You have spent the money to have your lawn treated on a regular basis. You have spent the money to have your lawn over-seeded or sodded. You have your lawn mowed on a regular basis. So why do I have weeds in my lawn?
The answers to that question are quite numerous. Make no mistake, if you did not have your lawn treated nor mowed regularly, your lawn would be significantly worse. Fescue lawns are at their “most weedy” state during the late summer months. Bermuda lawns are at their most “weedy state” in the late winter and early spring months.
Let’s Talk About Fescue Lawns Today
The weeds that typically come up in the summer months in fescue lawns can be very difficult to control. Yes, there are herbicides that can kill most of these weeds but when temperatures are above a certain level the herbicide can do more damage than good to your lawn. Therefore, we often refer to August and September as the “ugly duckling” stage of fescue lawns. Weeds such as spurge, Virginia buttonweed, carpetweed, and others can be controlled but only with herbicides that are safe to spray when the temps are below 90 degrees. Then we have dallisgrass! So many times, people see dallisgrass and think it is crabgrass. These are two very different weeds. Crabgrass can be prevented to a major degree and then controlled when it does come up. Dallisgrass, NOT THE CASE! Dallisgrass is one of a lawn care provider's worst nightmares. The only thing that can be done with dallisgrass is to spray it with glyphosate such as roundup or simply dig the weed out. Dallisgrass will die when the frost comes but make no mistake it has already laid its seeds for next year and it will be back.
Our recommendation for dallisgrass is to spray glyphosate on the weed about 7 days before overseeding for the fall. When you overseed this will thicken the lawn which will be very effective in preventing as much dallisgrass from coming back.
Overall Recommendation For Preventing This “Ugly Duckling” Stage Next Year
Keep on Keeping On! Continue with your lawn treatments. Continue to mow regularly and at the right height. Continue to water with the proper techniques. Most importantly overseed! A thick stand of grass cut at the right height is one of, if not the best, ways to keep a weed-free lawn.