Question
we live in texas and have spur sticker plants,this new ground and new home i would like to get these stickers out of our ground before we plant grass how do i kill them?

Answer
Hi William.
I am not sure which sticker plant you are referring to.
We have so many different kinds in Texas.
I would till them under before they go to seed. Let the nourish the new grass that will come up.
Since you are starting a new lawn, why not get off on the right foot right away and go organic.
You will have a much nicer lawn and gearden, with less money spent and far less labor.
Corn gluten meal is a good weed and feed.
Till them under and till in corn gluten meal at the rate of 20 pounds per 1000 sq.ft. and lava sand at the rate of 40 pounds per 100 sq.ft.
If you have heavy clay soil, add about 2 inches or even more, of cedar bark mulch to loosen the soil.
Till that all in , and sprinkle alfalfa meal lightly all over and plain table sugar at the rate of 4 pounds per 100 sq.ft of soil, and water that all in well to settle the soil, work in the nutrients and get the air pockets out.
then put in your grass.
If ytou live in the warmer zones of Texas, there is time to do that now, and lay down sod, keep it nice and moist until the roots take hold,m then water to a depth of at least 6 inches, as a general watering practice.
This will establish a good deep root system that will help protect your grass from heat, cold and drought damage.
The corn gluten meal, sugar, alfalfa meal, and lava sand will enrich the soil.
Weeds love poor soil, and will not grow in rich soil.
Any weeds that come up will quickly die out.
After a couple of years of applying sugar each spring and fall, and the alfalfa meal a few times through the growing season, and the soil will be rich enough weeds will stop even coming up.
After I just put down the sugar the first year, the weeds started to die out. even couple of weeks there were fewer weeds, till in about 2 or 3 months, there were none to be seen for the rest of the year. the next spring, about half as many cane up, and quickly died out.
It was either the 3rd or 4th year, and none have come up since.
Howard Garrett says dry molasses, but that is 20 pounds per 100 sq.ft, and I use 4 pounds sugar per 1000 sq,ft.
I tried the dry molasses, but liked the results i got with sugar better, so I went back to using sugar.
Sugar is not a fertilizer or a weed killer. What it does is, it nourishes the beneficial microbes that enrich the soil.
Rich soil cures everything.
Fertilizers don not enrich the soil. they feed the vegetation growing there, including the weeds, and then wears out.
When you put doqwn fertilizer and water it in, the grass gets a growth spurt, and you have to mow more often.
Then the fertilizer wears out, and the growing levelas off, but then you have to reapply the fertilizer, and away it goes again.
With organics, the grass grows at an even level all the time, no spurts and ebbs.
With rich soil, you have no need for fertilizer or weed killer. With the healthy enviornment, you get beneficial nometodes and insects, and toads, lizards, and grass snakes that eat all the harmful insects that could invade your lawn and garden such as, army worms, slugs, grubs,ants, etc.
I can't abide a toad to touch me, but they love slugs, and that makes then a best friend to me.
My lizars eat all the aphids off my roses.
All the years I used chemicals, I spent approximately 20 hours per week working on my lawn,besides what my husband did, for mediocre results.
Since I have been on organics , my husband and I spend a combined total of about 4 hours per week on lawn maintenance, and that even includes planting new plants etc.
Charlotte
PS: If you would like mor informnation on organics, just wqrite me.
You might like to check out Howard Garrett's website
   www.dirtdoctor.com
I joined his ground crew that summer. I have learned so much more about organics.
I wouldn't go back to chemicals for anything.
Charlotte