Whatever the time of year weeds are a common problem for any gardener or green-fingered amateur.
These growing pests spend their time wrapping themselves around the roots of grass and plants alike in an attempt to maintain a strong grasp on the garden environment and without proper attention being paid to them they can cause not only damage to your lawn but they can also spoil the visual appearance that you may have spent months trying to perfect.
There are several different ways in which weeds can be removed from your lawn and depending on the severity of the weed infestation this will then have a bearing on which method is best to use.
Weeding by Hand
For the most part the old fashioned hand weeding procedure is the best. Manual control of the weeds is carried out either by removing them by hand or by gently prising them out with a hoe or a fork. Of course it is easier to do this on a border or vegetable patch but, when it comes to the lawn, a little more care must be taken to ensure that you don’t cause additional damage to the lawn itself.
Shallow rooting perennial weeds can be removed easily with a fork or with a firm grasp at the base of the stalk – this provides enough leverage to remove the bulbs and roots from the ground and leaves them with little or not chance of regrowth. It is best not to use a trowel if you are going to try digging them out as this will only sever the bulbs and multiply a previously contained problem.
Annual weeds too need to be removed from the ground either by hoeing first off or by hand weeding. This is best done on a dry sunny day so that the weeds are loosened easily from the soil.
Horsetail is a perennial that has become practically immune to weed killers so pulling them out or persistently cutting away their foliage is one of the only ways to eradicate that particular problem.
Rotavating
Another way of weeding your lawn is to use a light rotavator. It is advisable to take extreme care using this method as it is easy to damage your lawn in the process but it can be done given the proper care and attention.
Weed Killers
And last but by no means least are the new protagonists in the gardener’s fight against weeds – weed killers. Weed killers are now becoming something of a stable in the gardener’s arsenal and used correctly and adhering to the instructions provided they can prove invaluable in helping to remove weeds from your lawn.
Extra care must be advised though and it is best to seek advice from your local garden centre when buying weed killers as some of them are more prone to damaging grasses and turf lawns than killing the weeds themselves. Incorrect usage of weed killers can burn the grass or, worse still, kill it completely leaving unsightly patches of dead grass, which will have to be replaced.
Weeding is perhaps one of those chores that gardeners like least but it is an important part of any gardener’s calendar and once carried out there is immense satisfaction to be had from seeing a weed free lawn looking as pristine as the day it was first laid.