Weeds are the bane of every gardener’s existence. No matter what you do, they always seem to find a way to make their appearance known, like the proud plants they are. They’re opportunistic, and tend to thrive where everything else dies.

What makes them even harder to get rid of is that there are some weeds that can stay in a period of dormancy for up to 70 years, and creep up just when you think you’ve gotten them all. (We’re looking at you, redroot pigweed.)

Never fear though, as there are some things that you can do to manage and prevent weeds from running forth and wreaking havoc on your lawn. It’s impossible to get all of them out, and there are some weeds you’ll simply have to come to terms with and manage as you’re able too, but at least you can give it a shot and have a fair chance at eliminating the suckers.

Before you begin, grab your weeder, your knee cushion and some gardening gloves because although prevention is key, there will be those that remain that you will still have to manually extract, however, we do offer a Premier Turf Care Program that can help. Soon you can kiss those weeds a bittersweet farewell because they’ll no longer be your problem, but ours. How does that sound?

Now onto some problem solving.

1. Minimize soil disturbance. In other words, let sleeping weeds lie. Every lawn has latent weed seeds just waiting to germinate as soon as light reaches through the dark caverns of the earth. Those seeds, previously hidden, get disturbed and begin to wake up when you start digging and tilling for the season. Of course, you can only control this so much, since you’re likely digging around to add some new plants to improve the appearance of your yard anyway which could help choke the seeds out and prevent them from germinating well.

2. Add plants and place them as close together as you can. This can help to prevent light from reaching weed seeds and choke them out. You may still have some stubborn ones, but the chances of weeds growing when there is less light hitting the plant are lower than if you were to leave them alone.

3. Mulch it up. Any exposed ground that could be a “weeding” ground is a good candidate for being mulched. Not only can mulch choke out weeds, but as it decomposes it puts nutrients back into the soil for the plants you want to keep and makes the dirt less compacted so when a weed does pop up, it’s easier to pull out. Another benefit? It offers shelter for certain types of insects such as beetles and crickets that like to eat the seeds of troublesome plants.

4. Be careful about watering your lawn. It’s a good practice to water your lawn only when it needs it and to do so infrequently and deeply to prevent the overgrowth of weeds. Doing so will also help prevent other nuisances such as grubs or fungal infections in your yard as well. The average lawn only needs about an inch of water every week, and you can judge the amount of watering by placing a small rain gauge or tuna can in the yard while watering and stop when it’s full.

5. Have a hoe-down. No, really. If you can’t seem to keep up with the weeds growing in your yard, hoe them down! Best done in the morning while the soil is dry, the weeds will cut cleanly from the soil and create a “dust mulch” which keeps new weeds from being able to germinate. You can let the cuttings dry throughout the day and then take them and put them in your compost pile where the interior heat of the compost pile will likely kill any remaining seeds.

6. Cover the ground where your garden and flower beds will be with landscape fabric. The fabric is effective at blocking weed growth yet it allows water and air into the soil to help the other plants. They should be used in conjunction with thick mulch for maximum weed death and prevention.

7. Maintain healthy soil. The healthier the soil is, the least likely you’ll have weeds coming up and taking space. Anytime you can promote the health of plants you want in your yard; you’re giving the plants you want a leg up over their competition- which are weeds. Coming up with a proper lawn fertilization plan is key to your lawn’s success, and even better when it can be done correctly and consistently. If that seems too burdensome, we offer a turf care program to help you maintain the health of your plants and keep out the ones you don’t want around, and “a la carte” services such as weed control can be added and customized to your specific lawn plan.

For more information concerning weeds and how to prevent and minimize them in your lawn, the Farmer’s Almanac is a great resource, as well as Fine Gardening.

If you’re interested in booking lawn care services to help keep those pesky weeds out of your yard, head over to our Turf Care Services page and get in touch with us! We always offer free estimates during our consultations and we can talk about your particular needs for your lawn!