It’s easy to overlook weeds, but they can cause the biggest problems with your lawn by creating dead patches when they suck out nutrients and overshadow your grass.
Many weeds can be adequately controlled through feeding your lawn and regular mowing, but sometimes you need a more direct approach.
Manual removal
This is still the most reliable way to weed the lawn. A variety of modern tools are available to help you weed, or you can use an old-fashioned daisy grubber.
WEAR gloves while weeding, as some have prickles and others have mildly caustic sap.
PULL up the weeds, roots and all, to prevent them growing back.
AVOID shaking the weeds to prevent the spread of seeds.
KEEP a bucket on hand to toss the weeds into, then dispose of them in your green waste. Spot-weeding You can use selective weedkillers to spot-spray lawn weeds or use diluted all-purpose herbicide.
The important thing to remember is that non-selective herbicides will kill or damage all plants, so any overspray onto the lawn will cause harm.
If not using a ready-to-use pack, then there are two easy ways of applying herbicide to the lawn when spot-weeding.
BRUSH on using an old paintbrush or a special-purpose device such as the Yates Zero Weeding Brush.
SPRAY on to spot-treat the weeds. There are hooded spray heads available for many spray units, but remember that you’re still likely to get a certain amount of overspray.
Any weed takes nutrients away from the grass. With lawns, prevention is key, as healthy grass will out-compete most weeds. But if they’ve taken hold, there are ways to deal with them.