Ah, the epic struggle of people versus weeds. Everyone who has a lawn knows grass isn’t the only thing that likes to grow there. Dandelions, crabgrass, chickweed, and more love to spring up among the grass and cause all sorts of trouble.
For me, I actually like looking out over a lawn and seeing a few cheerful yellow dandelions. But I still don’t want them to take over the yard. For those who hate lawn weeds—or who live where the homeowner’s association is strict about maintaining a weed-free lawn—there are a variety of options for keeping weeds at a minimum.
Ideally, weed control for lawns starts with keeping the lawn healthy. When the grass is growing thick and healthy, herbicides can be seen as a last resort or as an occasional supplement to overall lawn care. Your different weed control options can all work together to help keep your lawn attractive, healthy, and weed-free.
Keep the Lawn Healthy
The best way to control weeds is to prevent them from growing in the first place. The best way to do that is to keep the lawn healthy. It might seem counter-intuitive to control weeds by focusing on something other than the weeds, but the healthier your grass is the better your lawn will look and the less space there will be for weeds to grow.
Mow at the higher end of the recommended mowing range for your type of grass to help choke-out weeds. This also has the added benefit of making your lawn more drought-resistant, so it’s a win-win.
Make sure you don’t over-irrigate since the extra water can make weeds grow faster. Also, remember to aerate lawns once a year in late spring to help keep grass roots healthy. Aeration makes it possible for water and nutrients to get down deep into the soil and also reduces soil compaction. Some weeds can thrive in compacted soil, but grass doesn’t do so well.
Organic Options
Even a healthy lawn will still have some weeds that grow. Typically, the go-to solution for that has been chemical herbicides. More and more often, though, homeowners and professional lawn care workers are both looking for alternatives to chemical herbicides.
Organic lawn care is a high-priority topic for many people looking to lessen their lawn’s environmental impact while still keeping the grass healthy. With that in mind, there are natural “herbicide” options that interested homeowners can try. For example, corn gluten meal is a natural corn by-product that you can apply to the lawn before annual weeds like crabgrass start growing in the spring to help stop the weed seeds from germinating.
Types of Herbicides
Whether or not chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides should be used on lawns, and how much of them to use, is an ongoing debate. Until it’s resolved, though, herbicides still play a key role in lawn care. Herbicide use may be a last resort but it’s often the best or only way to remove stubborn weeds. The type of herbicide you use will depend on what type of weeds you’re trying to fight.
- Pre-Emergent Herbicides stop weed seeds from germinating. They’re used to control annual weeds. In Texas, pre-emergents are typically applied in early March before the soil temperatures are consistently over 55 degrees Fahrenheit. To control winter weeds, you’d apply in late September or early October before temperatures at night consistently drop below 60 degrees.
- Post-Emergent Herbicides are used to kill weeds that are already growing. This includes perennial weeds like dandelions as well as any annual weeds that get into the yard. When picking out post-emergent herbicides, there are a few things you’ll want to look for.
- Selective herbicides are designed to kill specific types of plants and leave others alone. If you’re treating a whole lawn, then you’d want a selective herbicide that kills weeds but not grass. In contrast, non-selective herbicides kill any plants that are treated.
- The persistence of an herbicide refers to how long it stays on your yard. If the herbicide kills weeds and keeps them from coming back, it’s a persistent herbicide. Herbicides that work for a short time are non-persistent.
- Contact or Systemic. Some herbicides kill plants on contact, making them a quick way to deal with weeds. Other herbicides are drawn into the plant’s system, killing the weeds more slowly. Contact herbicides work well for annual weeds, while systemic herbicides are better for stubborn perennial weeds.
Whichever type of herbicides you decide to use, always follow label directions for safe use. Many herbicides should be used with gloves or need to be diluted with water before using. Reading and following all the directions carefully helps keep you and your lawn safe.
Tools for Applying Weed Control
Both natural and chemical-based herbicides can be applied using spreaders (for dry herbicides) or sprayers (for liquid herbicides). These tools make it easy to get the herbicide exactly where you want it. This is vital for making sure that contact and non-selective herbicides only kill the plants that you want. Careful, precise application also helps keep herbicides on the lawn rather than getting on sidewalks or into garden beds.
Smaller sprayers are a great way to apply herbicide to a specific spot on the lawn. We carry a variety of sprayers, from hand-held sprayers that hold less than half a gallon to large back-pack sprayers powered by a gasoline motor. We also carry a range of hopper-style spreaders for home and professional use that let you evenly spread dry herbicides over a lawn.
For professionals maintaining residential lawns and large commercial properties, we also carry Z-Turf sprayers/spreaders. Depending on the model, the capacity ranges from 175- to 320-pound granular fertilizer capacity and 20 to 60 gallons liquid fertilizer capacity. To learn more about the weed control equipment we offer, contact us or stop by our location in Richardson, Texas to chat with our lawn equipment experts.
