5 Easy Tips for Controlling Lawn Weeds

Lawn weeds can do major damage to your grass, and they can do so very quickly. By educating yourself about the types of weeds in your area and the best way to prevent them in your yard, you can ensure that your grass remains healthy and weed-free. Here are five tips that make it much easier to have a weed free lawn:

1. Stay on top of your lawn’s care

Weeds are far more likely to invade an unhealthy lawn. Once they’ve found their way into your lawn, weeds begin to compete for both space and nutrients, and it won’t take long for weeds to win. By frequently performing lawn treatments, mowing regularly and properly irrigating you can greatly reduce the chance of weeds finding their way in.  Giving your lawn the care it deserves is the best way to prevent a battle against weeds.

2. Familiarize yourself with local invasive plants

One of the best ways to prevent weeds is to know the enemy, and know it well. Certain weeds can be a challenge to spot, oftentimes blending in with the grass in your lawn until it’s too late and damage has been done. Get to know these plants and you’ll be able to spot them right away. Some weeds are hyperactive in certain areas of the country, while they are practically nonexistent in other parts. By being aware of the top weed threats in your area, you’ll be able to identify them as early as possible.

3. Apply pre-emergent weed control products

There are many weed control chemicals on the market, and by far the most effective are what’s known as pre-emergent treatments. These chemicals destroy a weed’s shot at survival before it ever appears in your lawn. It does this by preventing the seed from sprouting, but if the treatment isn’t performed at exactly the right time it will not have any effect on the lawn weeds in your yard.

Because the timing of these treatments is so tricky, you may decide that it is best to leave the application of these chemicals to the professionals. They will be able to identify the perfect time to apply these pre-emergent treatments.

4. Make use of post-emergent control techniques

If you missed your window of opportunity to prevent lawn weeds using pre-emergent herbicides, you’ll have to try a different approach. There are a couple of options, the first being post-emergent chemicals. These herbicides are sprayed directly onto the weeds in your yard, oftentimes killing them on contact. It takes a pretty strong blend of chemicals to make this possible, and unfortunately these chemicals can sometimes have the same affect on your grass as it does on lawn weeds.

To prevent damage to your lawn you must be extremely careful when applying these chemical treatments. You may want to consider shielding the grass surrounding the weed you hope to remove with cardboard or some other barrier. If you find these chemicals too risky, your other option is manual removal. This involves pulling up each weed in your lawn, one by one.

Manual weed removal can be a tedious and time consuming process. When doing this, make sure to grab the plant firmly at its base, this hold will give you the best shot at removing the entire plant – roots and all. If the roots are not removed, weeds will pop back up in a matter of days.

5. Get in touch with a weed control expert

Keeping lawn weeds at bay is one of the more challenging tasks that homeowners face when caring for their yard, and sometimes it can be overwhelming. If this is the case in your lawn, you should consider reaching out to a lawn care expert. An employee at your local gardening store will be able to tell you about the best weed-control products for your area, but if you’re ready to be done with this problem, you should reach out to a lawn care company. These experts know all about weeds, and they will be able to ensure that no problematic plants find their yard into your yard.

TruGreen will gladly visit your property as often as needed between scheduled visits to make any necessary adjustments and to ensure your satisfaction.

Getting Started with TruGreen

  1. Call or fill out the form above to reach a lawn care specialist.
  2. Know the square footage of your yard, as well as any specific areas of concern.
  3. With the help of your specialist, create a customized lawn care plan that meets your lawn’s needs.
  4. Schedule your Healthy Lawn Analysis2 to start your service.