Every year, you need to deal with nuisance weeds popping up in your lawn. Alternatively, you may have a yard that’s weedier than your neighbors.
What should you do?
Learn about the types of weeds on your lawn and how to treat them. Otherwise, you may not know where to start.
3 Types of Lawn Weeds
Your first call to action includes identifying the enemy—yard weeds. There are three types of weeds:
- Broadleaf weeds, such as dandelion and chickweed
- Grassy weeds, including crabgrass and dallisgrass
- Sedge weeds, such as nutsedge.
There are also annual (they live for a 12-month cycle), biennial (these weeds come up for two years and then die off), and perennial weeds (these weeds come up every year without fail). We’ll be sticking to broadleaf and grassy weeds and how to keep them off your lawn.
Prevalent spring lawn weeds include
- Annual bluegrass (Poa annua)
- Broadleaf plantain
- Chickweed
- Crabgrass
- Dandelion
- White clover.
You can find grass weeds specified by each state on this website. Some of the worst weeds for home lawns include the list above.
Annual bluegrass is a cool season weed that plagues many warm season lawns. Dandelions and broadleaf plantains with their stubborn taproots are prolific in all lawns throughout the spring, summer, and fall.
Difficult lawn weeds for early spring include crabgrass. Broadleaf weeds, such as chickweed and white clover, don’t start dotting yards until mid-to-late spring.
Read more: 13 Handy Tips for a Beautiful Lawn and Garden in 2021
How to Prevent Weeds from Growing in Your Yard
In early spring, you want to put down a pre-emergent weed control on your lawn. It won’t stop healthy turfgrass from growing, but it’ll create a barrier in the soil that blocks crabgrass seedlings from sprouting.
Also, hold off on planting turfgrass until the pre-emergent’s soil barrier breaks down, which could be in six to 12 weeks after application.
Additionally, pre-emergent herbicides should only be applied after the soil temperature reaches 50ºF – 55ºF—or when your forsythia shrub starts to bloom.
You can prevent broadleaf weeds from popping up in your lawn by putting down a “weed and feed” mix of herbicide and lawn fertilizer. Many brands have quick- and slow-release nitrogen fertilizer in their weed and feed products for a quick green-up and sustained health.
However, you don’t want to be in the process of planting grass seed when you’re applying weed and feed fertilizer mix. While it won’t prevent turfgrass seedlings from emerging, it’ll kill young grass plants because of the product’s herbicide.
You apply weed and feed products in the late spring, usually between April and June, for cool season grasses. For warm season grasses, apply weed and feed to established lawns in the spring before daytime temperatures reach 85ºF.
Once weeds have popped up into your lawn during early summer, you can use a spot treatment and lawn sprayer aimed at those weeds.
Only apply broadleaf and pre-emergent weed killers on established lawns. If you plan to overseed or plant grass seed for the first time, you don’t want to add any granular herbicides that could kill your grass.
Always make sure that you buy the right product for your lawn’s needs. Read the manufacturers’ directions thoroughly before applying any weed control or fertilizer to your yard.
Watch more: How to Assemble the Brinly ST-25BH 25 Gallon Tow-Behind Lawn Sprayer
How to Get Rid of Grass Weeds Naturally
While you may want a weed-free lawn, you also want a property that’s child and pet-safe. There are natural or organic weed control products on the market that are safe to use around children and pets.
Natural corn gluten is known to work as a pre-emergent herbicide. Certain corn gluten brands also say that corn gluten will kill broadleaf weeds. Remember to read the manufacturer’s directions before applying this product on your lawn.
If you want to spot treat weeds, including weeds popping up in driveway cracks and in-between pavers, you can use lawn and garden vinegar. This vinegar has an acetic acid level between 20% – 30%. Always wear gloves and follow directions.
Keep in mind that lawn and garden vinegar is stronger than the white vinegar you use for cooking. Keep it away from pets and children.
Lawn and garden vinegar will also kill grass and other plants because it’s non-selective. Be careful while using it on the lawn unless you have a precise lawn sprayer that’ll only target the weeds.
Practice Good Lawn Maintenance
The real secret to a healthy lawn is to manage it well. Here are some tips to help you grow healthy, robust turfgrass:
- Mow only with sharp blades.
- Only cut the top third off the turf each time you mow.
- Water your lawn infrequently, but deeply with 1” to 2” of water per week.
- Apply the right fertilizer at the right time for the type of grass growing on your property.
- Make sure you aerate your lawn every one to two years.
- Overseed your lawn at the same time you aerate it. Make sure you buy the correct turfgrass seed for your yard—being mindful of shady and full sun areas.
- Apply weed controls based on the season and the manufacturer’s directions.
Get Prepared for All of Your Spring Cleanup Jobs
At Brinly, we have various lawn care and garden attachments to make your job of cleaning up your yard and applying weed control efficient. While you may love working outside, don’t you wish you could halve the time spent cleaning it up?
Brinly’s lawn care carts help you transport bags of weed control, fertilizer, and mulch to the area you’re working on. Our tow and push spreaders put down weed control, fertilizer, and grass seed precisely where it needs to go on your lawn.
You can buy your next Brinly lawn care and garden attachment online. If you have any questions about your Brinly lawn care product, contact our customer service today by dialing 877-728-8224 or filling out our contact form.
Sources:
Clemson.edu, “Managing Weeds in Warm Season Lawns.”
Lowes.com, “Fertilizer Buying Guide.” Pennington.com, “Common Lawn Weeds and How to Get Rid of Them.”
