The battle against weeds in your lawn can be a gardener's greatest problem on the road to having you own piece of green acres. Instead of your "field of dreams" you end up with a lawn not even the neighborÂ’s dog wants to go on. But it doesn't have to be that way. A healthy, dark green, weed-free lawn is a lot easier to achieve than one might imagine.
First and foremost, if a lawn is irrigated properly (every3 days) and fertilized regularly (every 2 months), it will produce more blades, thus leaving less room for weeds to get established. It also helps cut down on pests and disease. It is also important to mow regularly (with sharpened blades) to keep weeds and weed-grasses from producing seeds which be broadcast by the wind and future mowings.
Lawn weeds are usually broken down into two categories, broadleaf (leafy) and grass (bladed) weeds. Both can be prevented by applying a fertilizer with a pre-emergent in late winter before (weeds germinate) and again in late spring (for coverage through the end of summer). The product basically creates an invisible layer in the soil that kills the seed just after it germinates and penetrates the invisible chemical layer. Most lawn pre-emergents last around four months. We stock both chemical and organic pre-emergents. The exact timing of the applications will depend on what types of weeds you are trying to prevent.
Once you have weeds, there are a number of good post emergent herbicides that provide good results. For broadleaf weeds such as crabgrass, dandelion, oxalis & spurge, we recommend using Bayer Advanced All in One Weed Killer for Lawns. For really bad infestations (more than 50% of your lawn) of oxalis or Bermuda grass we recommend using Turflon ester.
Once you get on a regular maintenance schedule, you'll have more time to enjoy your lawn and make your neighbors "green with envy".
Written by:
Matt Lepow, Owner, CCNPro, B.S. Ornamental Horticulture
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