Welcome to the Flower & Garden board, Tigger.
I can just picture our weeds asleep under the snow, waiting to drive us crazy come spring and summer.
Do you have a lot of weeds in your lawn?
Here is a list of steps for maintaining a healthy lawn, which hand in hand with healthy soil, help to produce fewer weeds.
10 STEPS TO A NATURAL LAWN.
If your lawn has been treated with chemical fertilizer or not fertilized in the last three years, it will take longer to go natural. Lawns that have not been fertilized will contain more sand than humus. Prolonged treatment with chemical fertilizers destroys most of the microorganisms in the top three inches of the soil. When going natural, soil enrichment will lead to a healthier lawn.
Step 1. AERATE, AERATE, AERATE. This is one of the most important steps to a healthy lawn. Aeration permits oxygen, nutrients and water to enter the soil, which speeds up the microorganism activity that breaks down food. Earthworms and ants will also aerate the soil. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides not only harm unwanted pests, they harm beneficial insects like earthworms. Aeration should be done every fall and spring.
Step 2. FALL FERTILIZER APPLICATION. Use a slow release fertilizer or add compost as a soil augment, this allows the grass plant to store nutrients over the winter, thus making them available in the spring. A low 6-1-3 can be added to your lawn for a green-up; but only use a natural fertilizer. Compost can be spread on your lawn in spring if you did not do it in the fall.
Step 3. OVERSEED. Put down a pest-resistant (and guaranteed weed seed free) seed in the fall. If you did not do this in the fall, you can do it in the early spring after the last frost. Fall is the best time to overseed.
Step 4. BALANCE YOUR SOIL. Take a soil sample and do a pH test. Test kits can be picked up at your local garden centre. Soil pH should be around 6.7; this is the best condition for grass to grow. To amend your soil add some gypsum to change you pH level.
Step 5. MOW AT 21/2-3 INCHES. Mowing at this height results in good root development, and leads to denser turf, shading out weeds and conserving your soil's moisture. Leave your clipping on your lawn!
Step 6. PROPER WATERING. Watering should not be done in the spring. Water you lawn for an hour about once every 5 days to encourage roots to grow deep into the subsoil. Morning is the best time to water. Avoid night watering as this encourages mold and disease.
Step 7. RAKE LAWN IN LATE SPRING. Wait until any new grass has grown and the soil has dried up enough so you can walk on it before doing a hard raking. This will remove any dead grass or thatch. Once this is complete add compost and seed to bare spots if needed.
Step 8. USE BENEFICIAL NEMATODES. Grub Busters nematodes are an all natural pesticide free way to seek out grubs and many other root zone pests in turf.
Step 9. REMOVE WEEDS BY HAND. When hand pulling weeds, remove the entire root. For easier removal use a dandelion fork, or wait until after it rains.
Step 10. USE CORN GLUTEN MEAL. Corn gluten meal is one of the best commercially available natural fertilizers. For more information on corn gluten visit
http://www.gluten.iastate.edu.
~The Enviromental Factor~
The following link can help you with weed indentification in your state.
Broadleaf Weed Control in Oklahoma
I'm not familiar with the "blue spray" stuff, hopefully one of our other Buds has some info on that!
These days DH and I tend to contol weeds the old fashioned way, pulling (and digging) them out one at a time.
