
The ideal for a garden or lawn does not include pesky weeds, which, if allowed to go unaddressed, can crowd out your cultivated plants, take up fertilizer and water, and leave you with a landscape far from your plan.
No doubt you're in love with that home you bought from among Mansfield and Ashland homes for sale, and you want to improve it, inside and out. Springtime is, of course, prime time for cultivating your garden and creating a healthy-looking lawn. Among other tasks, that means keeping weeds out.
Here are some tips gleaned from our REALTORS® that can help you free your lawn from weeds.
- Use mulch liberally.
Mulch isn't only great for keeping moisture in your garden so that you don't have to water as often, but it also helps keep weeds out. A weed is an opportunistic plant, and it will come up wherever there's a place to emerge, so pay attention to your mulch levels, and keep them at least 2 or 3 inches deep around your garden plants.
- Plant cultivated plants where weeds can't grow.
Plant garden plants as close as you can so that they can crowd out weeds. There is no hard and fast rule on this, but for perennials do this: small perennials 6-12 inches apart, 2- to 3-foot-tall perennials 12-18 inches apart, and taller perennials 18-36 inches apart. Crowding them together can make them leggy, but it will also keep weeds from intruding.
- Weed after it rains.
Wet ground helps the weed slide out easily with the root intact so that it's less likely to come up again. You can use a garden knife to dig at the weeds and pull them out; a stand-up weeder with claws is another useful tool and spares the back if you've got issues with bending over. Spread mulch over the area after you weed it.
- Try some safe anti-weed controls.
We're hesitant to recommend harsh herbicides, such as glyphosate, that may be causing health problems in humans and reducing beneficial below-ground microbes. Try salt, boiling water, vinegar, newspaper, and garden fabric, depending on the kind of weed you're trying to control.
- Deprive weeds of water.
Be mindful of how you water. Place a drip or soaker hose under mulch so you're watering plants and depriving weeds of water. If you use sprinklers, make sure they're not watering weeds. You can reduce weed seed germination considerably by depriving the plants of water.
- Get rid of weeds in your lawn.
Getting rid of weeds requires a strategy and dedication. Set the blade on your lawnmower to the recommended mowing height for the type of grass you have. You can look this up on the internet, or call your local nurseries, sod installers or an agricultural extension agent. You will also have to identify the kind of weeds you have through one of the professionals and then get advice about the type of herbicide to use. Chances are, the weeds are too extensive and too difficult to pull out by hand. Spot-kill broadleaf weeds with a small pressure sprayer; use a tank sprayer for weed clumps.
Getting rid of weeds is challenging, but there's a lot of expert advice available, so hang in there. Need some encouragement? Contact us today.