For many people, a garden is a place where they find calm and relaxation. Gardening and maintaining a lawn have become a form of stress reliever. This might explain why people have invested as much time as they possibly can to keep these spaces lush and green.
If there’s one thing that can ruin the experience, it’s when the garden or lawn is infested with weeds. Spending hour after hour of weeding can take the relaxation out of the hobby.
While some people find weeding a bit satisfying in the beginning, it’s just a matter of time until the chore starts to wear them thin. When this happens, you’ll want to have a strategy to put an end to this leafy menace.
That said, here are six tips to get rid of those pesky weeds that have been tried and tested by lawn care experts from Chesterfield, MO:
Start with prevention
The best way to get rid of weeds is to prevent their growth in the first place. And weed prevention starts by keeping a healthy lawn and garden.
There are several things you must do to ensure that your garden thrives and your lawn stays lush and verdant. Aside from cutting grass at just the right height, you’ll also need to keep them well-fed with nutrients and regularly hydrated.
Below are the different tasks and how they must be done to keep weeds from germinating in your lawn while keeping plants and grass healthy:
Deep watering
Deep watering is arguably the easiest way to keep weeds off of your lawn. Remember to water once a week with about one inch of water every time. This will allow the grassroots to grow deeper into the soil and prevent unwanted plants from taking over.
Tall mowing height
Think keeping the grass as short as possible is a good idea? Think again.
The truth is, long grasses are actually more ideal, especially if you don’t want weeds from emerging since they won’t be able to germinate with tall grass impeding their access to the life-giving sun. And without sunlight, weeds won’t be able to thrive.
You must keep in mind, however, that the ideal mowing height varies for different species of grass, as follows:
- Bermuda grass – half to one inch
- Bahiagrass – two to three inches
- Blue grama grass – two to three inches
- Buffalo grass – two to three inches
- Bentgrass – a quarter to three-quarters of an inch
- Chewing hard – one and a half to three inches
- Centipede grass – one to two inches
- Carpet grass – one to two inches
- Perennial ryegrass – one and a half to three inches
- Red fescue or chewing hard – one and a half to two and a half inches
- St. Augustine grass – one to three inches
- Tall fescue – one and a half to three inches
- Zoysia grass – half to one inch
Mulching
Mulching is another way to keep your garden weed-free for the same reason tall grasses help – it prevents sunlight from reaching weed seeds. About two inches of mulch should be able to allow flowers to thrive while preventing weed infestation.
Pull them out manually
Manual weeding is probably the most straightforward way of keeping those pesky weeds from growing. However, even this method requires proper execution to achieve full efficacy.
For one, your schedule for weeding manually should be based on the old adage “Pull when wet; hoe when dry.”
Remember that, when drenched, the soil is easier to work on. This means you should be able to pull out weeds with just a glove, a sitting pad, and a tarp for gathering what you’ve pulled out after a downpour.
When the soil is dry, you can use a hoe with a sharp edge to work up the soil. After doing so, you’ll find that weeds will dry up until they’re a threat to your lawn no more.
Start pruning
Weeds that cannot be pulled out can be dealt with another way: by pruning. Cutting off the heads of hardy weeds will impede germination. This will buy you time until the “weed seed rain” starts for annual weeds.
As for bindweed and other perennial weeds, deadheading can help lessen the chances of reseeding. It also forces them to exhaust their food reserves and root bud supply to limit their spread.
Plant strategically
Did you know that the strategic placement of plants can also help reduce weed infestation?
Planting garden flowers closer together can choke out any emerging weeds since they will prevent the sun from reaching those unwanted growths. This is why many landscapers and gardeners plant in clusters instead of just scattering them around the premises.
When going with this strategy, make sure to limit the space you shave off to only 25 percent of the recommended spacing for each plant. Of course, you should still keep the plant mature sizes in mind when planning for plant placement in your garden.
Water the plants, not the weeds
Water is essential for all types of flora, including weeds. If you’re after getting rid of them, be sure to cut off their water supply. This is where drip irrigation systems and soaker hoses can come in handy.
Since they only irrigate plants close-by or those that are mulched, these irrigation systems ensure that your garden flourishes and stays weed-free. Without water, weeds are bound to wither and die. This strategy has been found to reduce weed-seed germination by about 50 to 70 percent.
However, you have to keep a close eye on deep-rooted perennial weeds like nutsedge and bindweed that thrive with deep watering.
Use organic compost
Aside from being good for plants, organic compost can also help you deal with the weed problem more efficiently. By enriching the soil with a healthy mixture of organic matter and compost, you keep the weeds from germinating.
This, however, has left soil scientists baffled as they still cannot explain why this is the case. Even so, one thing is sure: it is effective in keeping weeds at bay.
Get rid of weeds now
Getting rid of weeds is time-sensitive. The longer you wait, the bigger and more hardy they become. Try the removal and prevention methods mentioned in this article to keep your garden and lawn weed-free. If all else fails, you can always seek help from lawn care professionals in Manchester, MO.
