The 6 Most Common Lawn Weeds

Nut-Sedge

Name: Nut-Sedge

Ashleign's Nickname: Honey! We're moving!

Difficulty: Painful

Identification: Not to be confused with monkey grass, green grassy, intrusive. Spreads quickly.

How to Kill It: Liquid, granular, chemicals. Dig it, pull it, or fire it.

How to Prevent It: Pre-emergent, drowning.

Nut-sedge is a special kind of grass that often grows in Bermuda grass lawns. The reason this grass is difficult is because of its root system that often embeds itself deep below root level of your typical grass. Like Bermuda grass, nut-sedge prefers hot and sandy environments, which can cause issues for the average homeowner in its eradication.

Nut-sedge truly has a nut underground. Destroy the nut and destroy the plant. Digging up the plant is a good way to eradicate it. However, holes will need to be filled with play sand or rock-less sand.

Chemicals can be used as well, such as Sedge-Killer. Apple cider vinegar and baking soda have also been reported to work well.

Tall Fescue

Name: Tall Fescue

Ashleign's Nickname: I wish my actual grass was this color.

Difficulty: Ugghhh

Identification: Round and patchy, taller than fescue, different color than grass

How to Kill It: Dig it. Drown it. Burn it.

How to Prevent It: Unfortunately . yeaa . .

Tall fescue is hard not to like. First, let's differentiate from fescue, which is a grass, from tall fescue, which is also a grass. Tall fescue is a weed because it grows in patches and drowns other grasses and weeds. It has a dark green color, which will often stand out from the Bermuda color. Unfortunately, tall fescue is hard to prevent and eradicate. Since it is a grass, however, you can dig it up and drown it with other grasses.

Crabgrass

Name: Crabgrass

Ashleign's Nickname: Darkness, my old friend.

Difficulty: Stress reliever

Identification: Sprawling patches, stems with single leaves and seeds.

How to Kill It: Liquid, granular, chemicals. Dig it or pull it. Flamethrower.

How to Prevent It: Pre-emergent, drowning.

Crabgrass is a stress reliever, because once you grab it all in one handful, lift with your legs, not your back, you will find new grace in making that crabgrass your bitch. Be sure to fill in those holes with sand, water, and pre-emergent.

Crabgrass can be eradicated with a small amount of Image Weed Killer or by pulling and preventing.

Clover

Name: Clover

Ashleign's Nickname: This is the last time I am looking.

Difficulty: EZ PZ

Identification: You know what it looks like, come on. Look for leprechauns. Broadleaf.

How to Kill It: Liquid, granular, chemicals. Dig it or fire it.

How to prevent it: Pre-emergent, drowning.

Clover is simple. You can use either vinegar or broadleaf killer. It will die, and you will lose a pastime of looking for four-leafers.

Thistle

Name: Thistle

Ashleign's Nickname: *barefoot in the yard* Holy [email protected]#$ what was that?!?

Difficulty: Simple

Identification: When you step on it barefoot, you'll know. Spiney cabbage, non-edible, sharp spikey leaves. Dig it or fire it.

How to Prevent It: Pre-emergent works great on this stuff, but Bermuda can also drown it.

Deadnettle

Name: Deadnettle

Ashleign's Nickname: Thumper Food

Difficulty: Ehh

Identification: Everyone remembers what Thumper ate in Bambi. Soft leaves, often confused with clover for its softness. Dig it or fire it.

How to Prevent It: Pre-emergent, drowning.

This stuff is a lot like ivy. Deprive it of sunlight and it will die. Or spray 2,4-D and kill everything.

Vocabulary

• Drowning: What the author means by this term is to deprive the plant of sunlight, otherwise drowning the plant. This does not mean to overwater a plant. Water creates moisture. Moisture and shade create fungus. Be careful how and when you water your plants.
• Fire, or Burn, or Flamethrower: Exactly how it sounds. Carefully set on fire the plant you despise or hate with a passion. For some, it works. For others, it helps the plant rejuvenate.
• Digging: Quite literally using a shovel to dig it up. We recommend a skinny shovel. It's much easier to shove it in the ground, and it only leaves a small hole.

Additional Tips

• For any hole you have, regular play sand without rocks can be used to fill it. Add water and your grass will spread to the sand.
• Water your lawn in the early morning or early afternoon. If you water at the hottest time of the day, the water will evaporate and you will waste it. Water it too late and you will create fungus in your yard.
• Shade and water do not mix! It creates fungus. Fungus is very hard to get rid of once you have it.
• Avoid spraying 2,4-D close to dark. 2,4-D can drift at night. It is extremely powerful.
• Image Weed Killer kills grass! Do not use Image if you like your grass. But sometimes it's all you can do to get rid of the weeds. Just thrash the area when it dies, sand it, pre-emerge, and water the hell out of it.