The Lawn Task To Do In September To Keep It Weed-Free
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It’s undeniable that our lawns undergo a raging battle during the dog days of summer. All that intense sunlight, heat, and humidity is enough to crisp the best of grasses. Sadly, even when temperatures start to cool down with the approaching fall, there’s little respite. Several broadleaf weeds, including dandelions, white clover, henbit, ground ivy, black medic, horseweed, chickweed, thistle, plantain, and bindweed, begin germinating in this cool weather. While they may mask themselves as tiny, benign seedlings in your turfgrass, come spring, they put out explosive growth that is harder to manage.
Given that, you must undertake a lawn task in September: spraying it down with weed control treatments. Now, there are several reasons why you should do this. For starters, weeds are better tackled as seedlings, as they’re yet to form deep roots. Moreover, they’re easy to eradicate now that they’re still small rather than later when they will have established thick mats and hamper spring care tasks.
Most importantly, fall treatments are particularly more effective. Fall-germinating weeds begin transporting resources into their underground structures, like roots, tubers, or stolons, to ensure successful overwintering. Herbicides applied in September similarly translocate into their roots, effectively weakening or killing the weeds and preventing self-seeding or spread. This also works out well for your ornamentals. Since their growth slows down during autumn, they take less damage from any accidental chemical or vapor drift, compared to spring applications when they’re actively growing. Besides, at cooler temperatures, you can go in with a higher dose if the weed pressure is high.
