Preventing weeds from taking over your yard can be one of the most frustrating parts of lawn maintenance, but there are ways to keep your lawn healthy all summer long!
What You Need To Know
- A healthy soil promotes grass root growth
- Weeds have an easier time adapting to weather changes, allowing to last through droughts, etc.
- Aerating your lawn once a year can help with lawn health and keeping weeds out
Many factors can contribute to a lawn littered with weeds. It can be frustrating to homeowners looking for that perfect lawn you see on TV! Know that lawn care is all about preventative maintenance and staying persistent.
Preventing weed growth
To prevent extensive weed growth, you want healthy soil. This comes from fertilizing your lawn in the spring to allow grass roots to thrive by absorbing nutrients, thickening the blades and squeezing out any chance of weeds to move in.
You want to keep your soil from compacting. If this were to happen, where there’s no water or oxygen getting to your soil, weeds such as crabgrass could thrive.
In the spring, and throughout the year, it’s not a bad thing to over seed your yard or any bare spots. Heavily seeding a bare spot can limit the amount of room weeds can move into.
Aerating your yard once a year can work wonders for keeping your lawn healthy and weed-free. This technique of piercing holes into your lawn can help with water, air and nutrient circulation, which can strengthen the root system.
The way you cut your grass can play a role. Cutting your grass higher helps shade open areas where weeds could thrive.
Why weeds grow faster than grass
In many areas, weeds are more indigenous to the soil than the grass you plant. Because of this, weeds are more likely to handle weather extremes, such as droughts and excessively wet conditions.
Weeds are better equipped to handle whatever Mother Nature throws at them, so many times, you’ll have to take matters into your hands with eliminating them.
The life cycle of weeds is much shorter. They can go through their entire life cycle in 5 to 6 weeks, so they’re more likely to blossom before flowers or grass, which could lead to them spreading faster.
Weeds can even grow anywhere from 1 to 3 inches a day, giving meaning to the saying “they popped up from out of nowhere.”
