Weeds in my lawn. Now what?

Since 01/01/2019, the sale of selective weed killers in the lawn or on driveways and paths has been banned in Belgium. However, there are acids, such as pelargonic acid, which 'burn' leaves, grass and weeds alike. Personally, we are not in favour of this because it does not kill the root, and consequently the weeds will immediately regrow. What does work is to take preventive action. Below you can find a three-step plan to avoid weeds in the lawn 👇

Is your lawn looking like this, or tending towards this, if you don't start taking action soon? Then it's actually already too late! Removing all the weeds manually is almost impossible and, what's more, the weeds will quickly come back because your turf will allow it. Selective herbicides based on glyphosate are no longer allowed in Belgium because they are said to be carcinogenic. If your lawn is too overgrown with weeds, there is really only one solution: contact a garden contractor. This is because the sale and use of selective weed killers is banned for private individuals, but not for professionals. The most important thing is to act preventively.

1. Maintain your lawn! 🌿

In a well-maintained lawn, there are no bare spots where weeds can take root. So the most important preventive measure is to properly maintain your existing beautiful lawn!

You can do this by regularly fertilising the lawn and liming if necessary. Do not just spread lime but ideally do this during the winter period so that it can be slowly absorbed by the soil. First check whether you need to lime at all by measuring the pH value of your soil. You can do this yourself with a pH meter soil analysis test kit.

When fertilising, it is important not to spread just any fertiliser, but a suitable lawn fertiliser for each season:

During spring, use a fertiliser with a higher nitrogen value so that the lawn gets a boost and can grow well.
During autumn, the lawn is just coming into dormancy and we want to grow a strong root system so it is not susceptible to (fungal) diseases during winter. For this, we need an autumn fertiliser with potassium.

If you need help picking the perfect fertiliser for your lawn 👉 Take a moment to read this article!

2. Remove emerging weeds immediately! ☘️

Has the damage already been done and do you see the first weeds emerging anyway? Then remove them immediately to prevent the weeds from spreading and the roots from multiplying underground. The sooner you get there, the easier it will be to remove the weeds (including the roots!). A useful tool for this is a traditional weed cutter but you can also use an asparagus picker (multifunctional 😉 ).

A weed burner is also an option but we are not in favour of this. This might be easy but you really already need a high temperature to burn even the root, and you usually achieve this with a professional device but not with the ones offered for sale to individuals.

Do you suffer from clover in the lawn?

Then the product Clever off can provide relief. It can also help control light weeds and moss in the lawn. It is a selective product consisting of an amino acid and fertiliser. At a normal dosage, you can treat clover but by over-dosing locally, you can also treat light weeds (such as dandelions) locally. For strong weeds (such as nettles), however, this product is not effective. Always make sure to avoid the grass while treating. Did you spray a patch of the lawn with it anyway? Then go straight to work with water so that the product washes away.

With the Clever off, you will see immediate results. The leaves of the clovers will close and after about three hours the clovers and weeds will turn brown. After four hours, treat with water. Repeat the treatment several times a year to exhaust the root system of the weeds. Use Clever off at a sunny time when rain is ideally forecast the next day, or water the day after yourself. This product works best in combination with a nitrogen-rich fertiliser, so you can spread a fertiliser such as Lawn Booster the day after.

3. Re-seed bare spots! 🌱

Any damage in your lawn (e.g. bare spots) is a potential germination site for weed seeds and street grass. Those damages can be caused by removing weeds or extreme drought like the summers of recent years.

Street grass (Poa annua) is a nasty weak grass plant that we can also think of as a weed. Often dropped into your garden by birds, street grass, which grows much faster than ordinary grass, makes your lawn look less attractive. Do you do nothing about it? Then it will spread very quickly. Street grass dies much faster from drought or severe frost than ordinary grass. The problem, however, is that the street grass has often already produced new seed for the coming year. The existing street grass will then die off, but you will still suffer a lot in the coming year. So you will again get bare spots where weeds and street grass can germinate, grow and flower.

Tip from Marcel

Want to fertilise after sowing? Then be careful not to burn the young lawn! Use a lawn fertiliser with a lower nitrogen value such as Viano Recovery fertiliser or DCM Lawn Food Recovery.

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