Weed Control
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DIY Lawn Care: How To Get Rid of Weeds and Landscape Issues
Nothing beats the feeling of having a beautiful, lush, and vibrant lawn that is the envy of the neighborhood. Unfortunately, a lawn doesn’t become beautiful by itself, you have to invest time and energy into making it outstanding and address issues that may creep up, like stubborn invasive weeds and pests.
Landscape issues can vary in severity--from minor weed invasions which can which ruin your lawn's appearance to harmful diseases or plant-eating insects which can damage or kill your desired plant life. Whatever the case may be, if you don’t take action and do something about it, the problem will only get worse.
Ensuring your lawn, garden, aquatic area or landscape is healthy and weed-free doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, we believe you can conduct a professional-quality treatment of your lawn and garden which can effectively eliminate invasive weeds and pests by following our expertly compiled guides and using our high-quality lawn care products.
Identification
The most important step to eliminating an invasive problem on your landscape is by first identifying what invasive species you have. Identifying the weed or pest you have will help in determining what treatment approach will be best to carry out and what professional lawn care products would be ideal to address the issue.
Weeds are broken down into broadleaf and grassy types and each type has different lawn care products that control them. To determine what weed you are dealing with you look at the leaf type. If it has a stem and is wide with visible veins it is most likely broadleaf weed. If it is thin and does not have visible veins then you can be pretty sure it is a grassy weed.
Controlling broadleaf weeds is much easier than grassy weeds because most broadleaf herbicides will not damage turf whereas grassy weed herbicides need to be carefully applied so it doesn't kill your particular lawn type. Use our subcategory guide to figure out exactly what type of weeds you have.
Inspection
Once you know the problem weed you are dealing with, you need to carry out a careful inspection of your property to figure out where the invasive issue is concentrated and get to the bottom of why the issue crept up in the first place.
Weeds, pests and landscaping diseases can appear on land or on aquatic areas, agricultural settings, commercial landscapes or residential areas. All these areas may not necessarily have the same approach.
We have various detailed DIY guides and tutorials on how to perform a proper inspection depending on your landscape setting and outdoor pest problem and will also be happy to help over the phone, via email or live chat.
Treatment
A weed-free lawn can be achieved with a scheduled and routine use of pre- and post-emergent herbicides, along with a proper fertilization schedule. A healthy lawn will help to keep weeds from propagating and filling in bare spots where weeds will find the opportunity to grow.
Before handling any herbicide chemical, we stress the importance of keeping yourself safe with personal protective equipment. The bare minimum should be gloves, goggles, and long sleeve clothing. Check the product label of your herbicide for specifics.
Step 1 - Apply Pre-Emergents
The annual use of barricade pre-emergent is recommended in the fall and springtime because of its ability to prevent weed seed germination. The application timing is dependent upon the area of the country and soil temperatures that influence seed germination.
Barricade essentially acts as a birth control agent and needs to be applied before the seed is germinating. Weeds begin germinating when soil temperatures are around 55 degrees. You can easily check your soil's temperature with a soil thermometer.
Because barricade is a granular herbicide, you will need a spreader to apply. We like the plantmates scatterbox because it has a simple design, and its hopper is usually large enough to be used in most residential lawns and average-sized flower beds. If you're going to treat a large turf area, a push spreader might be better.
First, read the label for the required application rate because the rate can vary depending one which weed(s) you are trying to prevent. Pour the required amount in your spreader, and then spread the granules evenly over the desired area. For more effective control, water the granules down about 0.5 to 2 inches into the soil.
Step 2 - Apply Post-Emergents
For post-emergent weeds, we recommend using both selective and non-selective herbicides, like msm turf herbicide and eraser. It is also a good idea to mix in a surfactant like Nanotek with your herbicide. Nanotek Surfactant is a non-Ionic surfactant which allows the herbicide stick to and spread over the weed leaf surface, aiding in absorption.
MSM Turf Herbicide
MSM Turf Herbicide is a dry flowable herbicide with a broad label. Because it is a selective herbicide, it will only target and kill the weeds listed on its label. With msm turf herbicide herbicide, you would be able to treat your entire turf area without damaging the grass. It can treat up to 43,560 square feet (1 acre).
To use msm turf herbicide, open the product and pour the chemical into either a 1 to 3-gallon pump sprayer. For a pump sprayer, fill the sprayer with 0.025 to 0.05 fl. oz of msm turf herbicide per 1 gallon of water. Secure the lid to your sprayer, agitate the spray mixture until even then spray over your turf. Keep all people and pets off the treated area until dry.
Eraser
Eraser is an effective and economical non-selective herbicide. Because this is a non-selective herbicide, eraser will target and kill any vegetation that it comes into contact with. This is recommended for weed control in driveway and walkway cracks, around paths, or anywhere else that needs vegetation control.
Mix eraser following labeled directions in a pump sprayer and spray the weeds you are trying to control. Eraser does not have any soil activity, meaning that it will not be absorbed into the soil and attack vegetation at its roots. The spray must come into contact with the weeds to be most effective.
Pro Tip: When using both selective and non-selective herbicides, it is a good idea to use separate sprayers, and then mark which sprayer was used with each herbicide. This will help you to avoid cross-contaminating. So, use one sprayer for selective herbicides and one for non-selective. This really goes a long way in protecting your desired plants.
Prevention
After successfully getting rid of your problem weed from your lawn, there’s still work to be done to make sure the problem or any other potential invaders stay out of your yard.
Aside from regularly caring for your lawn via proper mowing, watering, and cultural practices, we have helpful products such as fertilizers, pre-emergent herbicides and other helpful lawn care products you can use as well as tips via our experienced experts.
Key Takeaways
Why is Lawn Care Important?
- There are many kinds of unwanted weeds, pests, and problems that can arise on your lawn. It is crucial to identify which weed you have exactly before proceeding with treatment.
- The key to successful lawn care and weed control is both education and the proper lawn care products and equipment.
What Lawn Care Products Work Best?
- Some of our top recommended lawn care products include nitrophos barricade for pre-emergent control of weeds and either eraser or msm turf herbicide for post-emergent control.
- Browse our lawn care subcategories to find your specific lawn care issue so you can get the right expert advice and lawn care products to address your problem. Our guides provide you with knowledge and confidence so you can successfully get rid of the weed problem the DIY way.
