February is a good time to take care of those pesky weeds.  Get this done while they are young and tender.  With this weather that we are having now it’s a good bet that you can kill them.

     Weed and Feed products are great and easy to use.  The first thing that you need to know is what is the kind of grass you have in your yard.  That is important because the weed and feed products are selective.  Atrazine is a great chemical for St. Augustine and Centipede grasses.  You can spray now or use use the weed and feed that is labeled for that to kill the stickers and other weeds.  If you don’t spray now, you will not get it before the sticker before it forms.  No running barefoot for the kids.  There is a Fertilome weed and feed that contains atrazine.  Other weed and feed products have trimec and dimension to control crabgrass and other weeds in bermuda grass. Be sure to follow the directions on the label.

     In this season you can also use a bug killer product to get a head start on the fire ants, chinch bugs, millipedes, and other insects.  If you use a imidacloprid and lamba granule it will take of both insects on top of the ground and below.  These granules need to be watered in within a few days.  Bifenthrin is a great insect killer that is also labeled for termites.  Using chemicals with more than one use will save you money in the end.  Remember sevin dust?  There is a can of dust that is labeled sevin.  It is not sevin, it is bifen.   Acephate is a great ant killer that is easy to use.  Just open the lid and sprinkle  it on the ant bed and walk away.  You don’t have to bother the mound, but if you are like me you like to torture them a little bit and stir the mound.  

     While you are doing all of these spring chores, you can use some chemicals to spray around the house.  There is a product called Demon that you mix up to spray for spiders and other pests.  It is one of the strongest chemicals labeled for home use.  It comes in a water soluble packets that makes it very easy to mix.  You can spray the walls and eaves of the house.

(Mitzi Thomas owns Minden Farm & Garden LLC. Watch for her column on Fridays in Webster Parish Journal.)