When the weather starts getting warm, it’s time to enjoy the emerging buds and vibrant green of neighborhood lawns. Having a well-tended lawn shows a dedication to maintaining your property.
A healthy lawn is a great place for kids and pets to play. If you’re worried about crabgrass and weeds getting into your yard, follow our tips to nip the problem in the bud.
Keeping Your Lawn Healthy
The best way to prevent crabgrass and other invasive species from invading your lawn is to maintain your lawn care routine so that the grass is healthy enough to fight off weeds. This means always keeping your grass watered and not trimming it too much.
The ideal length for healthy grass is 2.5 inches in length. If your lawn has enough water, it will stay thick. When your lawn is dry or stressed from being cut too short, it will begin to thin out and leave space for invasive weeds to come in and begin to grow.
Other Treatments
If you find a patch of crabgrass, remove it immediately to keep it from spreading. After you’ve removed the weed, mulch the ground in the area. Crabgrass seeds are often left in soil, but the mulch will prevent them from germinating properly and growing into adulthood.
If you don’t want your grass to look patchy, this may not be the best way to go, but sometimes it’s the best way to prevent further crabgrass growth.
Treat before the Heat
A good rule of thumb is to treat the problem spots in your lawn before the consistent heat of summer hits. Crabgrass and other weed species don’t begin to grow until mid to late summer. This is because their growth cycle needs consistent hot temperatures.
There are a number of pre-emergent formulas you can pick up to apply in the spring. Concentrate on the areas that have grown crabgrass and other weeds in the past. Do a few treatments in these areas to ensure that by the time the weeds have the best chance of developing, they won’t be able to get a foothold.
Make sure to carefully consider using herbicides. These will hurt your lawn as well as the invasive species. You may need to employ these measures as a last resort, but you should consult professionals in Flowery Branch before putting down chemicals that will make your lawn less lush while also killing off weeds that like to grow around your lawn.