EDITOR’S NOTE: University of Florida/IFAS Extension Director for Nassau County and Environmental Horticulture Agent III, Rebecca Jordi, addresses questions about landscaping and gardening in northeast Florida. She is also a University of Florida faculty member.
___GARDEN TALK ___
QUESTION: I was considering replacing some of my lawn but I was told not to plant victory grass in its place. What can you tell me about victory grass? TD
JORDI: I have not heard of victory grass but then I realized your friend might have been referring to the seed head of a type of bahiagrass called Pensacola. The seed head is “v-shape” hence the sign meaning victory.
Pensacola bahiagrass got its name from the city Pensacola, Florida from where the grass was selected in 1935. There are several varieties of bahiagrass but it is commonly used along roadsides because of its ability to handle numerous stresses. This ability is the result of its deep root system.
Pensacola is not the best choice of bahiagrass for home lawns as the v-shaped seed head is tough to mow and keep short when using a typical home mower. A better choice of bahiagrass for home lawns would be Argentine bahiagrass as it has a wider and darker green colored blade than Pensacola. Argentine bahiagrass is also disease and insect resistant and cold tolerant.
Before selecting a grass for your home landscape consider having the soil tested to better determine which type of grass might be better suited for your area. Contact your local Extension Office for soil test kits and more information of different types of lawngrass. Check out the University of Florida website on residential lawn varieties for the most current information.
QUESTION: This weed has come up in my flower pots and I would like to know what it is. Can you identify it for me? SM
JORDI: It is very difficult to identify weeds especially when the flowers are not present so I enlisted the help of some experts from the University of Florida.
The herbarium recognized some of the distinguishing characteristics, then identified it as Fireweed or American Burnweed, Erechtites hieracifolia. The good news is this summer weed is an annual which means it can only reproduce by seed. The bad news is annuals know they can only reproduce one way so they make the most of it by generating hundreds and sometimes even thousands of seeds.
The white tuffs at the top of the stem are the seeds. The white, fluffy portion of the seed makes it easy for the seeds to be picked up by the wind and transferred to other areas where they can be spread. This weed grows from two feet to over 6 feet tall and prefers to grow in full sun.
Fireweed got its name because it is one of the first weeds to show up after a fire or disturbed areas. My advice is to pull the weed out of the flower pot before the seeds fully mature. Be careful to avoid pulling out the plants you want to keep. If you feel you cannot remove the weed safely without destroying your plant, simply cut the weed close to the soil. This weed is so common, it can be found throughout most of the United States.
Rebecca L. Jordi
County Extension Director
UF/IFAS Environmental Horticulture
Nassau County Extension
543350 U.S. Highway #1
Callahan, FL 32011
904-491-7340 or 904-879-1019
http://nassau.ifas.ufl.edu