There’s a saying that goes, “April showers bring May flowers,” but what that saying doesn’t address is the abundance of weeds that come too. Rainy spring weather has a way of bringing out all the weeds in a lawn or garden, which can be time-consuming and burdensome to remove as a homeowner.
This article covers some of the most common types of weeds, plus natural and organic ways to control those weeds for a beautiful yard and garden this spring.
Common Weeds to Know
Weeds typically fit into one of three categories: sedges, grasses, and broadleaf weeds. Grasses have one seed-leaf when seedlings come up through the soil and long and narrow leaves. Sedges may resemble grasses but usually have solid and triangular stems. Broadleaf weeds have expanded leaf blades and often have rap roots or branched roots. Weeds can also be classified as annual weeds (complete their life cycle in one year), biennial weeds (last for two growing seasons), or perennial weeds (live for more than two years).
Here is a list of common weeds that you may encounter in your yard:
- Dandelions
- Chickweed
- Plantain
- Crabgrass
- Goathead
- Yellow wood sorrel
- Common ragweed
- Purslane
Natural Spring Weed Control
Sure, there are plenty of commercially made, chemical weed killers available for sale, but these are not good options for your health or the environment. Chemical weed killers can harm kids and pets playing in the yard, seep into the groundwater supply, and affect the health of plants that you are trying to grow. Moreover, these products aren’t a cure-all solution for the long term, as the weeds will keep coming back year after year even after spraying them.
Although labor-intensive, pulling weeds is among the best solution for addressing this issue. Wait until after a rain when the soil is moist and pull weeds from low on the stem to get all of the roots. If you have a grassy yard, mowing your it regularly can help manage weeds, as well as mulching with organic mulches at least three inches thick.
Remove tiny weeds as soon as you see them so that they don’t grow seeds and spread to other parts of your yard. Hand trowels and weeding hoes can help take some of the labor burden off of you if you have large sections of weeds to remove. It also helps to improve soil drainage with aeration and consider an extra-strength vinegar solution to spray onto large areas of troublesome weeds that you can’t keep up with pulling.
More Spring Growing Tips
As you are focusing on weeds around your property, don’t forget about other spring maintenance tasks, such as fertilizing your plants so that they grow healthy and strong without invasive weeds soaking up all the nutrients. Seagate offers Fish Fertilizer Concentrate and Seaweed and Fish SoilTabs as natural approaches to supply plants with nutrients. Plants grown with fish and seaweed rather than chemical fertilizers will be healthier, stronger, and more disease-resistant – all very important things when you are trying to fight off weeds throughout the growing season.