Doveweed Control in Centipedegrass Lawns & Landscaped Beds

The Panhandle’s dreaded summer heat has finally arrived in force and has brought with it one of the most difficult to control lawn/landscape weeds, our annual enemy Doveweed (Murdannia nudiflora).  Doveweed is characterized as one of the world’s worst weeds due to its broad range of growing conditions, ability to root along its stems, forming mats as it grows, massive seed production (each plant can produce up to 2,000 seeds per year), and inconspicuous nature – it looks like a grass to the untrained eye.  So, what can gardeners do to control Doveweed that’s already up this year and prevent it next summer?  Let’s find out.

Doveweed emerging in a bare patch of a Centipedegrass lawn in late May 2025. Photo courtesy of Daniel Leonard.

First, the best prevention for all weeds, Doveweed included, is a healthy lawn/landscape.  Ensuring healthy, thick Centipedegrass turf and landscaped beds that don’t allow light to hit bare soil goes a long way towards reducing the overall weed load lawns and landscapes can experience.  For lawns, this can be achieved through mowing regularly at the proper height for your turfgrass (2.5” or so for Centipedegrass), irrigating no more than 0.75”-1” per week in the absence of rain, limiting stress from overfertilization, and removing excess thatch.  In landscapes, preventative weed control focuses on limiting overwatering/fertilization and maintaining a 2-3” organic mulch layer of pinestraw, pine bark, leaves, wood chips, etc.  Adopting these practices can greatly reduce the occurrence of weeds in your yard, however they will not eliminate weeds altogether and supplemental chemical weed control is often necessary.

Unlike Crabgrass, Florida Pusley, and other commonly encountered Panhandle annual weeds that emerge when the soil begins to warm in early spring (usually late February-March), Doveweed waits until mid-April-May (soil temperatures of 70-80 degrees F).  All these annual weeds are best controlled by preemergent herbicides, like Indaziflam (Specticle G), before seeds germinate.  For Doveweed, that means the first preemergent application should occur mid-April with a follow-up application 6-8 weeks later.  However, for this year that opportunity is behind us and our only option is post emergent herbicides.

Which postemergent herbicide you choose depends on if your Doveweed issue is in turfgrass or in landscaped beds.  In landscaped beds, the primary control option is either hand pulling or spot treating Doveweed with a 41% glyphosate product (Roundup and other generic products) at a rate of 3% (3-4oz glyphosate/gal).  As glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide, be sure to not get any overspray on any ornamental plant foliage.  In turfgrass, Doveweed control becomes a little more difficult.  You essentially have three options – atrazine, a generic 3-way broadleaf product, or a commercial grade broadleaf product.  Though it provides very good control of Doveweed and has pre-emergent properties to help discourage future weeds, I don’t prefer atrazine because it has a high potential to leach into groundwater following heavy rains in sandy soils, which describes much of the Panhandle.  The generic 3-way products (usually a mix of Dicamba, Mecoprop, and 2,4-D) are fairly effective on Doveweed, however follow-up applications are usually required and the 2-4D component can be harsh on Centipedegrass at the higher label rates required for Doveweed control.  Though somewhat expensive, the best post emergent option for most people is probably a commercial grade product like Celsius WG.  Celsius WG is a very strong post emergent broadleaf herbicide that is very effective on Doveweed and is also very safe on Centipedegrass, even in hot weather.  If the cost of the product (>$100) is off-putting, it is helpful to remember that even at the highest labelled rate, a 10 oz Celsius WG bottle goes a long way, enough to cover several acres of lawn. 

* Regardless of what method you choose, be sure to get after emerged Doveweed seedlings early, before they mature and begin flowering – even the strongest post emergent herbicides work better on young weeds. 

While Doveweed is a nasty little plant that is perfectly capable of taking over a lawn or landscaped bed, there are a variety of preventative and control options available.  Using a combination of the above techniques should help achieve lasting Doveweed controls in future seasons!  For more information about Doveweed and other summer annual weed control in lawns and landscapes, contact your local UF/IFAS Extension County office.