Pesky weeds can drive homeowner nuts! They can take a beautiful green lawn and turn it into a patchy field of grass. Even though these weeds are ugly, they are there to help your lawn. How is that possible? Weeds fill in what’s missing in your soil by a process call soil progression.
For example, if your soil is lacking calcium, you will have dandelions. The deep taproot of the dandelion pulls the calcium up to the surface from deeper in the soil to reach a balance where deficiencies occur. After your soil balances, the next cycle of weed may appear. Mother nature is always trying to balance itself.
Soil progression is a slow process that is forever an ongoing cycle. This is why we work with nature and try to speed up the progression process to provide homeowners with a thick, weed-free lawn. Our fertilization programs work to balance the soil and improve its structure. Then with treatments such as a pre-emergent we prevent grassy weeds by laying a blanket of product at the soil level so when the weed seed tries to emerge it hits this layer and dies. This is a good way to control grassy weeds since it is very hard to kill a bad grass in a stand of good grass without killing everything. This approach works with nature’s natural approach but supplements to obtain the quality of lawn that we desire. Every year as we improve our soil the quality of the lawn improves and we don’t have to fight with as many weed treatments to keep the lawn looking great.
The Best Defense Against Weeds
All plants are competitive. This is why a thick green lawn will always be your best defense. If your lawn is full of grass and not bare spots there won’t be room for a weed to grow. A thick, dense turf canopy will shade out the weeds below much like like the tall trees in a forest shade out the smaller trees below. Evaluating your lawn annually and filling in those thin areas will keep your lawn on the right track.
If you have any questions on how to get your lawn weed-free, please call a Lawn Coach today!
