Although mowing and fertilizing are two of the most important aspects of lawn care, weeds can wreak havoc on your yard, undoing the meticulous work you’ve already done. Not only do they cause an unsightly mess, but they also choke out portions of your grass, making weed eradication a top priority. If you wish to maintain a lawn that’s the envy of the neighborhood, make sure to kill these weeds before they wipe out your beautiful yard.
Dandelions
While the dandelion’s yellow flower may look pretty at first, it’ll quickly consume your yard if you don’t destroy it immediately. However, the hardest part of controlling dandelions isn’t your fault. If your neighbors let dandelions run rampant in their yard, their seeds can easily blow into your yard, causing an infestation of epic proportions. The best way to keep these weeds in check is by killing them when you see them. The simplest way to do this is by getting a weed and feed fertilizer or a lawn weed killer. Neither of these products will harm your grass, but they will destroy any dandelions that are present.
Crabgrass
Image via Flickr by The NYSIPM Image Gallery
Crabgrass is the most annoying, yet hardest-to-kill weed you’ll find in your yard. The problem with this weed is that it shares much of the same genetics as grass, and a weed and feed fertilizer won’t harm crabgrass in any way. That’s why the best way to remove crabgrass is to put down a pre-emergent in the spring before the seeds germinate. Typically, this will prevent most of its growth, and the few weeds you do find are easily removed by hand. If you have an outbreak, some lawn weed killers also have a crabgrass killer, but it’s easier to stop it before it starts.
Clover
Image via Flickr by PaulHorner
Your kids probably won’t love that they can’t search for four-leaf clovers, but this invasive weed can choke out entire lawns if not dealt with in an appropriate manner. The easiest way to find clover in your lawn is to look for white flowers that bloom in the late spring and early summer. Like dandelions, they may appear pretty, but when clover spreads, you almost always have to kill it and start fresh. There’s no true way to prevent clover outside of a pre-emergent, but several lawn weed killers have concentrated amounts of triclopyr and triethylamine salt, which helps stop this weed in its tracks.
Nutsedge
Image via Flickr by the NYSIPM Image Gallery
One of the hardest weeds to control is nutsedge, which is a grassy weed that can grow up to 3-feet long. It grows through runners that attach to the ground, making the hunt for its source a huge ordeal. These roots then grow up to a foot into your yard, exacerbating the problem. To control nutsedge, you need to maintain proper yard drainage, as nutsedge loves moist areas. If you still have a problem eliminating it, turn to a nutsedge killer, which has a specific formula to target this nuisance.
Once you’ve eradicated these weeds, you can stop their growth by maintaining your yard from spring to fall. During these months, make sure to fertilize your lawn, as a healthy, well-fed lawn chokes out any weed seeds that land in your yard. All you need to do is stay one step ahead.
