Weeds and Grass Safe Lawn Care Guide

Weeds and Grass Safe Lawn Care Guide

Hello everybody, welcome to Sod and Seed, Inc! We are excited to share a little bit about what we've learned regarding weeds, grass and safe lawn care practices. Most professionals and lawn or garden owners can probably tell you that weeds are virtually unavoidable. That's why the majority of questions we get here at Sod and Seed, Inc. are about managing weeds. So, to better serve our customers and provide environmentally friendly, science based tips, our staff attended a training on safely managing weeds by the Clean Water Program. We compiled a list of a few key points. We've also included some resources for you to have at hand from our presenters.

Weeds Spread Naturally!

The first thing to remember is that weeds can spread in many ways and although we may wants weeds out of our lawns and gardens, they are an important part of our environment. For this reason, it's important to know that weeds spread naturally. We often hear about weeds spreading through unwashed lawn mowers used on multiple lawns (like a landscaper's lawn mower). However, weeds can come into your lawn or garden on clothes worn during a hike, in potted plants, on our pet's fur, and by birds. If all else fails, weeds also travel easily by being blown over from any given direction into our lawns. 

Weeds are in the eye of the beholder - what may be a pesty weed for some is a desired plant for another! Pictured below is our Native Lippia plant.

Mulch Ground Covers 

Mulch ground covers such as bark mulch or wood chip mulch, are very helpful in managing weeds safely. Installing mulch on your lawn or garden helps block the sun rays from reaching weeds which doesn't allow the weeds to germinate without the sun light they need. Similarly, mulch ground covers can prevent the weeds from sprouting above ground and growing or reaching the seeding stage.

Managing weeds isn't just heavy herbicide use! A great way to manage weeds is planting a dense lawn or garden area. Here is our Delta Tall 9010 Tall Fescue in a beautiful, dense garden of plants.

Adjusting Your Environment

Our Sod and Seed, Inc. staff learned about IPM (Integrated Pest Management) which seeks to manage pests and weeds safely and taking into considering a bigger picture. One IPM strategy to manage weeds safely is to adjust the environment the weeds are growing in. For example, some weeds grow in certain soil conditions, so by amending your soil, you can alter the environment that the weeds in your area grow best in. Also, ensure all equipment is sanitized. Planting densely is also recommended to manage weeds as a dense rooting system beneath ground can make it harder for weeds to pop up. Lastly, only water the areas needed. 

Kurapia Ground Cover is a great product to safely manage weeds due to its complex and robust root system.

Weeds and Grass

Weeds in grass are probably among the most undesired. The image of a well-manicured lawn is easily changed by weeds. Some things that can help safely manage weeds in grass areas are watering deeply (otherwise, watering less frequently for longer periods of time), mow at various heights throughout the year, aerate the lawn one or twice annually, and monitor weed growth closely. To this day, one of the best and safest ways to get rid of weeds is removing them by hand before they seed. 

Weeds come in all shapes, sizes and colors! Did you know that artificial turf is prone to weed growth? Pictured below is a synthetic turf area with weed growth.

Pesticides and Herbicides

For lawn owners and gardeners, it is common to resort to other types of treatment. Pesticides that kill weeds are called herbicides. When using herbicides, there are many types of herbicides and reading the labels is critical. Some herbicides kill a wider range of weeds while others only kill a few types. Some herbicides kill on contact and others take time. Other treatments called preemergent should be applied before weeds sprout while post emergent should be applied once the weeds have sprouted above the soil. 

When planting a garden or lawn, knowing the effects and risks of treatments is important to keep everyone safe.

Weeds and Grass Safe Lawn Care Resources

We hope you have found our blog about weed management helpful! Below are several links from our webinar presenters we'd like to share to support safe weed management. Shout out to our presenters, Suzanne and Charlotte! Feel free to call us with any further questions at 1-800-381-8163!

• Alameda County Clean Water Program: https://www.facebook.com/CleanWaterProgram
• OWOW, the Our Water, Our World program, is an inter-agency program focused on the used of safer plant products: https://ourwaterourworld.org/
• Cal-IPC, the California Invasive Plant Council, is dedicated to safely protect California's land from invasive plants: https://www.cal-ipc.org/
• PlantRight is also dedicated to safely keeping invasive plants our of California: https://plantright.org/
• OMRI, the Organic Materials Review Institute, helps provide the public with appropriate organic product guideline: https://www.omri.org/

Shop our Kurapia ground cover below. Kurapia ground cover has a complex, dense and robust root system that helps it choke out weeds. With Kurapia ground cover, you can enjoy your lawn and let the Kurapia do the weeding for you!