This week the Salt Lake Tribune released an article about Utah’s weed problem announcing, Salt Lake City lawns are among the worst in the nation for weeds in 2018. Here are a few quick tips to combat those nasty weeds!
For Lawns:
- Do not overwater the lawn – keeping the lawn too moist encourages weed growth. Let the soil dry out completely between waterings to reduce the germination of weed seeds.
- Fertilizing is important for lawns, but weeds will also use the fertilizer if they have taken root so do not overfertilize.
- If your grass is cut too short, it weakens the lawns root system which allows space for those pesky weeds to dig in deeper. Try keeping your lawn a bit longer than usual and you will see reduced weed growth.
- If your lawn is older and there are some bare spots, it is worth aerating the lawn and adding an application of new grass seed (overseeding). Aerating and overseeding will help to invigorate the root growth and will help to eliminate bare spots.
For Flower Beds:
- Pull the weeds that have already come up, be sure to pull the roots out with the leaves.
- Put down a pre-emergent. This will prevent any seeds from germinating and will greatly reduce the number of weeds that grow in your garden beds*.
- *it is important NOT to use pre-emergent if you plan on growing anything from seed directly in the flower bed.
- If the weeds have taken over already, you can use a weed-killer, but be sure to spray only the leaves of the weeds and let the weed die completely before removing it from the soil. This will allow the chemical to reach the root system, which will prevent the plant from regrowing after the leaves have died.
Happy weeding!
