How do you remove weeds from your lawn?

[SamClemensMT]

I have a relatively small lawn. Ten minutes walking on it and you can cover every square inch, so I am able to pull up my weeds by hand. I have a neighbor who insist that a herbicidal weed killer is the way to go. I don't trust chemicals though. What do you think?

 

[Chuck]

I have a relatively small lawn. Ten minutes walking on it and you can cover every square inch, so I am able to pull up my weeds by hand. I have a neighbor who insist that a herbicidal weed killer is the way to go. I don't trust chemicals though. What do you think?

Tell your neighbor to keep his chemicals to himself and on his own property. Strong healthy grass will out compete any weed and will choke them out. A lawnmower is the best weed preventer there is. On a small lawn it will be very inexpensive to have a lush weed free lawn. Apply about 1/4"-1/2" of good manure based compost over the grass once a year and about 3 lbs of organic fertilizer per 1000 sq ft. and you won't have any weeds to pull, you will just have to mow it more often. You will also be able to watch your neighbor turn green with envy

 

[claudine]

SamClemensMT, I don't trust chemicals either. I would never use them on my plants! I believe they're harmful to humans and animals.
As for weeds, I don't remove them, I let them grow wherever they want to. Some of them are really pretty

 

[tasha]

I have a relatively small lawn. Ten minutes walking on it and you can cover every square inch, so I am able to pull up my weeds by hand. I have a neighbor who insist that a herbicidal weed killer is the way to go. I don't trust chemicals though. What do you think?

I am not a fan of chemicals and they are so bad to inhale. We have a company that comes into our neighbours place and the smell can kill us all with the wind blowing in our direction. A great way to remove weeds, although time consuming is to take them out with your bare hands.

 

[jade870]

I agree most chemicals are harsh, However they do kill most weeds. I myself do use some weed killer, but I try not to use much. Some weed killer I have used in the passed would kill grass and all. So I am not a big fan of most of the chemicals out there, I do pull some weeds up by hand. I went to a feed store and got some power that killed weeds and not the grass here this summer and it workers wonders.

 

[tasha]

You can also use jik apparently but I have never tried that. There are some old wives tales about what to use and some say bicarbonate of soda and vinegar will kill weeds and that is not a bad chemical and will not kill anything else in the process.

 

[Nikkishea21]

Well you need to remember that chemicals can be detrimental to your plants as well so pulling out by hand may be the best way to go. That is how I go about removing weeds from my garden. I usually do this on a regular basis in order not to have them at a stage where it is too overwhelming to remove. It is not hectic for me, I get a chance to check up on the progress of my plants at the same time. It is good exercise for me in the mornings when the air is fresh and clean.

 

[Nikkishea21]

Oh i just realized you were referring to lawn here, my bad. My previous post was addressing general removal of weeds from the garden. I do not have a lawn of such but i guess that hand removal can be done here as well.

 

[tasha]

I hope that there is an easier way to remove weeds as I have tried the bicarbonate and vinegar and it doesnt work! There is another thing you can buy called weed eat I am not sure if you can find it everywhere but it is in the garden stores here and it works wonders. You only have to sprinkle a little on the area you need to remove from and it instantly kills the weeds.

 

[Mockingbird]

I use tortoise power, seriously! I do not spray my lawns, I have Lessor Celandine that come in the spring and lasts till May, then I mow it back and the grass comes in. The day I mow is the day I let my torts loose in the yard, they eat most of the weeds gleefully. In fact there are time I have to go hunt weeds for them along the railroad lines because they are so thorough. I did add Bugleweed (Ajuga) to an area on purpose to see how it naturalized, I like the results, very nice texture. Very pretty tiny purple flower carpet.

I am not a fan of to many chemicals, I worry about the bee's and want to do my part to keep my yard eco sound as much as I can. I will look at work, I had a great article for bird watchers on things you can leave naturally in your yard that will attract song birds. It was a great article, i am pretty sure I saved it.

 

[nematode]

I used to be a whole lot more afraid of chemicals than I am now. I really don't have the time or the energy to pick weeds by hand or any manual or otherwise ineffective method.

If you hit small broadleaf weeds near the beginning of the spring with a standard broadleaf killer you will have far less to no weeds if done right.

Use something with: .05% Dicamba .12% 2,4-D .22% MCPP and save a lot of time and energy.
https://www.ortho.com/smg/goprod/ortho-weed-b-gon-max-weed-killer-for-lawns/prod70206

I have used this for years and still have tons of bees it really doesn't stay for more than 24-48 hours. Most sticks very tightly to clay types of particles anyway. Some will leach though so be careful of tree roots.

Monocots like crabgrass and Poa annua are another thing. You better be ready for a early and consistent battle with preemergent herbicide.

 

[Pat]

To avoid the use of chemicals I just pull the weeds up when I see them or use vinegar in places that I am not concerned about other plants being harmed, like the cracks in the driveway. We do have an area that has a network of roots that I just don't seem to be able to control. For years I have battled the growth of weeds in that space and hate to put chemicals because it is the front flower bed, we have covered it with heavy plastic and rocks and the weeds still grew.

 

[nematode]

To avoid the use of chemicals I just pull the weeds up when I see them or use vinegar in places that I am not concerned about other plants being harmed, like the cracks in the driveway. We do have an area that has a network of roots that I just don't seem to be able to control. For years I have battled the growth of weeds in that space and hate to put chemicals because it is the front flower bed, we have covered it with heavy plastic and rocks and the weeds still grew.

If you spray something on the flower bed with only glyphosate you can plant in about 7 days.

For the cracks in the driveway use someting with diquat and put enough on to create a barrier. It will work for a few months or until the surface gets disturbed.

 

[tasha]

There is nothing worse then the smell of those chemicals that are sprayed as well as peestacides, it cannot be good for you. Any way that is natural including pulling them out with your hands is far beter than that, even if it takes hours and lots of frustration to remove them all.

 

[grouie]

There is only one way and that is to remove them manually, taking care to see that the roots with them. If the roots stay behind then you will get more weeds.