Over the summer many lawns in the Phoenix area can develop weeds, particularly Spurge. You might recognize this weed as close to the ground, dark in color with some forms having hairy or purple-red spotted leaves and red stems. Spurge can grow in a circular shape and create a dense mat of weeds.

As you prepare your winter lawn we want to help you get rid of these pesky weeds.

Spurge is the most common turfgrass weed in the US, and Arizona in particular due to the heat. Spurge primarily grows in the summer, but it can grow well into the fall. It is easy for this weed to grow in Arizona sod in the fall since the weather remains warm here.

Your first reaction to kill this weed would be to spray it, but we advise against doing so. If you are planning to overseed your lawn, applying weed killing chemicals could slow down the growth of your new lawn. We recommend pulling the weed up with your hands, roots and all. This method of removing Spurge weeds is better for your lawn if you are preparing it for overseeding and in general, since it isn’t as harmful to your lawn.

If your lawn in Phoenix did grow Spurge this year we hope that you were able to pull it out before any real damage was done to your winter lawn. If you feel like your lawn is already a total loss you can always order fresh sod from our Arizona sod farm, already overseeded. In any case we want to help you prevent weeds from ruining all of your hard work in maintaining your sod in the Phoenix area, as it can be a struggle given our environment. The best weed prevention is a healthy lawn!

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See the University of Arizona PDF (Link) “Managing Spurge in the Landscape” for extra information beyond our blog post.

There are many sod varieties to choose from when picking out grass for your Arizona lawn. As Arizona’s premier sod producer, we recommend Midiron, Palmetto St. Augustine, or TifGrand. All of these are great choices for the Arizona climate. Here is a little more information on each one.

TifGrand is an excellent choice if your lawn is going to have a lot of shade coverage. TifGrand is specifically designed to grow in shaded areas (But it does need 4+ hours of sun).

Midiron is one of the most popular choices for Arizona lawns. It is known to recover quickly from over-seeding which is great if you love having a lush lawn in the winter. If you enjoy entertaining outside during Arizona’s mild winter or refreshing spring than Midiron just might be the Arizona sod variety for you. It handles high traffic areas well, is easy to maintain and is both heat and drought tolerant.

Palmetto St. Augustine is the second best shade-tolerant grass for Arizona lawns. People are attracted to this variety not only for it’s shade tolerance, but also for it’s unique texture. The Palmetto St. Augustine is a lighter colored sod variety with a wider blade. Great for Phoenix and Tucson area homeowners, especially if you have shade on your lawn, and kids that like to play in the grass.

These are the best grasses for Arizona lawns. When selecting your sod variety, consider how much sunlight your lawn gets, your lifestyle (kids or pets), and how often you want to mow it. These are just a few of the sod varieties that Evergreen Turf offers, if you need help selecting a sod variety for your life and home use our easy “Lawn Selector Tool.”

Find out more about our other residential sod varieties.
Order one of our Arizona sod varieties (10% off online orders).