Lawn Weed Prevention: Causes, Types, and Solutions

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Using a backpack sprayer to get rid of lawn weeds may be comfortable, but solely using fertilizers is not the best choice. The ugly-look that budding weeds can add to your well-maintained garden is highly undesirable. 

Few Causes of Weed Formation

Weed Prevention

Spotting the true reason for weed formation can help you understand what kind of fertilizers or gardening techniques can help in weed prevention.

  • Poorly watered gardens are the root cause of weed formation. 
  • Lack of nutrients is another common reason for weeds to enjoy uninterrupted growth.
  • Even worse, you do not want thatch collection on your garden surface. Fewer amounts of thatch (under ½ inch) is alright. But greater thatch will deprive your soil of sufficient water, sunlight, and other fertilizers that you apply.
  • Another beneficial piece of knowledge would be to identify the length of your grassroots. Longer roots are rewarded with a greater quantity of soil nutrients. Whereas shorter roots will crave your grass of essential soil nutrients. 

Types of Weed Formation

Depending on the time of the year, weather, and current season, different types of weeds can grow.

  • Perennial WeedsThese are terrible in the long run. They lead to the production of seedheads and are hard to completely get rid of.
  • Annual WeedsMuch less severe than perennial weeds, these types of weeds produce seeds only for one season.
  • Biennial WeedsBiennial weeds will pave way for the formation of seeds to occur for two consecutive seasons.

Ways to Replenish your Lawn and Control Weed Growth

weed formation

Every gardener will wonder at least once – “How to kill weeds?” 

Reestablishing the healthy state of your grass can be troublesome once weeds have begun to take over. Patience along with consistency in lawn treatment is the key. We have curated a few routes you can take to emerge victorious in your battle against lawn weeds.

1.  Periodic Lawn Moving for Lawn Weed Control

lawn weed prevention

First and foremost, you must perform regular cleaning sessions in your backyard. Consider looking at robotic lawn mowers to clear your garden of loose and easy-to-grab weeds. Tweak the blade settings so as to nicely skim the surface of your garden. 

You can even use a number of gardening tools to gather and pluck clusters of weeds. Weeds in the grass can extend beneath the soil. Make sure you thoroughly strike the weeds off the ground to prevent regrowth from occurring.

Gardeners often think that weeds plucked from the soil is considered a victory. Guess what? This is a silly assumption. The plucked weeds need to be cleared of the lawn surface. 

When you return to mow your lawn, you unknowingly will break down these leftover weeds. Eventually, replanting them in some way or the other. This does not curb weed growth but only sows the seeds for a future problem.

If mowing doesn’t seem to give you clarity on the weeds situation, you can use a lawn edger for better insight. Be clever and detail-oriented when you mow your lawn. Doing this right can substantially reduce your efforts to combat lawn weeds in the future.

2. Lawn Weed Killer

Lawn weed killer

There are plenty of fertilizers that are designed primarily for weed prevention. Keep in mind, you must under no circumstance apply weed fertilizers onto uninfected healthy grass. It will deteriorate the quality and overall health of the grass. These fertilizers are solely for weeds. 

Severely infected gardens require partial or complete replanting of their lawn. Whatever your case may be, apply lawn weed control sprays around 3 weeks before your replanting project begins.

3. Soil Aeration

lawn weed killer

Quality rakes or power-operated gardening equipment, both are good options to aerate your soil. If you are using power-operated equipment then simply make tiny holes all around the soil for loosening purposes and to allow roots to grow deeper. 

But if you are using rakes, then being gentle will do no good. Move yours vigorously through the grass. Consistent front and back rake motion will first clear up the thatch if any.

You can then apply gentle pressure while swinging your rake into the soil. You will naturally realize when hollow tubes are created.

These holes will help water and fertilizer get in contact with the deep roots within the soil. Eventually, the nutrients contribute to battling the formation of weeds.

4. Planting of Grass Seeds

lawn weed prevention

For the ones who decided they need to nurture new grass, this is for you! 

Clearing lawn weeds initially is one part of the process. You need to then ready the soil for planting your seeds. Choose a tough rake and steer clear of the excess thatch.

Make sure to apply enough force so that you create aeration holes in the soil. Clear out the chunks of soil and double-check if the soil is loose enough.

Depending on what your garden is growing you need to pour enough seeds. After this, it’s time to now flatten the soil. 

If your electric lawn sweeper is used for weekly cleaning sessions, it would be easy to identify weeds in the grass.

5. Frequent Watering

Watering your grass, whether new or old, is a prerequisite for lawn treatment. It helps to transport nutrients through the plant. Once the plant nutrients reach the wet soil, re-absorption becomes effective. How much water needs to be poured for weed prevention depends on the type of grass, soil, and climatic conditions.

A quick solution to figure out how often do you need to water the plants?

Shove a screwdriver to see whether the soil is hard or moist. Soil hardness and cracking means you need to provide more water, whereas if the soil is loose you are doing a good job.

Another wise decision would be to install an Oscillating Sprinkler or a Drip Irrigation System in your garden. This helps with daily automated watering and lawn weed control.

6. Fertilization of the Lawn

Once the watering and drying process is complete, it’s time to sprinkle the all-important layer of weed fertilizers. 

Although these fertilizers usually evaporate in 1 to 3 days, you must also sprinkle Nitrogen lawn fertilizers. This neutralizes the effect that the chemicals from the weed fertilizer may have on the plants. 

Tip and Tricks to Fight Lawn Weeds

garden weed formation
  • Lawn weeds tend to clearly be visible when the grass or soil is wet. Thus after a rainfall or a watering session would be the best time to pull weeds. If you have the sprinklers then nothing like it. You can easily get a hold of hidden weeds.
  • Don’t prolong tackling your weeds in the grass. Younger plants are easier to pull due to developing root structures. Once your plants grow you would have to disrupt the soil layer and spray chemicals, which is worse.
  • Consider using tools to pluck weeds. The mechanical dandelion puller will make it easier to extract the roots from the soil.
  • Seedheads are dangerous! Use a lawn edger to cut of seedheads. Make sure to collect all the waste otherwise spreading will occur.
  • Did you know you can paint herbicides on your weed-infested plant? Read the instructions on the packaging and also remember, early spring is an apt time to paint herbicides.

Conclusion

Gardeners need to keep an eye out for the smallest signs of weeds. This preventive measure can save up plenty of resources, time, money, and energy in the future.

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