Lawn Weeding
The Basics on Lawn Weeds
Weeds are the bane of every gardener’s existence and they can easily take over your lawn if you’re not careful.
There’s no grass type out there that’s immune to weeds either which means you need to remain vigilant in keeping them away.
Identifying Common Lawn Weeds
A weed can be classified as any plant that’s growing where it’s not wanted and although many of them look green, they’re not to be trusted.
By being able to identify the weeds growing on your lawn, you’ll know what needs to be removed and how to do it effectively.
Control Weeds On Your Lawn
Before you get to the stage of having to kill and remove weeds, the best defense against them is preparing your lawn.
Mow your lawn regularly and don’t cut the grass too short, as leaving it a little bit longer will prevent the weeds that grow down low from getting as much access to sunlight and water.
There are also more direct approaches you take can such as applying pre-emergent herbicide.
Proper lawn maintenance is essential as well, including developing a fertilizer schedule.
By using a controlled release nitrogen fertilizer, you’ll get a slow and steady flow of nutrients delivered to the grass, without delivering too much that it will tempt the existing weeds to grow out of control.
Other helpful tips to remember are keeping your tools cleaned so that you’re not spread weeds and seeds elsewhere and creating a border around the lawn.
If you spot any weeds starting to emerge in this border zone, treat them quickly and effectively before they get a chance to spread.
Chemical vs Natural Weed Control
In all types of gardening, there’s debate about whether natural or chemical products are best.
For weed control, there are points on either side that should be considered, allowing you to decide what’s best for your gardening style.
- Chemical weed killers are usually cheaper than their natural alternatives.
- Natural weed killers are safer to use around humans and animals, which gives you good peace of mind.
- Chemical weed killers are aggressive and get results faster than their natural counterparts, which work but do so slowly.
How to get rid of specific weeds?
Depending on how you like your lawn you might tolerate some weeds, some people don’t mind dandelions and daisies, others might accept only the greenest purest of grass.
While some weeds can be handled with just generic weeding methods, some do require some special attention.
We’ve compiled quite a few guides on tackling certain popular weeds:
Other type of weeds are technically not weeds but we do classify them as such. They don’t typical harm your grass but they do take away nutrients from the grass and in general harm your lawn be it by modifying the landscape maybe being harmful to your pets.
A great example of this is tree roots.
Removing Tree roots can be quite a tricky task, they might harm your lawnmower blades, suck nearby nutrients or even distort the landscape.
The Best Tools and Products for Weeding
There are a number of items you can arm yourself with to eliminate lawn weeds and prevent them from returning.
Consider adding these to your arsenal to finally rid your grass of pesky weeds.
- Weeding tools: Among the popular weeding tools are hoes, garden knives, weeders, and spading forks. Depending on the types of weeds you have and the gardening style you prefer, you’ll find one of these to be the right fit.
- Mulch: If you spot a large area of weeds growing on your grass and don’t want to use any sprays, try covering it with some mulch. You want just enough to smother it from getting sunlight, like two to three inches, but not enough to facilitate growth.