Do you Know How Much Damage Grass Weeds are Doing to your Lawn?

Many homeowners dismiss grass weeds as a purely cosmetic concern, but there are many problems that these invasive weeds could be causing in your lawn. Grass weeds fight for both space and nutrients in your lawn, and during this struggle your grass could quickly start to die. To keep your lawn as vibrant and healthy as possible, you should familiarize yourself with the dangers of these weeds and the best way to remove them.   

Weeds are at war with your grass, here’s how to win

A war is taking place in your lawn: A war between weeds and grass. If you aren’t careful weeds could win, but thankfully there are some steps that you can take to eliminate the odds of that happening. Grass weeds are less likely to become a problem in lawns that are taken care of, and with the proper pH level, irrigation, mowing and fertilization you can have a weed free lawn.

Healthy soil is less likely to become the target of invasive plants like grass weeds. You cannot know how healthy your soil is without first performing a pH level test. The results of this test tell you the level of alkalinity or acidity that is present in your yard’s soil. Ideally your soil should be slightly acidic, but a reading that skews too far in either direction indicates that grass will fail and weeds will take over. Depending on the results of your test, you may need to perform lime or sulfur treatments to regulate the level.

Once you have determined your soil’s pH level, you can begin to create a lawn care schedule. If lime or sulfur is required, you can incorporate these into your initial fertilization to help get your soil back on the right track. Fertilization is extremely important, because fertilizer is the food that your soil thrives on. You don’t want to over fertilize or perform this treatment at the wrong time. Making small errors, such as performing lawn treatments too soon after rainfall, can cause more damage than good to your grass.

Even healthy lawns are in danger

Grass weeds pop up in lawns where they can find nutrients. The easiest place for weeds to find their way into yards is in areas where the grass is already weak, but more nutrients are found in healthy lawns. If grass weeds become a problem in an otherwise healthy lawn you have few options other than pesticides.

Many homeowners want to keep pesticides out of their lawn, but the chemicals that are used today are, for the most part, safe and easy to use. There are many types of chemical treatments available to purchase at your local home improvement store, and you’ll want to look for either pre- or post-emergent weed control chemicals depending on the type of weed problem in your lawn.

If you’ve had problems with weeds in past years but haven’t seen them sprout this year, it may not be too late to apply pre-emergent pesticides. These are the most effective form of weed control available, but the timing for this type of treatment is extremely important. Just a few days too soon or too late in applying these chemicals and they will be completely ineffective. Ask a lawn care professional about the best time to apply these treatments in your area.

Post-emergent pesticides are also effective, but you must be very careful when applying these in your lawn. Some of these treatments could kill grass in addition to weeds, so you’ll need to be extremely careful in your targeting of this spray. Always be sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions precisely when applying this type or any other variety of pesticide.