Weed control in lawns is one of the most common, yet misunderstood, aspects of maintaining a lawn.

One day your yard is lush and green and the next, it’s being taken over by clover and ivy. What can you do? Here are a few tips based on the most common questions we get from customers.

When to Spray

Weeds in new lawns can be sprayed once the lawn has been mowed two or three times. Weeds in established lawns can be treated when they are actively growing. In most cases this is in the spring and early fall.

Trying to kill weeds when it is too cold (below 60 degrees) or too hot(above 88 degrees) can lead to poor results. New herbicides like Earl May’s Super Brush and Weed Killer are much more effective at cooler temperatures. Super Brush is available in a Ready To Use Sprayand pint concentrate.

Killing Tough Weeds

For the most difficult-to-control weeds, apply weed killer twice, 10-14 days apart, mixing Turbo Spreader Sticker to your sprayer with the weed killer. A spreader sticker makes the spray solution cover better and hold onto the leaves of the weeds. If you do this in October, the weeds will not store energy for winter and die by the following spring.

Weed AND Feed

If you are wanting to control weeds PLUS feed your lawn, Earl May Weed and Feed is the product for you. This is the second step of our Earl May Lawn Programs but can also be purchased separately. May is a good time to apply this product. For the best control, apply to a damp lawn when no rain is forecast for 24 hours and daytime temperatures are in the 70’s and 80’s. Always read the label completely before applying and follow instructions. 

Other Methods

Before resorting to weed killers, you can reduce the amount of weeds in your lawn by mowing with your blade on a higher setting in the late spring and summer. This lets the lawn shade the soil which reduces germination of weed seeds.

Simply fertilizing a lawn will make it more vigorous which is likely to help choke out weeds. Once weeds begin to grow, kill them before they seed and you will have fewer weeds in your lawn the next year.