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 Weed Control for a Healthy Lawn
Excerpt from Building a Healthy Lawn, by Stuart Franklin
Weeds are an especially challenging problem because some of them love the same soil conditions that grass thrives in. Nature intends the soil surface to be covered with plant growth. If grass isn't there, weeds will be soon. For almost twelve years now I've heard how each homeowner's weeds came from the neighbor's lawn. It's more accurate to say that weeds are there because a thick healthy lawn isn't!
If I were to say that you could rid your lawn of all weeds without chemicals or hand pulling, I would be dreaming. But you can change certain lawn conditions, improve your mowing, watering, and fertilizing habits enough to make your lawn unacceptable to most weeds. Your lawn can reach the point at which chemical weed killers aren't needed.
In case you are wondering, there are no natural products that can be spread over the whole lawn and kill only weeds. However, individual weeds or grasses can be spot-killed by a natural vegetation killer that was introduced while this book was in the editor's hands. This is a major advancement. As mentioned earlier, research has shown that some grass types, as well as other kinds of vegetation, release their own chemicals that inhibit or kill neighboring plants of a different variety. Strains of grass could be developed that would utilize this attribute to the homeowner's advantage. Considering the speed at which research is progressing toward natural solutions, I wouldn't be surprised to see a natural herbicide within the next few years that could be spread over the entire lawn without damaging the grass.
Leaving a few weeds scattered about your lawn is not a crime. Weeds are simply unwanted plants on a given piece of land. Orchids could start growing in your lawn and they would technically be weeds if they hadn't been planted there. It just so happens that the air and soil are loaded with seeds of plants that you don't want in our lawn. There are reasons why some of these sprout and grow, and these reasons are what you are going to learn about in this chapter. Fortunately, most of the factors that discourage weeds make for better lawn growth.
Understanding Weeds
Weeds can be classified as narrow leaf (grassy) weeds or broadleaf weeds. A narrow leaf weed is often an undesirable type of grass that is in your lawn. Or it might be a plant that looks similar to grass in many ways. It doesn't blend with the rest of your lawn in color, thickness, height, or growing habits. Rough-bladed tall fescue, mentioned earlier, is usually considered a grassy weed in otherwise fine-bladed lawns.
Broadleaf weeds are exactly what they sound like. They can have large, small, wide, pointed, rounded, or thick leaves. They don't look like grass at all. The dandelion, with its yellow flower, is our most common broadleaf weed.
Weeds are usually either annuals or perennials. Annuals grow one season, drop their seeds, and die. Perennials grow year after year, even if their tops disappear over the winter. Most of them go to seed at least once during each growing season.
Finally, you must understand that although many weeds thrive in the same soil conditions that lawns require, many others will grow only in poor conditions. Some like wet, some dry. Some like acid, some alkaline. Some need sun, some want shade. By creating a healthy lawn and soil, you will be un-creating the conditions that many weeds enjoy. This is a unique approach to weed control, similar to the approach we use toward insects and disease.
Controlling Weeds
The first step toward eradicating your weeds is to identify them. I've included some drawing, but a nursery keeper or lawn pro would be of better help. You can pull up a weed and carry it to an expert for identification.
Once you have identified a weed, don't go right for the chemicals. I'm going to provide as much information as I can to help you understand why that weed is there, and what you can do to discourage it. Weeds do have some use. They can, by their presence alone, tell you what is wrong with your soil or lawn care practices. If you choose to use a chemical, I suggest spot-killing the individual plants so you don't have to put the chemical on the weed-free portion of the lawn. I'll talk more about this later.
Herbicides
There are several types of herbicides that are normally applied. Pre-emergent herbicides are spread on the lawn before certain weeds sprout. They create a film on the soil and are usually used to kill annual grassy weeds as they germinate - that is, before they have emerged through the soil surface. Post-emergent herbicides are applied directly to weeds that are already up and growing. These are mostly used to control specific broadleaf weeds. They don't kill other weeds or grasses. Most lawn post-emergents today are systemic, which means they are absorbed into the system of the plant and kill the whole thing. Contact herbicides, on the other hand, are post-emergents that only kill the tops of plants. They are not effective on thick-rooted weeds like dandelions. Non-selective herbicides will kill any vegetation they are applied to, lawn grass included. They are normally used on perennial narrow leaf weeds or undesirable lawn grasses when nothing else will work. Concern's, non-selective weed and grass killer is the first natural herbicide to hit the market. The fact sheet says it's made from a blend of fatty acids that are biodegradable and non-toxic to people and pets. It works extremely fast and allows reseeding of the lawn after forty-eight hours.
Most over-the-counter herbicides claim to be biodegradable when used correctly. Some are more like hormones than straight poisons. Still, even with the "safest" of the weed killers, there is the possibility of toxic reaction from skin exposure or inhalation before they have had a chance to break down. Also, post-emergent herbicides are supposed to kill weeds selectively and not harm the grass. But under the right conditions of stress on the lawn, herbicides will damage the grass. In fact, a post-emergent herbicide applied on the grass in such a situation becomes an additional stress factor that could destroy the lawn. I know I'm being redundant, but play it safe with any lawn chemical. Use it wisely, only when needed, and then try to change lawn conditions so you won't need it again.
Professional Help
If you have a highly weed-infested lawn, it is definitely worth your while to hire the services of a spray company. See if you can have your lawn treated for weeds without it being fertilized chemically at the same time. Professionals really can do a better job than most homeowners would. If your lawn is treated in the early spring or early fall, you'll still have time to reseed after the weeds have shriveled away. Midsummer treatments are not recommended; wait until early fall for better results.
If you do your own weed killing, use common sense and keep your chemicals away from anything else that could be damaged. Some weed killers kill shrubs or young trees if spread in their root zone. The package will caution you about this and other hazards. Please read and follow the directions.
You might think it strange that I devote so much time to chemical weed control. After all, this book is about getting away from chemicals, isn't it? Exactly. Until you get your weeds under control, I know that many of you will still feel the need to use chemicals. So I want you to learn as much as you can about how to apply them, or how they should be applied by someone else. Make chemicals work with one correct application instead of many haphazard applications. If you follow most of the other principles in this book at the same time, you'll simply out-create the weeds and end up with a thick, reasonably weed-free lawn.
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