Your Lawn is Under Attack!

The invaders are here. No, not the cicadas: the weeds. Summer weeds are here, and while the cicadas are screeching, the weeds are stealing nutrients, light, and water from our lawns. There’s not much we can do about the cicadas, but we can control the weeds.

First, though, we have to define what a weed is. And that’s up to you: it’s your lawn. If you love a yellow polka-dotted lawn, keep those dandelions. And what some of us call weeds others call dinner. There are lots of recipes for dandelion salads, and oxalis leaves have a citrusy flavor.

But if you don’t want weeds crowding out your turfgrass, then you’ll need to control them. And remember: healthy turfgrass has proven benefits. A healthy lawn helps lower air temperatures and reduces soil erosion. And 50 square feet of turfgrass produces enough oxygen for the daily needs of four people.

Fight the Good Fight

So, it can be worth it to keep your lawn healthy and fight off those weeds. But where do you start? Start by identifying the weeds. Know what you’re up against before you attack. If you’re not sure what weeds you have, there are plenty of quality weed identification apps for your phone. With the weeds ID’d, you can come up with your plan to control them.

Some of you are thinking, “I don’t need an app to tell me dandelions are taking over.” That’s simple: you can try pulling dandelions by hand. Is there anything more satisfying than the “pop” a dandelion makes when you get the entire root? But that’s the problem: you have to get the entire root. And if your problem weed is, say, chickweed, Creeping Charlie, or wild violets, you’ll never be able to pull them all by hand.

Rather than trying to fight off an invasion pulling one weed at a time, choose a selective herbicide labeled to control a wide selection of broadleaf weeds. Whether you spot spray individual weeds or broadcast apply the product to the entire lawn, you can get them under control with less wear and tear on your hands and back than you’ll have trying to pull them by hand.

Beating Established Problems

But what if the weeds have all but won? If the dandelions and henbit and crabgrass and foxtail have taken control, you need to take it back. Where do you start? Trying to pull them all by hand would be inefficient and ineffective. You can mix a broadleaf weed herbicide and a grassy weed herbicide. Using multiple products to get multiple weeds will work, but it probably means more money, and it definitely means more work for you, whether you tank mix or apply them individually. How about controlling them all with one product? Enter Trimec Platinum.

Trimec Platinum All-In-One Weed Control from Gordon’s is the newest generation of Trimec herbicide, a brand that’s been trusted for more than 50 years, Trimec Platinum combines five active ingredients to create a powerful selective herbicide that eliminates more than 250 weeds with one innovative formulation. That includes broadleaf weeds like dandelion, clover, and chickweed as well as tough grassy weeds like crabgrass and foxtail.

A weed-free lawn only looks as good as the hardscapes that surround it, of course. Weed control in fencerows, driveways, and patios calls for a non-selective herbicide. Where Trimec Platinum only controls the weeds listed on its label, a non-selective controls all vegetation. The innovative minds at Gordon’s created a Barrier Year-Long Vegetation Control Concentrate to do just that. Barrier controls listed grasses, broadleaf weeds, vines, and brush right down to the root, and the performance lasts for up to a full year.

Read and Follow

An important reminder if you choose a chemical herbicide weed control: Always read and follow label directions. The best way to ensure you get optimum performance out of the product is to apply it per the manufacturer’s instructions. And most herbicide and pesticide labels include the statement, “It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling.” That’s right: the label is the law.

These tips will help you as you head into peak weed season. First and foremost: identify the weeds and decide if they are, in fact, weeds. Keep the ones you like, control the ones you don’t, and have a great summer outside (if you can handle the cicadas).

Thanks to PBI Gordon for this information.