One of life's pleasures is to go without shoes in summer - unless there's bindii in your lawn. If you've ever had bindii prickles in your bare feet, you'll know how painful it can be.

Bindii (Soliva pterosperma) is a specialist plant, which thrives in compacted soil. In our segment Don showed how bindii was growing in areas compacted by the treads of tractor tyres. The grass on either side of the wheel marks was growing well, with no bindii.

Testing for compaction

You can tell if your lawn is compacted simply by pushing a garden fork into the ground. In a good lawn the tines of the fork should easily go down half way or more. If they don't, the lawn is compacted and needs fixing.

Solutions

Aerate compacted lawns with a garden fork or a power aerator or coring machine (petrol driven lawn aerators can be hired from equipment rental companies for about $110 per day). Once the soil is aerated the lawn will grow strongly and outcompete bindii and other broad-leaved weeds. Pave heavy traffic areas such as the track to the clothesline, as grass will always have trouble growing there. You can spray bindii with a selective herbicide such as Bin-Die (costs about $10 for 100ml). Follow the directions on the container.

Car washing tip

Do not wash your car on the lawn. Driving vehicles of any type onto grassed areas will cause soil compaction, followed by weed growth. If you're worried about saving water, park your car on concrete or tar in a position where the water runs off onto the grass. The other alternative is to take your car to a car wash that recycles the water.

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