Should You Pull Nutsedge Grass
If you have just a few purple nutsedge or yellow nutsedge plants growing with your turf grasses, you can attempt to pull it by hand. Be sure to pull out all of the plants underground tubers or the plant will grow back. However, if your lawn grass is infiltrated by a large colony of nutsedge, you should use an herbicide thats designed to get rid of nutsedge.
Prostrate Knotweed Polygonum Aviculare
This annual summer weed grows low to the ground with wiry, spreading stems and small, blue-green leaves. The common name refers to the swollen area at each node, which look like small knots. Knotweed thrives in compacted soils. As such, regular soil aeration can make the lawn less suitable to knotweed. Hand removal of established weeds is generally effective in the home landscape.
The best weed killers for common knotweed: Where chemical control is necessary, the iron-based herbicides listed above are effective against young knotweed plants. Barricade Professional-Grade Pre-Emergent Weed Control can be applied in late winter or early spring before knotweed seeds germinate to prevent them from establishing.
How To Identify Lawn Weeds
To get rid of weeds in your lawn, proper identification is vital. Some broadleaf weeds like creeping Charlie and dandelions are easy to spot because of their characteristic flowers. To identify lawn weeds, look at the leaves. Are they straight blades like regular grass? Or are the leaves broad with serrated edges?
Its crucial to identify the different types of lawn weed to get rid of them for good. Perennial, creeping weeds tend to have invasive, spreading roots. This means that just digging up the plant isnt enough to eliminate the weed. All parts of the root need removing from turfgrass. However, annual lawn weeds can be eradicated by pulling them up by hand.
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Your Grass Variety Isnt Native
There are many types of grass seed to choose from, which is nice as you can tailor it to your specific needs. For example, you can choose a thicker grass if you have kids that play on it, or a drought-tolerant grass if you dont want to constantly water it.
However, if you choose a grass that isnt native to your region, it can grow a lot slower than the plants around it. Your grass will still grow, regardless of where it is native, but it will take longer to adapt to the soil, temperature, and water conditions.
In contrast, weeds are almost always native to the area. They are transplanted by the wind and adapt to the current conditions.
Weeds grow best in the conditions they find themselves in. So, no matter what type of soil you have, or how often it rains, weeds will love the specific conditions.
Why Are Weeds So Tenacious
A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows. ~ Doug LarsonWeeds have survival skills that are the envy of the plant kingdom. They are very good at reproducing and often thrive is harsh conditions. Sprouting mainly by seed, these invaders will also spread by underground roots and shoots that generate new plants.
Lawn weeds are prolific seeders. Did you know a single common purslane plant is capable of producing over 50,000 seeds in one growing season? Thats a lot of seeds!
Many weed seeds remain viable in the soil several years, waiting for the right environmental conditions. They will sprout when given contact with soil, sunlight, and moisture. Weeds produce plenty of seeds and they usually have a clever method of spreading them. Remember picking dandelion puffballs and blowing the seeds? Kids love thatand the winds will carry those seeds miles.
Perennial weeds can be trouble for gardeners in lawns and landscape beds because they reproduce by seeds and vegetative plant parts. Many will start by sprouting from a seed and then spreading by underground roots , surface roots or spreading stems that sprout new plants. These creeping, spreading roots and stems will quickly colonize large patches of your lawn and landscape beds.
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We’ll Visit Your Property Six Times Throughout The Year And Apply Our Post
Don’t let weeds take over your lawn – schedule our lawn weed control service to eliminate these pesky nutrient sappers! We’ll visit your property six times throughout the year, at eight-week intervals, to search for any weeds in your lawn. If we notice any, we will eliminate them with post-emergent weed control treatments. However, that’s not all! We offer our weed control service as part of our lawn care program, which also includes lawn fertilization, lawn insect and disease control, tree and shrub fertilization, and tree and shrub disease and insect control. Along with your turf, we’ll apply our weed control treatments to any cracks in your driveway and sidewalks to ensure weeds can’t grow there.
We offer our lawn weed control service to commercial, residential, and HOA property owners in Tampa, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, and other nearby areas in Florida.
Weed Eradication From The Lawn
Eradication of weeds is not a realistic or necessary goal as it can be difficult to know how to get rid of weeds without killing grass. Some weeds develop even in a well-cared-for lawn. Healthy grass in fertile soil discourages weed growth.
Hand weeding throughout the year may be all that is necessary when good management techniques are practiced. Hand weeding is especially useful to prevent the spread of sedges, dandelion, spurge, creeping wood sorrel, dallies-grass and Bermuda grass. Remove the weeds when they are young before they spread, grow seed or develop rhizomes. A dandelion fork or fishtail weeder is useful for removing weeds with a thick taproot.
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What Does Nutsedge In Grass Look Like
In spring, when nutsedge emerges, it looks similar to grass. However, its likely to grow taller than your turf grass as the weather gets hotter. Nutsedge can grow to 10 inches high. Its easy to identify it once it develops flowers. Purple nutsedge develops purple flowers and yellow nutsedge will sport yellow flowers.
Is It Wise To Use Herbicides If Your Lawn Is All Weeds
When your lawn is covered in weeds, you might have the impression using a broad-spectrum herbicide such as roundup is the best way to go about it, but this isnt the case. Many herbicides are harmful to humans, animals, and bees.
Herbicides are also known to kill germinating lawn seeds, worsening the situation.
Regardless of how badly you want the weeds out of your lawn, avoid using chemicals. Instead, use natural weed-control methods.
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Edible Hedge Plants That Serve As Both Privacy And Food
Are you thinking of adding some hedge plants to your yard or garden, but want the plant to also be edible? The good news is, there are plenty of plants that can be trained into being hedges, all while bearing edible fruit. In this article, gardening expert Madison Moulton examines the most popular hedge plants that yield edible fruit.
We Offer Weed Control Treatments As Part Of Our Lawn Care Program
At Fieldstone Landscape Services, we strive to deliver the best results with our services, which is why we offer weed control treatments as part of our lawn care program. Along with post-emergent weed control treatments, our lawn care program also includes:
- Lawn fertilization: We will fertilize your lawn four times throughout the year to ensure that your lawn always has the nutrients that it needs to thrive.
- Lawn disease and insect control treatments: We’ll keep an eye out for any signs of lawn diseases or insect infestations during our visits. If we notice any, we’ll remedy the situation with our curative treatments.
- Tree and shrub fertilization: We’ll fertilize your trees and shrubs three times a year via crown drenching and trunk injections.
- Tree and shrub disease and insect control treatments: We’ll monitor your trees and shrubs for any signs of diseases or insect infestations and treat them if needed.
All of our treatments are pet safe! Just keep your pets off of your lawn until the treatments have had time to dry.
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How To Kill Wild Violets
Wild violets are best controlled in the fall. Avoid hot dry times and begin your treatments after temperatures have dropped. Unfortunately, there is no effective weed killer that will eliminate wild violet before it grows. Also, be prepared to make multiple treatments to rid your yard of this nuisance weed. In dormant bermuda grass and zoysia grass, use TZone SE. In centipede grass, use Tenacity. Dont be shell-shocked with the price of either of these, nothing cheap is going to kill wild violets.
How To Control Capeweed
Capeweed can easily be controlled by using a weeding tool to dig it out.
If your lawn is heavily infested with this weed, a broadleaf herbicide can be used to control it.
Or, you can spot treat with a glyphosate-based product if youre careful to not get any of the product on the grass.
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Select Your Herbicides With Care
You need to know the type of lawn weeds you are facing since that will determine the herbicide you need or if you even need a chemical weed killer. Not all herbicides are effective against all types of weeds.
Some weeds are so stubborn that herbicide is the only way to fight them successfully. Herbicides may regulate plant growth by upsetting hormonal balances or by inhibiting photosynthesis or seedling growth. In addition, some chemical weed killers disrupt plant cell membrane formation or affect amino acid synthesis.
Preemergent and Post-emergent Herbicides
For application purposes, herbicides come in two major types: preemergent and post-emergent herbicides. Usually applied in late winter, preemergent herbicides work from the ground up to kill the seeds or tender shoots of new weeds. Post-emergents go on new plants in the spring and generally work from the leaves down to the root systems.
Selective and Nonselective Herbicides
Remember that herbicides are not the onlyor even the most effectiveway to get a weed-free lawn.
What Are Lawn Weeds
Lawn weeds are invasive broadleaf plants or grassy plants that grow in lawns. The weedy plants spoil the appearance of a lush lawn and affect grass growth. Some plants like dandelions are perennial weeds that come back year after year. Annual weeds like crabgrass die off each season and regrow from seed.
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Get To The Root Of The Problem
Weeds are pesky plants, but theyre also opportunists. They grow where they can get a foothold, which is usually in areas where the soil is disturbed or compacted. Once they take root, theyre difficult to get rid of. The best way to prevent weeds is to make sure they dont have a place to take root in the first place.
One way to do this is to mulch your planting beds. Mulch is a layer of material, like wood chips or bark, that you spread over the soil. It prevents weeds from germinating by blocking out the light they need to grow.
You should also make sure youre not inadvertently giving weeds a place to grow. Be sure to clean up any leaves or debris in your yard so they dont have a chance to take root.
And finally, keep an eye on the cracks in your sidewalks and driveway. Weeds love to grow in these places, so make sure youre regularly pulling them up.
Dethatch And Aerate Your Turf
Dethatching and aeration are two of the best forms of nonchemical weed control. These long-lasting treatments can work together or separately to stop weed growth by improving nutrient flow to your grasss roots. Learn the difference between the two methods below.
Dethatching
Thatch is the layer of dead and living grass, moss, and roots. Thatch forms when your turf accumulates more dead organic matter than can break down. This can cause your turf to feel spongy and inevitably start to thin.
Dethatching involves cutting away the thatch and raking up what remains. This practice helps improve air circulation, drainage, and the overall health of your lawn. If you plan to both dethatch and aerate, start with dethatching.
Although dethatching itself doesnt involve using chemicals, you may want to deal with any weed problems using an herbicide. If you have a small lawn, you can probably dethatch it yourself with a garden rake or power dethatcher. But if you have a large lawn, hiring a professional is probably best.
Aeration
Aeration involves punching holes in your lawn using a machine called an aerator. By allowing oxygen into the soil through these holes, youre giving it more nutrients to grow healthy new grass. A healthy lawn can choke out new weeds on its own.
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Clover Creeping Lawn Weed
Clover . Red clover on top left and white clover on top right
Some gardeners view clover as an irritating weed in lush lawns. In contrast, other gardeners like a healthy percentage of clover growing among grass. Clover spreads by creeping stems that produce long roots that send up new shoots.
Lawn Weed Identification: Clover is a creeping lawn weed that has recognizable three or four small oval leaves. Depending on the species, clover can grow purple flowers or white flowers .
Lawn Weed Control Tips: The best way to completely remove clover naturally is by hand pulling it after heavy rainfall or thorough lawn watering. Alternatively, you could check out this article on why clover can be beneficial for your lawn.
Identify The Types Of Weeds Youre Dealing With
Most likely, you are coping with one of two primary weed types: broadleaf or grassy. One can further classify both grassy and broadleaf weeds as annual weeds or perennial weeds. Annual weeds grow new each year and drop their seeds before they die. Perennial weeds, on the other hand, never really die they just lie dormant until spring.
Broadleaf Weeds
Broadleaf weeds are easy to differentiate from grass. With multiple veins running through their structures, they may feature showy flowers or distinctive leaf patterns. The best-known broadleaf weed is probably the common dandelion, but this category also includes clover, chickweed, pigweed, and ground ivy. Because of their hardiness, broadleaf weeds often prove tricky for homeowners to eradicate.
Broadleaf weeds often grow so largeand stand out so brilliantly against the lawnthat homeowners elect to pull them up by hand instead of using a sprayer full of weed killer. On a spacious lawn, though, this approach probably isnt practical. Instead, you might need to get out your mower.
You may have heard that using a mower will spread weeds rather than tame them. That isnt true. On the contrary, mowing weeds will weaken them. If you let weeds go without mowing, theyll sprout seeds and take over your space.
Grassy Weeds
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Rake And Till Your Lawn
Raking and tilling your lawn will loosen up the soil and make it easier for new grass seeds to take root. You can till your lawn with an electric, gas, or cordless tiller. Many hardware retailers rent or sell these items, and professional lawn care companies use them regularly.
Before you start to till, remove any debris, such as sticks or leaves, that might be in the way. Then, mow the area to remove as much organic material as possible. Follow the directions on your tiller to till the soil in both directions.
Since tilling soil turns your property into a blank canvas for plant growth, youll now need to overseed your lawn. This means spreading grass seed over the entire area. You can do this by hand or with a spreader. Once the seed is down, youll need to water it regularly until the new grass starts the germination process.
Best Flowering Vines For Your Home And Garden Space
Trying to decide which flowering vine is the perfect fit for your home garden space? Picking the right flowering vine can make all the difference when it comes to the look and feel of your garden. In this article, we take a look at our favorite vines that produce flowers, with the names and pictures of each of them!
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Why Do Weeds Grow
Weeds are considered opportunistic and grow when conditions are favorable, such as specific temperatures, lawn moisture levels, bare or thin turf areas, and can even grow in cracks in the roads, sidewalks or driveways. Weeds have the ability to grow anywhere theres room. Weed seeds come in abundance and from many sources while also having the ability to lay dormant in the soil for years before germinating. When actively growing, weeds produce thousands of seeds per plant and disperse them throughout the season. Some weeds like dandelions are spread with a little help from the wind. Other sources of weeds include poor quality grass seed purchased from the store and soils brought in for new plantings.
Prevent New Weeds From Sprouting In Your Beds
One of the best ways to prevent new weeds from sprouting in your beds is to lay down a fresh layer of mulch.
Mulch helps smother any weed seeds that may be lying in wait, and it will also give your plants a boost of nutrients as it decomposes. Remember that the larger the chunks of mulch, the more slowly theyll decompose. Something small, like shredded wood chips, will become part of your soil in no time.
If you use mulch, you can also use herbicides or weed barriers, but make sure to read the labels carefully so you dont damage your plants.
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