Controlling Weeds in Your Yard this Spring

May 20, 2019

weeds

Warm weather, plenty of sunshine and a healthy drizzle of rain mean one thing for your yard—weeds! Maintaining a healthy lawn and thriving garden beds isn’t easy when weeds pop up overnight. Thankfully, when you work with the professionals at JFC Grounds Maintenance and put in a little elbow grease, you can control weeds in your yard.

Prevention Is Key

The single best way to kill weeds is preventing them from flourishing in the first place. Every variety of grass has an optimal height for lush growth and ideal health. If you can keep your grass at the right length, water it regularly and fertilize it, the grass should be able to grow without much competition from weeds. When grass is over 33% above the proper cutting height, you should mow it. Grass types in our area should be kept at 3-4” in height.

Know Your Weeds

Before you can destroy the weeds that have grown in your yard, you need to understand what they are and what conditions are enabling their growth.

  1. Broadleaf Lawn Weeds: These weeds should be spot-treated with a broadleaf herbicide using the smallest bottle or distributor possible. Isolated weeds should be treated with a small pump pressure sprayer, while larger patches can be treated with a 1- or 2-gallon sprayer. Your JFC Grounds Maintenance professional will be able to select the appropriate distribution method for your unique situation.
  2. Perennial Grassy Weeds: Quack grass is one type of grassy weed that will return every year. These weeds rapidly spread through seeds and an underground root system, and broadleaf killers won’t do anything. Use a nonselective weed killer and individually coat the weeds with herbicide. If you apply this type of herbicide with a sprayer, you will destroy good plants and your lawn in the process.
  3. Crabgrass: Crabgrass is very common in Maryland, and spreading a pre-emergence prevention solution all over your lawn will help stop crabgrass from rearing its head.

Don’t Waste Prevention Efforts

Finally, you shouldn’t waste prevention efforts in areas of your yard where grass won’t grow due to poor soil nutrition or bad light. If you’ve repeatedly tried to grow grass in one area without success, it might be better to use the landscape for something else.

Trust JFC Grounds Maintenance

If you are interested in fighting weeds in your yard, you can rely on our groundskeeping and gardening experts. Ready to get your yard in excellent shape? Give JFC Grounds Maintenance a call today at (410) 655-2887.