How To Defend Against Weed Infestations

You love your lawn with a passion, and want it to look its best this summer when showing it off to family and friends (and nosy neighbours). Only problem? Pesky weeds like dandelions, clovers and thistle love it just as much, and their determined and wily to boot. What can be done? 

Well, the best natural defense against weeds is maintaining a thick and healthy lawn that is capable of out-competing weeds and tolerating minor insect feeding. These 7 tips will help you on your way to a robust, healthy lawn.

Take Care Of Your Soil

Ensure proper soil fertility, aeration, and soil pH. Without good soil your lawn will not compete well with weeds. Nutri-Lawn programs are designed to encourage healthy soil for your landscape.

Water Properly

This is also critical if you hope to maintain a thick, beautiful lawn. Over watering or under watering of a lawn can lead to weed infestation.

Mow At The Correct Height

Unless you have a bentgrass lawn, your mowing height should be up at 2.5” to 3.5”. Mowing too short can encourage weed infestations.

Mow Once A Week

Rule of thumb is not to remove more than 1/3 of the leaf blade. Scalping a lawn by cutting too short or waiting too long between cuts and then cutting short can set back a lawn for weeks.

Aerate and Seed

Annual aeration with an overseeding or slitseeding will introduce new vigorous cultivars of turfgrass and help keep the lawn thick so weeds are crowded out.

Topdress

Apply Organic Plus Topdressing to add nutrients, and organic matter to your soil, without the fear of weed seed. Other topdressings can be full of nasty weed seeds.

Consider Hand Pulling Weeds

Two people and a couple good weed pullers can go a long way. After hand-pulling, it is strongly recommended to overseed the bare soil areas left from pulling the weeds and apply a starter fertilizer. This will help stop weed seeds from getting established in these spots. Hand picking weeds to establish weed control will only address the present weed problem, but does not address the source of the problem. Simply hand weeding does not prevent or discourage new weeds from getting established. Hand-pulling should be considered as simply one part of the whole approach, which includes regular feedings, core aeration and annual overseeding.

When you give a little love, you get a lot back with ecology friendly solutions that give your turf what it needs. At your local Nutri-Lawn, we nourish lawns and lives.™