During the dog days of summer, a different kind of weed presents itself. These weeds strive with very little water and nutrients and love the heat. I’m talking about crabgrass, spurge and sedge grass to name a few. There are some pictures below to help you identify these three.
Spurge
Sedge grass in the lawn
Crabgrass in the lawn
Each of these you will find without much problem through the month of July and August. As the weather maintains a high temperature and humidity, and the rain is sparse, the grass weakens and these three will take over.
The best way to handle these weeds is to make a mental note of them and try to fill those areas in with fresh seed when the weather cools off. As soon as the last heat wave is past us, than scratch those areas up and put down a good quality seed that will thrive in your particular environment (shade, sun or a mix). It is important to keep fresh seed wet for a couple weeks until the roots start to take and there begins to be germination. This is a critical time for fresh seed and you must take care of them or else you’ll have to start over.
There are herbicides for these three, and they do work. But with the grass in a weakened state, it may do harm to the lawn. Use your judgement or speak with a pro to decide if it’s worth spraying them or not. If you have a good healthy lawn, than it is a good idea to spray. Another way to put that is if the weeds are mixed in with alot of grass, than go ahead. If the area is mainly weeds and not alot of grass mixed in, I wouldn’t bother with the spray. It will turn the area into a discolored mess and become more of an eyesore.
These weeds will go away naturally when it cools off. You must take some seeding action to prevent the same problem in the future though. So wait until the weather cools off and there are wetter nights to put some seed down. Try to fill in those areas with healthy grass and allow the thriving lawn to choke out these summer weeds. Thanks for checking in,