When homeowners dream of that perfect house with the idyllic white picket fence, they typically imagine that fence surrounding huge swaths of thick, green grass. Unfortunately, many homeowners lack the time or knowledge needed in order to achieve the perfect lawn. If you desire a lush lawn, experienced lawn care professionals can help make your dream a reality.
Best Practices for a Weed-Free Lawn
While mowing, watering, and fertilizing may all be familiar terms, it is important to know such things as the proper height at which to set your mower, how often to water your water lawn, and how to apply weed control without damaging the grass.
Although there are numerous products that can be applied to eliminate weeds from your lawn, the best practices in lawn care begin with preventive measures. Mowing, watering, aerating, overseeding, and feeding are all initial approaches to perfecting your lawn and reducing the emergence of weeds. If and when weeds develop, additional weed-control measures can be taken that will kill those pesky weeds and not the grass itself. All of these practices, used in combination, will help you achieve the healthy, green lawn you seek.
Eliminating Weeds, Not Grass
How Does Mowing Eliminate Weeds?
Proper mowing is essential in order to ensure a thick lawn, which, in turn, helps to eradicate weeds. Start by making sure that you have a freshly sharpened mower blade. This will provide a clean-cut and reduce the stress on the blade of grass. Typically, you should never remove more than the top one-third of your grass when you mow, leaving your lawn at about two and one-half inches long. This is important because the thick grass will essentially work to smother out weed growth.
Because the height of your lawn is so important, you will actually have to gauge how often to cut your grass based on how your lawn looks rather than on the day of the week. Hot weather or dry conditions can cause lawns to grow more slowly, just as early spring rains may result in long grass that needs to be mowed more frequently than once a week. Maintaining a proper height to your lawn will result in fewer weeds.
Is Watering Important In Weed Control?
Just as mowing is essential in maintaining a proper lawn height, so too does watering help this process. Clearly, a dry, parched lawn is unsightly and leads to less green grass and, therefore, more annoying weeds. It is, however, also possible to saturate your lawn by providing too much water, thereby making your grass much more susceptible to disease.
Keeping the root zone moist, usually from six to twelve inches below the soil, is the key. Again, keep an eye on the color of your lawn to determine when it becomes necessary to water. The goal is to keep the grass green without allowing it to get soggy.
Are Aerating and Overseeding Helpful?
In order to make sure that your lawn has strong roots, aerating your lawn once a year is a recommended practice. Aerating works by removing small plugs of soil, allowing air to get into the soil and helping to eliminate root compaction. Since the root system is then stronger, weeds will find it more difficult to grow. Over the course of a few weeks, the plugs will break down and help to refill the small holes in your lawn. Generally, aerating is done in the spring or fall.
The rationale for this is because overseeding, which is strewing new seed over an existing lawn, is usually conducted at these times of the year. Since weather conditions are ideal for growth during these seasons, the small holes in your lawn provide the perfect opportunity for new seedlings to sprout. Working in conjunction with each other, aerating and overseeding promote a healthier root system and a thicker, weed-free turf system.
Is Applying Fertilizer Necessary?
In the same way that aerating builds a strong, sustainable root system, fertilizing, too, improves your lawn’s roots just as it enhances the color and thickness of the grass. Our Canadian-made, premium fertilizer slowly releases a blend of nitrogen and potassium into the roots of the grass. Over time, roots become heartier and more capable of resisting disease and weed growth. As a bonus, our fertilizer is eco-friendly, allowing both pets and family to return to the yard as soon as the fertilizer has been absorbed.
What If I Still Need a Weed Control Product?
Because weeds can be so pesky and a few can slip into your lawn even with best practices, weed control products are available to help rid your yard of unwanted growth. Our weed control product, FIESTA, is an organic, mineral-based product that contains none of the usual odor found in many other similar lawn treatments. As a product made primarily from iron, FIESTA targets weeds while allowing the beauty of your grass to emerge.
Our trained and licensed technicians will begin treatment by spraying FIESTA across your lawn. Weeds will begin wilting that day, and once the spray has dried, your yard is safe for children and pets alike. Within a week of application, you will be able to reap the rewards of this treatment program. Since your grass will no longer be competing with weeds for sunlight, water, and other nutrients, it will not only be free of weeds, but it will also be thicker and healthier: everything you want in a lawn.
Since no two lawns are exactly alike, neither are lawn treatment programs. One yard may simply need preventive, pre-emergent treatment while a neighbor’s yard may be strewn with dandelions, crabgrass, and prickly lettuce and require a post-emergent program. Either way, customizable plans are available, and your lawn will be on its way to a weed-free, green appearance.
Benefits of Weed Control
Of course, one of the main benefits of a weed-free lawn is its appearance, but the advantages of eliminating weeds go far beyond winning the battle against unwanted species in your grass. By competing for nutrients, weeds actually rob your lawn of what it needs for lush growth. When these invaders are eradicated from your lawn, your grass will be both healthier and greener.
In addition to being able to look out upon your lovely green grass with deep satisfaction, having a luxuriant lawn adds to the overall curb appeal of your home. It also increases the value of your house, which is always beneficial even if you have no intention of putting your home up for sale anytime soon. Perhaps most importantly, however, your yard will be the ideal spot for family and friends to gather and enjoy the view.
Get the Help You Need
Despite the numerous products available in your local hardware store, it can often be difficult for homeowners to determine what types of products they need. Rather than paw through bags of Kentucky bluegrass or herbicides, why not consult professionals with over 43 years of experience? Certified lawn technicians can examine your yard and determine exactly what sort of program and treatments you need. If you would like to improve the look and value of your lawn, contact the experts at Weed-A-Way for professional lawn care and the start to a lush, green lawn for years to come.
