Keeping Your Lawn Weed Free

How to Keep Your Lawn Weed Free

We’ve all seen a lawn with random grass and weeds growing through it and most of us have accidentally walked through a prickly lawn in bare feet. So the real question is, How do we keep our lawn from turning into a mess?

The process isn’t simple. You need good lawn maintenance. Aerating, dethatching, and fertilising are good places to start.

Weeds are usually a symptom of poor lawn health. Hot summer weather can put pressure on your grass and allow foreign weeds and grasses the chance to take over.

There are two types of lawn weeds. Broadleaf weeds and foreign grasses.

Broadleaf

Broadleaf weeds will normally have branched veins and wide leaves. They are very common in lawns and garden beds.

Broadleaf weeds are much easier to deal with than foreign grasses. A broadleaf spray can target just the broadleaf weeds within a lawn and leave grasses unharmed. Certain broadleafs require specific sprays, for more information check our weed identifier.

Make sure to read the instructions, as dilution rates vary product to product. Also ensure you’re not using these products on a very young lawn, as it may stress it.

You can find broadleaf sprays at your local garden centre. Remember: always read the safety label, and wear appropriate protection.

Foreign grasses

These are the most unforgiving and time consuming threats to your lawn's health.

You have two real options when faced with a barrage of random grasses.

Spot spray each weed with weed killer, or use a knife/grubbing tool to cut the weed out.

Spraying the lawn is a messy option. The weed killer will kill the lawn surrounding the foreign grass. But if the foreign grass is well established this may be your only option.

Top dressing and over seeding your lawn after doing this will help full in any bare patches in your lawn.

Two of the most problem grasses in Auckland are Paspalum and Kikuyu grass. These grasses require immediate attention as they quickly spread, particularly in the summer.

It is important to ensure you avoid mowing affected area’s prior to mowing clean areas of lawn. This will minimise the spread and allow you a chance to remove them with the above methods.

Ensure your mower is cleaned after mowing a weedy part of your lawn.

Using a knife or screw driver you can remove weeds manually. Place the knife in the base of the weed, and pull the handle making a circular motion the whole way around the weed.

Ensure the blade is kept moving forward. You should find the weed comes out with a small cone of soil.

Alternatively, you can using a weeding tool. Insert the tool at the base of the weed, and push the handle down.

Here's a great video on how to pull weeds with a screwdriver, a similar principle applies when using a weeding tool.