Natural Weed Control

So what is the best natural weed control in Cincinnati and Dayton lawns?  A healthy thick lawn is your best defense against weeds without lawn pesticides.  How can you reduce the amount of weeds in your lawn naturally without lawn chemicals?  Below are some tips that can help, but if you ever need us to come spot treat the weeds with a herbicide then please just contact us.

• Mow High – This is the most important cultural practice.  This is especially true if you are trying to have a beautiful lawn without chemicals.  Mowing high does many beneficial things like developing a deep root system, healthier lawn, greener grass, and reducing the amount of weeds.  The grass “crowds out” the weeds.  Will a thick lawn completely crowd out all weeds?  No that is mother nature you are fighting and we can’t win that fight.  You can work with mother nature though and mowing high is your best way of doing this.  Your grass should be 3-4 inches AFTER you cut the grass.
• Seed Bare/Thin Areas – Weeds invade where they can.  This means areas that are bare/thin, especially edges against concrete, are more prone to weed pressure.  What can you do about this?  Get some seed down in these areas.  The best time to do this is in Sept/Early October in Cincinnati and Dayton.  Work the soil with a garden weasel or a metal rake.  Spread some seed evenly over the area and lightly topdress the seed with high quality compost or topsoil.  Then make sure to water daily for the next 2-3 weeks.  Don’t allow the soil to dry out and handpull any weeds that may pop up with the new grass.  We suggest using turf type tall fescue grass, but make sure you DO NOT get the older tall fescue, which is called Kentucky 31 or K-31 Tall Fescue.  If you would like us to give you a slice seeding quote or deliver you a 50 lb bag of more drought tolerant grass then please contact us.
• ID Weed and What Do They Indicate – Weeds are indicators of deficiencies.  For example, dandelions are an indicator that the soil is low in calcium and usually high in magnesium.  We see this often in Cincinnati and Dayton lawns.  We offer a Clay Buster application that addresses both of these issues.  Core aeration also helps.  Doing both at the same time is great!  Our clay buster application is a calcium sulfate treatment that helps raise the calcium levels in your soil and reduce the compaction caused by high magnesium.  Have lots of Plantains?  Again, your soil is compact.  Core aerate the lawn and putting down a clay buster application would help the soil.  Knotweed?  Again lots of compaction.  Lots of chickweed or speedwell?  Almost always we see this in bare/thin areas in Spring.  Get some new grass seed down.
• Handpull –  Manual eradication is still legal.  We sell Speedy Weedy (handpulling tool) for $34.99 plus tax that makes it fun to pull weeds.  It works very well for dandelions.  You simply push the long pole into the soil and twist it until the three prongs on the end of the tool grab the root of the weed.  Simply pull the tool out of the soil and push the ejector button to release the root and weed into a bucket.  Very simple.  Contact us if you would like us to deliver one to you for free!
• Iron X – Although we do not provide this service yet, there is a product out there that is iron based that selectively controls weeds without chemicals.  It is called Iron-X and is made by Gardens Alive.  We have currently been doing testing with this product and are hoping to offer this service to our customers in the future.  Right now it is a little pricey and we have seen mixed results on many weeds.  It seems to work well on dandelions though.  Unfortunately at this time this is the only selective organic weed control out there, but we are confident that more prodcuts will be coming to the market that will provide a safer weed control for lawn care companies to offer to their customers.  We will continue to test out the new materials for you and offer you only the best, safest, and most effective products available.
• Corn Gluten Meal – We put down corn gluten meal in our PureGreen Program twice per year to help reduce the amount of weeds in our customer’s lawns naturally.  This acts as a natural premergent and helps reduce some weeds, but remember mowing high and filling in bare/thin areas is still the best method of natural weed control in Cincinnati and Dayton lawns.