Spring is here in Middle Tennessee but unfortunately, the weeds have realized that too. Here are some great tips on how to rid your yard of those pesky weeds before they take over your entire lawn!
– When grass is healthy, there’s no room for weeds to grow. It’s when grass gives way to weeds and then weeds begin to take over the grass too. By keeping your grass healthy with the use of a nitrogen fertilizer several times a year, you’ll be helping to keep the weeds away. While grass has a difficult time surviving without nitrogen, some perennial weeds like clover can survive on nitrogen from the air alone. So when the grass starts to wilt due to low nitrogen, clover can quickly take over. Just be sure to fertilize when the grass is already green and growing well.
– Make sure you know the ideal height for the particular kind of grass that you have. The right length of grass helps to shade the ground, making it harder for weeds to get the amount of sunlight they need to grow. Don’t cut the grass too often, waiting for it to be about half an inch above its ideal height. But waiting too long in between lawn mowings gives weeds the chance to spread seeds before being cut back again.
– Identify the kinds of weeds you’re dealing with. You can easily spend hundreds of dollars on weed control products, only for them to be completely useless because they aren’t fighting what you have in your yard. Different weeds also require treatment at different times of year, so again, you don’t want to spend time and money treating in ineffective ways. If you’re unsure of the type of weeds you have, dig up a patch and bring it to your local garden store for help identifying them.
– Don’t waste your time trying to fight weeds in places where you can’t grow grass; you’ll always be fighting a losing battle! Instead, lay down a weed-control fabric on the ground first and then cover it with stone or mulch. If you want to plant something in that area instead, treat the ground with a herbicide, wait two weeks and then plant a ground cover that does well in shade.
– When you’re dealing with broadleaf weeds like dandelions and clover, remember that there’s more than meets the eye. Both have deep root systems and the entire root has to be pulled up or else the leftover root will regrow. Use a garden trowel to dig them out weed by weed, making sure get the entire root system out with the trowel.
– Don’t delay in ridding your yard of perennial weeds because they grow bigger year after year so the problem will only get worse. Perennial weeds produce seeds that can multiply the amount of weeds for your yard in as little time as a few weeks.
Have you started fighting the weeds in your yard this spring? What strategies have you found helpful and effective?