Around the House: Creating the Right Landscaping

Posted on: 3 June 2016

Are you tired of trying to start a beautiful lawn every year, only to see it turn into nothing but weeds? Do you want a yard that your neighbors will envy all year long? Whether you're doing everything yourself or you've hired a lawn care professional, landscaping isn't always an easy task. Here are some things to remember about taking care of your lawn:

Lawns need fertilizer: One of the first steps to successful lawn weed control is having healthy grass. When you have healthy grass with an extensive root system, it can be all but impossible for most weeds to sprout and become established. If your grass is growing enough to mow weekly, you may think that you don't need to add any fertilizer. This is not strictly true. A lawn that is only just starting to need fertilizer may visually be nearly identical to a well-fertilized lawn, but an extremely close inspection might reveal that the individual grass plants are actually growing further and further apart. As nutrients run out, the grass will start to compete with itself, leaving gaps in your lawn. By following the fertilization schedule laid out by the fertilizer package or by your lawn care professional, your grass will remain vigorous and should prevent most weeds from growing.

Use the right weed killer: Sometimes, weeds get lucky. If you get dandelions or other hardy weeds growing in the middle of your otherwise beautiful lawn, your next step in lawn weed control is likely to be bringing out the weed killer spray. Unfortunately, not all weed spray is suitable for use on lawns. While a good lawn care professional should know the difference, it's not always easy for a home user. Some glyphosate sprays have been marketed as being suitable for use on lawns, but glyphosate will actually kill nearly any plant it comes in contact with. If used on your lawn, this will leave ugly bare patches of dead grass. Instead of a broad-spectrum weed killer like glyphosate, look for a spray that targets only plants with broad leaves, not the narrow leaves that grass has.

Be diligent: If you expect a beautiful lawn, but only expect to tend to it once a week or once every other week, then you should prepare to be disappointed. Many weeds can go from tiny sprout to obnoxious plant in just a few days. By skipping one or more days, you'll be letting weeds get a stronger foothold and will make your lawn weed control harder than it should be. Once a day or once every other day, go outside and pull up any small weed sprouts that you notice. If you do this daily, the task shouldn't take you more than a few minutes at a time. Once a week, spray the weeds that you missed on your daily rounds. Doing this daily will help prevent the weeds from becoming overwhelming and taking over your yard. Contact a business, such as Mr Green Thumb, for more information.