Every year in October Uncle gets those same panicy phone calls.
" Uncle, I followed your Fall Renovation Program™, I used your weed free grass seed. Why do I have weeds in my yard?" Uncle's immediate response is "Well, that's
okay, it really means you did it right."
When preparing your lawn for overseeding you are trying to open the pathway for the
seed to get to the soil. If the seed doesn't reach the soil, it won't grow. This is why Uncle recommends verticutting,
dethatching, aerating, or raking bare areas before you overseed. In this process you are disturbing and turning the soil,
anytime you disturb the soil (aerate, dethatch, verticut, or rake) you expose pre-existing weed seeds that lay dormant
in the soil. These weed seeds could be from last year or several years ago, suspended under the soil, too deep to germinate,
waiting for their opportunity to spring into life.
Most of these
new weeds will be annual grassy weeds the same types of seed that appreciate the new fertilizer and additional watering
from overseeding. Others, may be stimulated nutsedge nutlets, oxalis (clover), or numerous other broadleaf weed types.
Annual grassy weeds (crabgrass,dallisgrass, or foxtail). Don't worry about these types. Grassy weeds will be slow to germinate as soil temperatures cool. Mother Nature will
take care of these at the first frost. Use PREVENT™ in Mid-April to eliminate their return.
Broadleaf weeds (clover, dandelion,
chickweed, or spurge, etc...) Mow your new grass at 3 inches, when you have mowed your lawn 2-3 times then you can
control these weeds with an application of granular Loveland WEED & FEED™ or a liquid application of Gordon's SPEED ZONE®(can be applied down
to 45 degrees with warm soils)
Nut
sedge same waiting period as #3 using an application
of Sedgehammer®
June/July/August
Warm Weather Weed Killers
Rising from bare spots and showing there ugly heads during
periods of summer lawn drought stress dandelions, spurge, clover, and bind weed are all perennial broadleaf weeds not
controlled by Step #1 pre-emergent. When temperatures are warm and sticky Speed Zone® will work
the best.Uncle says make sure to use Gordon’s Spreader Sticker® to help the spray stick to the small waxy leaves.
Once warmer
weather becomes the norm, a traditional Step #2 Loveland Weed and Feed™ gives a good
weed kill and helps fill in bare spots.Granular weed killers work their best on large leaved weeds.If you apply Loveland Weed and Feed™ when the lawn is damp with a morning or evening dew, your
dandelions will be curling the next day.Damp leaf, warm night and no rain for 24 hours and Dandy Dandelion
will curl up and die.
Fall Application can also be effective for control on broadleaf weeds. Broadleaf weeds that germinate in October
are easily controlled. Baby broadleaf weeds are actively storing food for the dormant winter season. An application of
Trimec® or Speed Zone® will kill the plants down to the roots.
Warm Weather Weed Killers
the spray stick to the small waxy leaves.
Fall Application can also be effective for control on broadleaf weeds. Broadleaf weeds that germinate in October
are easily controlled. Baby broadleaf weeds are actively storing food for the dormant winter season. An application of
Trimec® or Speed Zone® will kill the plants down to the roots.