The Winter Weed Calendar – What You Need to Know

During the spring and summer months you will have worked hard to insure that your lawn has been kept in tip top condition, allowing for it to be viewed by all in its glory and also to be used by the family as a site or recreation and relaxation. And you will have done all of this whilst trying to prevent weeds from taking hold.

However once the summer months are over and the frosts begin to take hold then is the time when you should be most active in keeping down weeds and stopping fungi and rot from taking a deep seated hold on your lawn.

December

In December, unless the weather is particularly mild, there will be little happening in terms of growth in your garden. The colours will have changed and the leaves will have already fallen – and will be falling – from the trees around your lawn. It is in this month that the serious work begins to eradicate weeds and also keep fungi down to a minimum.

Start by raking away old leaves and garden debris; this in itself always makes a lawn look better than it may well be and allows for you – the gardener – to see clearly those areas of lawn that require your attention.

There is normally lots of rain in December so take advantage of this where you can; rain loosens up the soil underneath the grass and allows for the pulling free of weeds where possible.

You should continue to cut your lawn when necessary – but during the winter months there is not as much growth unless (as we have already mentioned – the weather is particularly mild. If your lawn does need mowed do so as regularly as required but cut the grass higher than you would in the summer months.

January

By the end of December most garden work comes to a stand still as families enter into the spirit of Christmas and workers take much needed holiday. By the time January comes around there will be work needed again to help stave off the advancing weeds.

A considerable number of weeds are referred to as annuals – which means they live, die and reproduce in one season. It is important to lay weedkiller in January but you should ideally use organic weed killer which will attack the weeds without burning the grass as chemical weed killer would. Also it is important to use the right amount and not be too liberal with it as this will only seek to destroy surrounding healthy grass.

Cut the tops from weeds as often as you can, especially if they have deeply rooted underground root systems. These roots will strangle healthy grass roots and sap the nutrients from the surrounding soil.

February

February is the time to be laying new grass seed on those infected areas of lawn that needed a lot of weeding in the months before. February – in particular the last two weeks – is the best time to laying new seed as most of the frosts will have started to die away and there is more chance of the seeds germinating into new grass.

Again mow the lawn as and when required – being careful when doing so not to cut the tops from weeds and spread them across the lawn where they can take hold elsewhere. Before mowing your lawn you should spend some time cutting and pulling weeds where you can and disposing of the waste material in a manner which will not allow their seed or off shoots to grow back in other healthy parts of your lawn.

Your local garden centre will be available to provide you with further information as well as giving your expert advise on which is the best weedkiller to use.

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