When planting a new lawn from seed (in particular), soil is normally added, amended, cultivated and/or aerated to provide optimum seed-growing conditions. Lightly cultivated soil is critical for new grass seed germination and eventual plant/root development, but also happens to be the “open door” needed for any/all competing nearby weed seed to flourish.
Here are a few precautions that can be taken to lessen the possibility of unwanted weed growth within your improved soil/new lawn area.
If attempting to grow grass within an area that already has a large population of weeds (broadleaf, grassy or grass-like weeds) consider applying a selective or non-selective herbicide to all unwanted growing vegetation a few weeks before soil preparation/seed planting takes place to completely eliminate the problematic weeds found (roots and all).
Plant grass seed in late summer/early fall to avoid increased spring season weed seed competition.
Use a premium blend of site-specific grass seed that contains 0% weed/noxious weed seed.
Consider mechanical slit-seeding (when existing site and soil conditions allow) to plant new grass seed directly into the soil through an existing stand of turf grass.
When planting grass seed in large lightly cultivated soil areas, consider covering all newly planted areas with seed germination blanket to lessen the exposure to wind-blown weed seed, feeding birds, etc..
If all precautions were taken, but a few problematic broadleaf weeds still happened to grow within your newly seeded areas, no problem at all. Here are a few simple steps that can be taken to eradicate the unwanted weeds found growing in your prized new lawn. If a small area, just manually pull any/all weeds found as they appear. If a larger area, spot treat the visible broadleaf weed foliage with a selective liquid herbicide to completely eliminate the weed (root and all). As lawn density builds over time, weed competition will become less problematic due to less bare soil exposure.
Just remember, planting or repairing a lawn from seed is not a quick proposition and without it’s fair share of short term challenges (maintenance, irrigation, environmental conditions, etc.). However, it is our continued opinion that planting a site specific lawn from premium disease resistant grass seed is the very best way to grow a healthy stand of turf grass that will eventually prove worth the wait. Please consider Pacocha Landscaping Services, Inc. for your next lawn improvement project. Thank you for visiting our site and have a great day!
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