Get Rid of Grass Burrs Sandburr Sticker Picking Burr Buster

Description

To get rid of Grass Burrs you need a Grass Burr Killer that you can have in your Sandbur/Grass Burr Removal Arsenal – The BearMar Burr Buster!

What is a Grass Burr?

A grass burr is either an annual or perennial grass. If you search the literature online you’ll find that the perennial designation is because it isn’t really a perennial, but rather a plant that doesn’t die. The sandbur has a distinctive sharp, spiny seed pod designed to cling to anything that brushes against them, helping the seeds spread to new areas.

The seed pod grows usually in a GROUP which makes the plant resemble the famous foxtail plant. When the grass burr plans have young seed pods, they stick to their plant tightly. At this stage they are a bright vibrant green color. As the seed pod matures it turns brown/grayish brown and then even the slightest touch causes it to fall to the ground.

Each seed pod contains 3-5 seeds according to the Texas A&M University Grass Burr experts. As soon as you see the seed pods – tiny and green – those seed pods will produce plants. So if you see them, it is too late. You can’t let them fall to the ground. The more you let fall to the ground, the more plants will grow.

Grass burrs are scientifically classified as Cenchrus echinatus. These pesky plants are known by various names, including field sand burs, pricking monsters, grass stickers, burr stickers, lawn burrs, sticker weeds, burweed, and sticker burrs.

How To Get Rid of Grass Burrs?

What are the different techniques for controlling or how to get rid of grass burrs in a lawn?

The answer to that question has, at its roots (no pun intended) the following assumptions that will help w control:

• Grass Burrs are really annuals. Based on that… the spurs are seed pods with seeds inside.
• Grass Burrs are not really deep rooted successful plants – they thrive on weakness in the soil
• Strong plants like healthy Bermuda grass can easily choke out Grass Burrs… eventually.
• If your grass is established… you can attack the seed pods with pre-emergence herbicides

Improve the current grass or lawn / Improve the soil

Grass burrs are highly adaptable weeds that can invade your lawn at the slightest hint of favorable conditions. These pests feature seedheads that retain moisture, allowing them to thrive when sunlight and temperatures are optimal.

To combat grass burrs, focus on maintaining a dense, healthy turf. Regular mowing at a slightly higher setting prevents the seeds from getting enough sunlight to germinate. Frequent mowing also helps create a robust lawn that is less inviting to burrs.

Ensure your lawn receives 1.0 to 1.5 inches of water weekly to promote strong, deep roots. Shallow watering encourages the growth of grass burrs and other weeds with less extensive root systems.

Fertilizing your turf provides essential nutrients needed for vigorous growth. A soil test will help determine the appropriate fertilizer based on pH and nutrient levels. Follow the recommendations from local agricultural experts to enhance your lawn’s health and resilience.

For a lush, thick lawn, prioritize proper mowing, watering, and fertilizing. Fill in bare spots with new seeds or sod to prevent burrs from taking hold. Reseeding weaker areas will also help deter grass burr infestations.

Get as many seeds off of the ground as possible

You can do this in the fall. What you do is after all the grass burr seeds fall and are on the ground, then you can try to collect them. This sounds really hard, in my opinion. However, there is a device called the “The Sticker Picker” that looks to be sort of like a “lawn mower for stickers” which could be pretty good at getting the stickers picked up.

I haven’t used it, but I believe that shouldn’t be your only tool in your arsenal. I believe that getting the grass burrs before they hit the ground would be as important, if not MORE important. That is what the Burr Buster does. I do see that having the Burr Buster (what you buy on this page) throughout the summer is very good, then use The Sticker Picker in the fall to get as many burr seeds off the ground as possible is a good 1-2 punch.

If you have a very large area, then the sticker picker could be more practical than the Burr Buster. The Burr Buster runs out of steam – or you will – if your lawn is bigger than about 2/3 acre or so. And of course it depends on your infestation problem too.

The KEY IDEA IS THIS: Don’t let the grass burr seeds hit the ground or stay on the ground.

Don’t let them grow in the spring – use pre-emergence herbicide

Grass burr killers are specialized herbicides designed to target and eliminate both existing burrs and their seeds to prevent future growth.

Pre-emergent herbicides work by killing weed seeds before they have a chance to sprout. To effectively use a pre-emergent herbicide, apply it before the burr seeds begin to germinate, typically when the soil temperature reaches around 52°F. Early spring is also an ideal time for application.

For controlling burrs in Bermudagrass and other warm-season grasses, Prowl H2O is a recommended pre-emergent herbicide. Apply it at a rate of 1.1 to 4.2 ounces per acre in late February or early March, before the grass starts growing again. For optimal results, water the lawn or ensure it rains within 10-14 days of application to enhance the herbicide’s effectiveness.

Another effective pre-emergent option for Bermudagrass is pendimethalin, which should be applied at 0.5 to 0.75 ounces per acre. Watering or rainfall within seven days of application will improve its efficacy in controlling burrs.

Use a post emergence herbicide

I’m not a fan of this. Most articles I read say “use roundup carefully”. At that point, you might as well just dig up the plant anyway.

What we do, if we are able to CLEARLY FIND the plant and where its roots are is to use the Burr Buster to get rid of he seed pods which works awesome. THEN if I know the plants core location, I pull it and place it roots up. The Texas sun takes care of the plant in about a day.

Use a mower with a bag

Lets be honest. If this really worked, this would be “the solution”. But it isn’t. I surmise that is because the mower puts as many seed pods on the ground as it scootches into the bag.

Even in the fall, assuming your mower can generate enough suction, it probably can’t get the seeds that are lodged in among the stems. But it might make a small difference: Every seed pod removed is a WIN. This is a war of attrition.

Even worse w the mower and bag is the large amount of refuge generated… where are you going to put that? You can’t compost it or you’ll have stickers in your compost pile which you kindly spread everywhere.

How the BearMar Grass Burr Buster Helps get rid of grass burrs

The BearMar Grass Burr Buster, otherwise known as the Burr Buster operates with a very simple set of principles:

• If you see the grass burrs – it is TOO LATE. You gotta grab those stickers out of your lawn.
• Why let the grass burrs hit the ground at all – just pick them.
• Make it easy to pick them and put them in a bucket or bag – ejection bar works pretty good at clearing the tool
• Make it easy to go out quickly at hit a patch of sandburs – lightweight tool.
• Assume the grass burr is an annual – find and kill seed pods at all costs!

If you use the Burr Buster early, while the seed pods on the grass burrs are green, they pull amazingly easy and don’t EXPLODE into the grass – see below some tips on that.

Then when you DO use a pre-emergence, you will have a much much greater success rate with the herbicide because you have tilted the attrition/numbers game in your favor.

Then if you continue to use the Burr Buster for the next couple of years in conjunction with pre-emergence *AND* improving your soil and grass I believe you will win.

Features of the BearMar Grass Burr Buster

• Slots and points designed JUST RIGHT to grab the grass burrs and pull them off of the plant. Some of the babies might be still too small, but for MOST of them this is the PERFECT size.
• Ejection bar operates just like scissors. Squeeze the trigger to push the debris into your refuse bucket or sack.
• TOUGH PET-G plastic construction – same as the plastic soda bottles. I have yet to break a tooth. I’m NOT saying they are unbreakable – use common sense please – I’m saying they are pretty tough.
• Side walls help reduce seeds from jumping off the Burr Buster and getting onto the ground.

Success Tips for using the BearMar Grass Burr Buster

• Pick the grass burrs when they are green. Dry ones get very tricky.
• don’t dig into grass unless you have to.
• Clean a sticker plant of seed pods – THEN dig it up.
• If you are trying to pick brown seed pods, as much as possible, reduce the energy that will cause them to pop off by moving slow. Also, you can put your bucket right in front of the Burr Buster and they will POP into the bucket.
• I have found that if VERY brown and mature, they have less of the popping off motion. So green plants and very mature plants are easiest.
• If you have lots of brown pods, you can swoop along the with the grass and the extra debris will help keep the seed pods in place. It fills up your bucket faster, but less of those little devils will hit the ground.
• Use the ejector bar often. Don’t let junk build up.
• Sometimes when stickers are laying low and hiding, you can use the corner to pick up the little devil and get him picked.

Why Picking (sticker picking) Grass Burrs Can be PART of a Successful Grass Burr Control Strategy

I don’t think the Burr Buster is the ENTIRE answer, but just a useful tool. But the MAIN IDEA is that if you attack, attack, and attack and pick as many Grass Burrs as you can, then there are so many less seeds to deal with the next year.

Why you can’t just do a single “session” of Grass Burr picking

As near as I can tell, and I’m not a grass burr-oligist, the stupid grass burrs are like blackberries. You pick’em and they grow more. I have been using my Burr Buster all summer and am picking them all the time.

If I can clearly identify the entire plant, I’ll pull it AFTER Burr Busting it. This will reduce my continue Burr Busting. But it is often the case that finding the plant is harder than it looks. Grass Burr plants look like grass and grow in amongst the grass.

I’m simply warning you that there is no such thing as one and done. Even if you use pre-emergence, you might expect to do that 2x per year.

Why wouldn’t you just “pull” all of the Grass Burr plants instead of Picking Stickers?

We started doing only the pulling but we ended up with this following list of issues:

• We could only pull the plants once they have the seed pods showing.
• The seed pods made the plants hard to handle.
• The seed pods are not respecters of gloves – and yes – they can find a way through leather gloves.
• When you have a large infestation, digging is very slow.
• So we pick the stickers, then if possible eradicate the plant.

For BearMar’s lawn/orchard, what is the BearMar overall Grass Burr Control Technique

• Year 1 and Year 2 : Pick stickers / dig up plants.
• Year 1 and Year 2 : Strengthen the soil
• Year 1 and Year 2 : Overseed with Bermuda
• Year 3 : Assume no more Bermuda seed – use pre-emergence herbicide
• Year 3 : Eagle eye the darned lawn and look for renegades – Then Burr Bust and pull the plant if you can find it.

This is the BearMar LLC plan for getting rid of Grass Burrs.

Frequently Asked Questions

How strong is the Burr Buster?

It is pretty darned strong. I haven’t broke a tooth or spline yet. If I get into a tough patch of Bermuda while I’m Burr Busting, I do try to disentangle. I do think if you pulled super hard you would either deform or break a tooth.

How does the Burr Buster work to rid of grass burrs?

The main idea is that you use the Burr Buster to pick the Grass Burr seed pods as early as possible and discard them. Because the Grass Burr is an annual, if you do this consistently, you will win the war against Grass Burrs.

But I believe it is only a part of the strategy. You should use a comprehensive concept to eradicate Grass Burrs.

Is there such a thing as Burr Blindness?

There sure is. You can get to where you can look right at them and not see them. Then you put up the Burr Buster, go right back where you were and shazzam – there are more Grass Burrs. Even with the Burr Buster, it takes effort to get rid of Grass Burrs.

What do you do with the picked Grass Burrs?

We send them out with the garbage. I think you could burn them if you have access to a burn barrel or burn pile.

Will you get all 100% of all the seed pods?

Of course not. If this is your expectation, you might need to readjust your expectation.

Does your dog like the Burr Buster?

She likes the idea that there are less stickers to step on.

Also, if I gently rub her back with the Burr Buster she likes that too. She also likes being blown on with the leaf blower.

Why doesn’t BearMar just use a pre-emergence herbicide to get rid of Grass Burrs and not do all this hard picking

We plan on overseeding with Bermuda. I want the Bermuda seed to grow. Also, we will likely overseed with rye grass too. Maybe in the future we won’t do this, but for now, we’re still trying to get our lawn stronger and thicker.

Why don’t you show a video gallery of the Burr Buster in action?

ok.

Hope this helps!