions feel free to reach out to us. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter below for well-timed lawn advice, because timing is very important in getting the best results for your lawn.
