The question of how to get rid of weeds in your yard is a seemingly simple one, but realistically and scientifically a very complex issue. If you live in Columbia, South Carolina, I can potentially help you to professionally conquer the weed problem just visit my lawn maintenance company website. In this rambling, I am going to go over 3 of the main situations where weeds are concerned. Weeds can be caused by cutting too often and too short, by undernourishment and lack of care for the grass, and by normal annual infestation.
So you have a lawn maintenance company cutting your yard and doing your grounds keeping. They come like clockwork to cut the lawn – every 2 weeks on the dot the foreman is there with their big riding mowers, high dollar weed eaters and blowers, loaded down trailer rigs, and low paid day laborers. This is an empowering feeling for you as you have paid someone “professional” to do something for you that you do not want to do (or don’t have the time to do); the crew is there to serve you. It is an empowering feeling for that foreman guy because he is experiencing his version of the American Dream on his $11,000 lawn mower. The lawn looks great for a while, and then you notice a decline in the overall health over time. The grass is not as lush as it used to be, you notice a lot of dust, there are dips and thin spots in the turf, and you start wondering what is going on. After all, you are paying for “lawn care”. In reality, what you are experiencing more often than not is a “mow and go”. These guys do a really sharp job, are savvy with the gas powered equipment, but they are usually not in the least bit interested in the horticultural aspect of grounds keeping.
Grass is a plant. It needs to be cared for on a micro level just as any other plant. Grass needs watering at the proper times, cutting at the proper times and proper height; it needs fertilization and pest control, and it needs aeration and sunlight (and a break from the sunlight). The fact that your lawn has stripes in it and looks like the flat top hairdo of a drill sargeant does not mean that it is healthy.
What the mow and go is doing to your lawn is: compacting the soil due to the heavy equipment and vacuuming away precious mulched grass and the nutrients those clippings contain (grass clippings contain 5% nitrogen; grass is its own fertilizer!). The alternative to the industrial mow and go is to use a mulching push mower. Yes, a push mower! They are light, with a lighter blade, and can do a much better job of mulching the clippings. The lighter blade allows a nice clean cut on the grass (less than a clean cut leaves the ends split and susceptible to disease). Lighter mower means significantly less compaction of the turf. Less turf compaction means more air is getting to the roots. More air to the root system means more potential to take in nutrients and to get lush and green! If you must use heavy equipment, you should seriously consider getting your turf CORE aerated every year or as needed. If you don’t core aerate and you continue to use heavy equipment on your lawn, your green lush turf is on its way to declining completely and will cost you thousands of dollars to re-sod and renovate after just a few years’ time.
Cutting too often and too short are a problem that most mow and go companies don’t pay attention to. Once they load up the trailer and roll up to your lawn on the day that you are scheduled for service, they are usually not going to turn back. They have too much time and money invested in the trip over to your place to not do the job and gather that cash. They are paying helpers their hourly wage while riding in the truck on the way to your house. My point is this: the mow and go is not going to do the right thing which is to come to the house as scheduled, inspect the lawn, and act according to the need of the turf. If it is growing lush, green, and healthy go ahead with a cut. If not, let it grow out. When you do cut it, don’t cut any more than 1/3rd of the total length. I repeat, don’t cut it too short or you will encourage weeds, bare roots, and the general decline of your expensive sod!
This raises another point, the blade and the mower deck. A sharp blade will give you a good healthy cut. This is very important; do not dismiss this as unimportant! If your mow-and-go guy has a dull blade and a dirty deck, he is doing you a disservice. What’s more, you don’t know where that mower has been! The debris and weed seeds that stick to the underside of unclean, under serviced mower decks is a problem in and of itself!
Undernourishment and lack of care of your grass is a contributor to weed growth. If you want weeds, do not water your grass. If you like dandelions and those little yellow flowers that come up, do not care for your lawn in any way. If you want dull, grey, dusty lawn, do not fertilize. If you need fishing bait, do not treat for grub worms! If you do want as much beauty as your grounds can bear, you need to fertilize at the proper time, spread pre-emergent weed and feed at the proper time, water as the lawn needs it, and so on. In short, get a groundskeeping professional; a turf management specialist who has experience in not only running equipment and mowers but a genuine affinity for nature and horticulture.
Tip: A new turf in an average sized yard will cost you literally thousands of dollars!
My advice to you on how to control normal annual weeds in your yard is this: plan ahead and treat for weeds before they germinate. This means that in early spring, you need to go out there and spread pre-emergent herbicide. You can also “winterize” before winter to #1 get your root system beefed up and ready to pop with growth after the winter and #2 squelch any infestations of weeds. You also need to spread bug killer here and there to take care of beetles, grubs, etc.
Every yard is going to have the annual weed battle. If you don’t, you’re lucky. Sometimes no matter how good of a mower you have, how much fertilizer you use (to boost your “good grass” and help it to choke out the bad stuff), no matter how much pre-emergent you use to fend off weeds, or how much proper lawn care you exercise, you are still going to have to get down on your hands and knees and pull weeds up by hand. A weedeater is handy for mechanical removal as well. Just whack it! Try not to hurt the surrounding grass, but get that weed…uproot it if you are so inclined.
In summary, your yard is just like a stereo system: you can put as much or as little money into it depending upon how much beauty (or lack of beauty) you can stand. If you want a lush, green, weed free lawn that invites you to lay down on your back and look at the clouds go by on a nice spring morning, you are going to have to work for it – or hire someone to do that for you. Simply paying a guy with alot of equipment to come cut your grass every 2 weeks is a mistake that I see many many people doing.
Feel free to email me anytime, link to my articles, or call me to see if I can offer my professional assistance. I am Ashley Brooks, Busy Bee Lawn Care, Columbia S.C., and I care about your lawn!
