You enjoy being outdoors and your lawn is the place where you spend a lot of your time. We entertain our family and friends, play with our kids, and plant in our gardens and landscape beds.

Your lawn is an extension of your home. It is the first thing that you or anyone else sees when pulling in to your drive. It may be the only part of your home that some see.

And when you work to keep your lawn beautiful and green and then notice those little lawn cancers called weeds start popping up, it is very disheartening.

How could this be? I thought I was doing everything right!

Well, I am here to tell you that you can do everything thing humanly possible to get your lawn in the best shape possible, and a weed is bound to pop up.

But, how does this happen? Let me explain.

Say you visit a friend or family members home. They have a lawn that is not up to par so weeds are prevalent through out the lawn. You can pick up the seeds on the bottom of your shoes as you are walking around.

Then, you step back into your yard and transplant those seeds into your lawn.

That is only one way weeds are transplanted and there are many other ways that nature transplant weed seeds such as wind, animals etc.

Should you vow to not visit your friend? No, that is not what I’m saying. It’s just an example of how weeds spread so only to make you aware of the process.

It’s just a fact. Weeds spread. So, what do we do about it? First, we need to identify some of the weeds that are most common.

7 of the Most Common Weeds In Your Lawn

1. Henbit – A low-growing species originating from Europe and Asia. It is a very invasive annual weed with soft hairy stems. It is usually seen the first of spring. Henbit has a small purple flower that is very noticeable first of spring.

2. Crabgrass – This is one of the most invasive weeds to date, especially in southern lawns. It is a light green-grass with hairy leaves and as it gets into the summer months you can definitely notice the crab like structure as it grows. It is also very thick so it chokes out other grasses.

3. Dandelion– This can be used as a tea to control allergies. For some, it is mostly known as a lawn killer. The dandelion secretes a poison that kills grasses and weeds that are next to them. Easily spread by seeds, it can quickly become a problem.

4. Clover – Looking for a 4-leaf clover? If you see this in your lawn it is a sign of low O2 levels in the soil. Clover spreads quickly and is a brewing ground for unwanted pests and insects.

5. Thistle – Originating from European descent, it is on some state’s list as a noxious weed. Known for its prickly leaves and red flower and spreads by seeds as the flower starts to die.

6. Nutsedge – Another difficult weed to control in your lawn and without chemicals, it is almost impossible to eradicate. Known in two colors: Yellow and Purple.

7. Plantain – A large leaf weed that in some cases can get a foot tall. Easy to control with the pH of the soil and may not need chemicals.

Your lawn may have these weeds that are mentioned above or you could have other weeds that are invading. The good news is that most of the weed deterrent products I am going to share with you will also be effective against other types of weeds as well.

There are other types of weeds, but I mentioned the most commonly seen in the lawn by homeowners and turf professionals.

How are we going to get rid of these pesky weeds so you can rest easy? That is what we are going to cover now.

Weed Killers for Your Lawn

When I walk a lawn that has been over taken by weeds I will first ask a couple questions.

1. When was the last time you had your lawn aerated?

2. Do you de-thatch your lawn?

These are 2 of the main reason you have weeds.

Just like we do, your lawn needs to breathe also or it will die. Getting oxygen back into your soil is very important. Aerating and de-thatching both help with restoring the needed oxygen.

If you are fighting just a few weeds, then you are probably fighting a transplant weed as we discussed earlier.

These are my go-tos for fighting weeds.

Spectracide Weed Killer

What I really like about this product is that it can be applied anytime between spring and fall. If you are applying this weed killer in mid-summer and you have weeds, I would go ahead and spread this to kill the fall and winter weeds. This way you get a jump on the germination seeds trying to grow through summer.

A push spreader would be your best choice to make sure to make sure that the granules are evenly spread across the lawn.

Ortho WeedClear Lawn Weed Killer

Ortho has many great products and this is one of them. Those of you that have a lawn that is under control but you have the occasional weed pop up ,this is a good product for you. It has an easy-to-use wand to spray only on the weeds you want to kill. This weed killer kills on the first time. Don’t worry about killing the grass that has the weed. You won’t. It won’t harm your grass !

Agrisel 3 Way Max Weed Killer

This is used by the professionals so be careful when mixing. You will need a sprayer, preferably a backpack, to cover more area. To really get the chemicals to stick to the leaves, add a surfactant to the mix. This won’t wash off when it rains so reapplying is not as common. What you need to know is that you will see that the weeds will first turn a bleached white color before dying. This takes about 2 – 3 weeks to complete. A backpack sprayer will hold 3 -4 gallons of mix for large areas and a 1 – 2 gallon sprayer for spot spraying.

Prevention

Pre-emergent is the best way to control your weed population before it starts. Use pre-emergent 3x a year, spring, summer and fall. This prevention lawn care program will keep you ahead of the game and give you more time to focus on other parts of the yard.

Organic Weed control

Some homeowners are taking a different approach to weed control called chemical free. The important factor to understand using this technique is getting started early in the season. It may be the best way to effectively and organically keep your lawn weed free.

To achieve this, you can always pull weeds or use a spade to dig them. Making sure you dig up the entire taproot on dandelions is a must.

Using a mix of white vinegar and soap can also be effective. It is probably used best in your landscape beds or sidewalks to kill grass.

There you have it. Have a great lawn!