Warm Weather Weed Killers

Rising from bare spots and showing their ugly heads during periods of summer lawn drought stress are dandelions, spurge, clover, and bind weed. All are 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.

Fall Seeding brings Fall Weeding!

"If you build it, they will come"

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. 

"Well Uncle, how do I get rid of them?"

Uncle's Plan: 

1. Don't panic, stay on course maintaining normal watering and fertilizing following Uncle's Fall Renovation Program™.
2. 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.
3. 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)
4. Nut sedge has the same waiting period as #3 using an application of Uncle's Sledgehammer™.

COOL WEATHER WEEDS

As Omaha homeowners walk through their springtime lawns, they all have the same question.  What is this strange little weed???  In the springtime, lawn barespots will be filled with one of Mother Nature’s little winter surprises.  Winter broadleaf weeds: henbit, chickweed, oxalis, dandelions, and an occasional thistle have sprouted in the lawn wherever there is a bare spot.  Some have little flowers: purple, yellow or white.  No matter how cold, how much snow and ice, or how good your lawn looked last fall, it now looks like the salad bar at Denny’s.

These small winter broadleaf weeds can be controlled with the right weed control program.  They are not controlled by pre-emergents.  A traditional Step #2 Loveland Weed and Feed™will not work well until cold soil temperatures warm up in April.  Likewise, their small leaves make them a difficult target for weed spray.

Uncle says the best way to kill these little winter broadleaves is with a cold weather liquid weed killer:  Trimec® or Speed Zone®.  Uncle says make sure to use Gordon’s Spreader Sticker™ to help the spray stick to the small waxy leaves and use the stronger mixing formula.  Also, be patient.  At cold soil temperatures, these plants die more slowly and you may need a second application after seven to ten days.