Weeds In Florida Have Unique Characteristics
Just like other plants, those we think of as weeds have distinctive characteristics and unique habits. In order to treat weeds effectively, its important to recognize some of those characteristics. Weeds are classified in a variety of ways, but essentially they are grouped into categories based on their growth habits, appearance, and life cycles.
Major categories of weeds include broadleaves that typically have net-like veins and showy flowers, grasses with rounded hollow stems, and sedges and rushes that thrive in moist habitats.
Weed life cycles can be annual, biennial, or perennial. Recognizing these characteristics will help to determine the proper control and treatment of the weeds in your landscape.
In all cases, healthy turf will minimize the presence of weeds, and treatment to prevent weed growth can be minimal.
Maintain Grass Dominance And Health
Weeds such as dandelions are rarely found on lawns where grass is the dominant plant, says David Hedges-Gower, Chairman of The Lawn Association . Theyre more often found on very poorly maintained lawns, where grass is not the most dominant. The first point of weed control is healthy, dense grass of the right species looking after a lawn well will give you a dense canopy of grass. With that approach as the most eco-friendly weed control, dandelions will only ever be a small problem.
If your lawn care regime is good and your grass seems dense and healthy, a spread of dandelions could be a sign of low calcium levels in the soil. Therefore, adding lime is an option.
If your grass looks sparse in places, sprinkle grass seed over it. This is best done in the fall. The resulting denser growth should help to prevent perennial weeds, such as dandelions, dominating.
Keeping on top of your regular lawn care is also essential when it comes to how to get rid of lawn moss and how to get rid of clover on a lawn.
How To Control Weeds
When it seems as though you have more weeds than grass in your yard, you can still get the lawn you want by tackling your weed problem head-on. To fertilize your lawn and control existing broadleaf weeds at the same time, use Scotts® Turf Builder® Triple Action or Scotts® Turf Builder® Southern Triple Action . Both formulas save you time and effort by killing stubborn weeds like dandelion and clover while feeding and strengthening your lawn. In addition, Southern Triple Action prevents and kills fire ants for up to 6 months, while Triple Action puts a stop to new weeds like crabgrass. If its not time to fertilize your lawn, you can still control weeds with a straight weed control product like Scotts® Weed Control for Lawns. Be sure to always read the instructions before applying any product.
Of course, if your lawn only has a few weeds here and there, you can try hand-pulling them. Annual weeds, like crabgrass and chickweed, tend to have shallow roots and are usually easily controlled with hand-pulling. On the other hand, perennial weeds, like dandelion and thistle, have deep, extensive roots and are harder to control by hand-pulling because if even a small piece of root is left in the ground, the weed will grow back. Its easiest to hand-pull weeds when they are young and your soil is moist.
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Discourage Lawn Weeds From Taking Over
Whats the best weed killer for lawns? There are actually a number of answers, but the common thread is being proactive. Here are some lawn weed control techniques to prevent weeds from getting a head start in your garden:
- Mulching with bark or wood chips or compost is a great way to smother weed seeds. You can also put down plastic or ground cloth under pathways with wood chips or gravel to prevent grass and weeds from poking through. One of the other benefits of mulching is that you can keep your soil more moist, which helps plants grow in the hot and humid environments in the southern United States.
- Avoid turning your soil in your garden beds, digging only as deeply as you need to plant seeds or bedding plants. By following a no-till method, you will be less likely to encourage new weeds and studies show it helps encourage soil fertility.
- When feeding your lawn, be careful not to over or under fertilize. Too much fertilizer will encourage crabgrass and other weeds, while underfeeding will keep your lawn from being healthy enough to compete with weeds.
- Water garden and lawns deeply but only as often as necessary. Light watering discourages your plants and lawn grasses from sending deep roots into the soil and instead encourages many weeds that have shallow root systems.
Plucking Them By The Heads
If you cant be bothered going to the effort of digging down to the roots to remove dandelions permanently from your lawn you can simply focus on the head.
If you only have a few dandelions to deal with this may be all thats required.
You will have to do this once or twice a week though as they will grow back.
You also have to make sure you remove the heads before they get to the puffball stage.
Once theyve had a chance to transform to this stage, they can quickly spread around your lawn.
This can lead to dozens, or even hundreds of dandelions depending on the size of your lawn.
At that stage, simply plucking of the heads will probably be too much work to be practical.
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What Should I Do To My Lawn In April
Spring Lawn Care StepsRake. Spring raking removes lingering fall leaves and grass blades that did not survive winter. Overseed. Fill bare or thin spots in the lawn by overseeding. Aerate. Vital for a truly healthy lawn, aeration is the solution for compacted soil. Dethatch. Weed. Fertilize. Water. Mow.
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Managing Dandelions In Your Lawn With Herbicide
The most common perennial flower in North Dakota may be the dandelion. Some gardeners tolerate dandelions while other gardeners attack them with a vengeance.
Killing one dandelion is easy, but killing all of them is nearly impossible and a never-ending battle. A single dandelion plant can produce over 2,000 seeds!
The best course of action is to focus on maintaining an attractive and healthy lawn with a judicious use of herbicides:
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Mow The Lawn Regularly
Getting your best lawn mower out of the shed and cutting the grass regularly during the growing season is one of the simplest and most effective ways for how to get rid of dandelions in a lawn.
In my experience, dandelions dont tolerate regular mowing, says Sandy Reid, Director of Greenkeeping at the St Andrews golf courses in Scotland. Mowing is an especially effective cultural control when the cutting height is 3/4in or less.
Remember to mow with the bagging attachment on once the dandelions have started setting seed , to ensure the seed is collected and contained. The seedheads are spherical and white. Do not dispose of lawn clippings that contain dandelion seedheads on the compost heap because the seed can live buried for five years.
How Many Times To Spray For Lawn Grubs
Lawn grubs are the larvae of beetles that lay their eggs in the summer and begin feeding on lawn roots around mid-August. It is best to prevent lawn grubs in the first place by applying a product that will prevent grubs from hatching.
The timing of a preventative product is essential. Preventative grub control is an add-on service for us and something that we apply in the early springtime if the customer has concerns or if they have had a grub problem in the past.
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How To Get Rid Of Weeds In Grass
The best defense against weeds is a thick healthy lawn. Cool-season grasses, Tall Fescue, Ryegrass and Bluegrass thrive in moderate to above freezing temperatures 40 to 85 degrees fahrenheit. Warm-season grasses perform best in warm conditions ranging from 60 to 95 degrees fahrenheit. Both grass types attract different weeds based on the environmental and regional challenges. Following the correct mowing height can prevent these weeds from germinating and establishing in home lawns. height for cool-season grass is between 2.5 and 4 inches, while warm-season grass grows between 1 and 3 inches. Maintain your cool-season grass at 4 inches and hot-season grass to 3 inches to combat weed growth and boost your turfs health. Besides Mowing your lawn, here are some other effective ways to control weeds.
Hand Pulling Weeds
One highly effective way to control and stop the spread of weeds in your turf is by yanking the entire plant, including its root system. Pulling weeds is fun and easy if you only deal with a few stray weeds. However, if youre removing all the weeds in your turf, youll find it more labor-intensive and demanding. Most grassy weeds have thorns and other dangerous physical features that make the weeds risky to pull by using your hands. The best thing about letting LAWN DOCTOR pull the weeds on your behalf is that it aids total removal of the weeds.
Pry Weeds With a Weeder
Using Scuffle Hoe
Post-Emergence Herbicides
Dandelions Are Good For Your Lawn
This may sound counterintuitive to homeowners who are trying all methods in removing this pesky weed but dandelions can be good for your lawn. Their wide-spreading roots loosen hard-packed soil, aerate the earth and help reduce erosion. The deep taproot pulls nutrients such as calcium from deep in the soil and makes them available to other plants. Dandelions actually fertilize the grass.
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How To Prevent Lawn Weeds
The best way to prevent lawn weed issues is to practice excellent lawn care methods. This means mowing high, fertilizing lawns regularly, removing thatch, aerating lawns, and overseeding them. Healthy turfgrass with a robust root system prevents weeds from taking root. Additionally, keeping grass longer prevents sunlight from allowing weed seeds to germinate and sprout.
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Dont Let Seeds Sprout
Killing actual dandelion plants is one tactic in the war on this weed. Another is creating an environment where dandelion seeds cant successfully germinate. To do this, use a pre-emergent herbicide like corn gluten meal or Preen. This type of weedkiller interferes with seed germination, which means seeds cant produce a plant. Use corn gluten meal in fall and early spring . Another technique to make your yard unfriendly to dandelion seeds is to mulch planting beds, and dont cut your lawn shorter than 2 to 3 inches. Taller grass grows thicker, shading soil so dandelion seeds cant sprout.
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Killing Dandelions In Lawn With Vinegar
Youll often hear that vinegar is the number 1 enemy of weeds. Yes, its true that weeds, including dandelions, dont like the acetic acid in vinegar as it damages their leaves and flowers.
Butyes there is a but, household vinegar isnt strong enough to kill dandelions as it only contains 5% acetic acid. The stronger type of vinegar used in horticultural applications contains 20% acetic acid, which is more effective in killing the leaves of dandelions. I dont recommend this option as you may risk burning your skin.
For a more effective and safer solution, mix ¼ cup of lemon juice with 1 cup of household vinegar and 1 tablespoon of dish soap. The lemon juice will make the solution sticky for better results. Spray the sticky mixture thoroughly on the leaves of the dandelions and give it time to work its way against the weed. Within three hours or so, the sprayed dandelions will start withering before your eyes.
Keep reading as I will reveal some great tips on how to prevent dandelions from coming back to your lawn by the end of the article.
How Do You Kill Weeds In Lawn
How to Kill Weeds on a Lawn. Keeping a lawn weed-free is not impossible, as many homeowners may conclude. You can, with a bit of work, kill those unwanted pests. Then, by keeping the sun from shining on the ground, you can continue to keep the weeds at bay. Accomplish this by mowing the grass more often and at the highest setting.
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Tips For Removing Dandelions
If you’re serious about nontoxic removal methods, purchase a dandelion puller. This garden tool is specifically built to get the job done.
Horticultural vinegar can be used in place of a chemical herbicide. The high level of acetic acid gives it an herbicidal punch. But note that vinegar kills grass, so be very careful during application.
For at least two or three days before applying herbicide, don’t mow the lawn. The bigger the dandelion leaves are, the more effective your application will be. Likewise, wait at least two or three days before mowing after your application to allow time for the chemical to be transferred to the roots.
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Should You Spray Weeds Before Or After Mowing
Here again, timing is going to be about the type of herbicide youre using on a specific kind of weed. Pre-emergent treatments should be applied after mowing since this product needs access to the soil.
A good mowing before an application will make sure the grass is trim and the ground is exposed to accept the product.
For post-emergent treatments, which interact with the leaves and stem to be absorbed throughout the plant, applying the product days before mowing will be best.
This way, the leaves of the weed are full and can absorb the most product over a period of time, while it also prevents grass that has been freshly cut from absorbing excess product through the yet unhealed blades.
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Get Rid Of Dandelions Using Lawn Maintenance Strategies
Dandelions thrive on thin, weak grass, so a good way to prevent dandelions from ever showing their heads in your lawn is to make it an unattractive place for them to grow.
To start with, select a variety of turf that will outcompete the dandelions. A thick, weed-resistant turf grass such as Sir Walter Buffalo turf is a great choice as its dense, spreading growth habit can easily outcompete most weeds.
Mow regularly and mow high to keep your grass on the longer side. Weed seeds need the heat of the sun to flourish on the soil surface, so longer grass keeps the soil cooler and provides shade the restricts weed growth. Cutting your grass too low just provides an ideal environment for weeds to flourish. As well, if your lawn is already full of dandelions, mowing regularly will mean that seed heads cant form as the topmost growth of the plant keeps getting cut off. It wont remove dandelions from your lawn, but mowing this way will help keep them in check.
Water infrequently and deeply. Dandelion seeds waiting to emerge will grow best with light and frequent watering, so dont give them the conditions they thrive on. Deep, infrequent watering will let the roots of your grass take hold and grow strong and healthy, and thus outcompete weeds more easily.
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Getting dandelions under control without chemicals will take patience and time, but if you stick with it you will see excellent results.
What To Do If Dandelions Have Already Sprouted On Your Lawn
If you only have a few here and there, it’s totally fine to dig them up by hand. Make sure to get the root . Get them before they go to seed or you’ll just be dealing with thousands more seeds.
You also can treat them with any type of three-way herbicide . You may need two applications if the plants are large, but follow the package directions. You also can spot-spray with a three-way herbicide product. And, we can’t stress this enough, read the label before applying!
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Chemical Control Of Summer Grass
There are several herbicide sprays on the market that are suitable for managing Summer Grass.
Depending on the maturity of plants and how large an area is affected, it may be necessary for you to spray more than once.
Glyphosate can be effective on Summer Grass, but as a non-selective herbicide it will poison everything it touches, including the lawn. Overspray of glyphosate is especially toxic to Kikuyu and Buffalo lawns.
It is safer to use a selective herbicide. Look for products containing MCPA or the active ingredient oxadiazon.
The Summer Grass plants must be actively growing and not under stress for any herbicide to work properly.
How To Kill Dandelions In Your Lawn
By Joan Clark
As children, we associate the white, fluffy seeds of dandelions with wishes waiting to be fulfilled with one powerful puff of breath. As adults, however, those white puffballs scattering on the wind become the stuff of nightmares. Instead, youre left wondering how to kill dandelions in your lawn and whether youll truly ever be rid of them for good.
While killing dandelions in lawn without killing grass seems like an impossibility at times, especially once those fluffy white seed heads begin to sprout, there are numerous measures you can take to stop the spread of these yellow flowers before they completely overtake your yard. The best way to kill dandelions is to know that its more than a quick-fix solution.
Getting rid of these lawn weeds takes time, and multiple techniques before youve eradicated all the dandelion seeds from your yard once and for all. The good news is, we have everything you need to get started right here. So, grab a small shovel and some gardening supplies, and get ready to dig right in.
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