How To Kill 4 Weed Types With Delaware Lawn Care Practices

lawns9 Homeowners in Delaware often struggle to grow a healthy lawn when weeds infest their landscape. Instead of a lush, dark green and uniform turf, your lawn may be overrun by crabgrass, broadleaf weeds, perennial grass weeds and sedges, all of which are common in Delaware.

Have you ever experienced the frustration of spraying your lawn with a weed control product only to see no improvement? The most difficult-to-control weeds require special herbicides, many of which may not be available to the homeowner.

Delaware lawn care is challenging for homeowners who are not familiar with native weeds or their best treatments. If you own a vacation home or moved here to retire, you may see weed species that you are not familiar with.

There are cultural lawn maintenance practices that help suppress weed problems. Effective Delaware lawn care techniques include:

Applying adequate fertilizer at the right time of year
Monitoring soil pH and other nutrients using proper soil testing methods
Mowing your lawn to a height of 3.0 – 3.5”
Irrigating your turf deeply and infrequently

Although cultural practices such as these are helpful, they do not prevent all weed problems. Using herbicides is essential to maintaining a functional and attractive lawn. Learn tips for using herbicides to treat and prevent four common Delaware weed types:

1. Crabgrass

Crabgrass is the most invasive lawn weed in Delaware. If it goes unchecked, crabgrass dominates your lawn and pushes out desirable grasses. Following a few frosts in October, crabgrass dies, giving your lawn a brown and dead appearance until next summer.

Your Delaware lawn care company should apply a preemergence, crabgrass-targeted herbicide in March or early April to prevent crabgrass growth. Don’t expect any herbicide to be completely effective – about 85% effectiveness is most realistic. The following herbicides prevent crabgrass encroachment:

Dithiopyr
Pendimethalin
Prodiamine

If crabgrass is already a problem in your lawn, effective postemergence weed control is difficult to achieve. If you require postemergence treatments, however, leave the application to your lawn care company. The best timing to apply these herbicides is mid-July. After late July, complete control is unlikely.

2. Broadleaf Weeds

White clover and dandelion are just two of the many examples of broadleaf weeds that emerge in spring. In summer, numerous other species emerge, which can be most troublesome. Broadleaf weeds continue to emerge and grow until the weather is cold enough for a frost. Pockets of broadleaf weeds form in many Delaware lawns, but can be spot-treated with herbicides safely and effectively.

Purchase a mix of two or three of the following herbicides and spray affected areas:

2,4-D
MCPP
Dicamba
Fluroxypyr
Triclopyr

3. Perennial Grass Weeds

Lawn care companies use herbicides to selectively control certain perennial grass weeds, such as creeping bentgrass and wiregrass, but multiple applications are needed. It’s also difficult to achieve more than 90% control.

There are no safe and effective herbicides to prevent or kill perennial grass weeds such as rough bluegrass and Dallisgrass. Consequently, you or yourlawn service must either physically remove or spot-treat these weedy grasses with Round-up (i.e., glyphosate, a non-selective herbicide that kills all vegetation it contacts). Round-up will cause dead spots that can persist all summer.

4. Sedges

Yellow nutsedge and Kyllinga are common sedge weeds in Delaware and frustrating for homeowners trying to remove them. Sedges are difficult to manage with herbicides because they emerge all summer.

The best course of treatment for sedges is two applications of an appropriate herbicide that kills the sedges, but does little or no damage to the lawn. These special herbicides (such as sulfentrazone) are difficult to find and apply properly.

A lawn service is your best option for managing perennial grass weeds and sedges, because effective herbicides are difficult for consumers to purchase. These herbicides must be applied on a well-timed schedule with calibrated sprayers. Granular products will not work against perennial grasses or sedges.

Lawns dominated by perennial grasses may need to be completely renovated. However, don’t let this challenging task prevent you from growing the beautiful landscape you desire for your home. If you have questions about the best course of treatment for your weed problem, talk to a lawn care expert today.

Ready to discover other effective lawn care techniques for your home? Read these seasonal tips for a beautiful lawn all year.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply