Weeding is an important task year-round for your garden and your lawn. But it’s especially critical to tackle weeds in the fall for a variety of reasons, which we’ll explore right now.
1. Fall Cleaning
Fall leaves already create a big headache for homeowners looking to keep their lawns clean and healthy, so it might be a bit of a hassle to tack on weed control in this already busy time. But when you incorporate weed control into your fall lawn care routine, you actually reduce the amount of work you’ll need to do later in the year. It’s easiest to kill weeds in the fall because they’re in the early stages of development. Weeds are very hardy and can survive a lot, so taking them on when they’re weak and still taking root is a great way to ensure they’re dead before spring. Many winter annual weeds, like henbit, chickweed, and purple deadnettle, start germinating in the late summer, reaching the early stages of growth in the fall. Cleaning up leaves from garden beds and lawns takes away places for weeds to hide, ensuring you catch them quickly and early.
Since Nashville winters often don’t get too cold, we’re stuck with weeds year-round that can become especially visible and disruptive in the winter months when lawns are dormant. Removing weeds by hand is the most effective way of getting rid of them if they’re visible, and it only requires simple tools and some elbow grease. If you came here wondering, “Should I bother pulling weeds in the fall?” then wonder no more! The answer is a resounding yes. Fall is the best time to manually remove weeds, but more than that, it’s the best time for weed prevention, too. Read on to learn how The Parke Company can help you prevent weeds with herbicides.
2. Take a Weed Inventory
The best way to prevent weeds from forming this fall and winter is to know what you’re up against. Not every lawn and garden bed is susceptible to the same kinds of weeds. Different types of grass come with their own common weeds, so a one-size-fits-all weed treatment plan doesn’t exist for diverse Nashville lawns. While you’re killing weeds in the fall, take note of what kinds of weeds you’re seeing. Whether you’re removing henbit, chickweed, crabgrass, or deadnettle, each has its own treatment plan. Manually weeding is a lot of work, but when you couple the process with weed prevention, it should dramatically reduce the amount of effort you need to put forward next year. Sometimes, when you prevent one weed, a new type of weed takes its place. This is why a yearly weed inventory is so helpful—it can really help identify the problem you may face in the spring long before the weeds get out of hand. Fortunately, many weed prevention herbicides can treat multiple types of weeds, among other lawn and garden issues.
3. Weed Prevention
Weed prevention is important for your landscaping year-round, but fall is the best time to apply herbicides and make changes to prevent weeds from growing. Annual weeds spread by seeds, and winter weeds spread quickly and can be relatively hard to see until they grow quickly in the spring. You can spray for a variety of weeds in the fall, and it really is the best time of the year to tackle winter weeds. It’s important to note that herbicides for the garden and lawn are different, so ensure you’re using the proper type of chemicals for each area of your landscaping. Herbicides can be dangerous if applied incorrectly, so this is one area that you should rely on the pros for. At The Parke Company, we’ve been applying chemical weedkillers to lawns for years, and our experience means that you and your home will be safe from any issues these chemicals may cause. Expert precision also ensures that weeds are fully controlled and aren’t going to sneak into other areas of the lawn. Applying herbicides evenly can be difficult without specialized equipment, so a landscaping company is your best bet for getting that high-quality application. The weed killers applied in the fall are called preemergence herbicides because they target weeds before they grow in the spring. These weed killers are different from the kind you may use in the spring or summer, so ensure you’re using the right product in the right season.
4. Reduce Pests and Increase Moisture
Weeds are disruptive on their own in a garden or lawn, depriving your plants of nutrients and growing quickly over the grass line. But weeds are far from just unsightly nutrient hogs for a lawn or garden; they can also invite pests that a healthy lawn wouldn’t have. Many pests like cutworms that can harm garden plants and vegetables survive on eating weeds when vegetables aren’t available. Weed availability increases the presence of pests in your garden year-round, making it more likely that your lawn and plants will see pest damage in the spring and summer.
Weeds are incredibly resource-hungry and will choke out grass and other plants with their constant consumption of water. Even in their early stages of development, perennial and winter weeds can soak up hundreds of gallons of water in the soil. This deprives the soil of the hydration it needs to support grass and even trees, causing health issues with your lawn and other garden plants. Dry soil can cause a whole host of problems that extend far beyond brown patches in the lawn. When soil is dry, it’s far weaker against wind and rain erosion, making it fall apart and sweep away in a rainstorm. Weed control in the fall prevents pests and keeps your lawn more hydrated—it can also prevent the land from deteriorating.
Tackle Winter Weeds in the Fall
Weeds are a source of visible and invisible issues that can greatly harm your lawn and other plants, so prevention is critical. The fall is the best time to tackle weeds, so what are you waiting for? Call the experts at The Parke Company to see what we can do for your lawn this year.