Winter Weed Control in the Home Landscape

Weeds seem to grow no matter what time of the year it is. During the fall, winter, and spring when its cooler broadleaf weeds grow the best. In your lawn you can get weed killers that will work in the cooler temperatures but, work just a little slower. Its still a little early for weed and feeds so a spray is probably the better choice right now. Be sure to choose one that is labeled for your type of grass, since most grasses are dormant spraying the whole lawn is ok. Give it 24 hours before any rainfall to give the herbicide a chance to work and make a second application about 7 to 10 days later. About the last half of Feburary in the south use a pre-emergence herbicide to stop those weed seeds from germinating and letting new ones grow. Be sure to water the pre-emergence in so it will start working right away. This should greatly reduce your weed problems when the grass starts turning green and you start using fertilizers. Later on when temperatures warm up we'll discuss grassy type weeds and how to control them. In bed areas and around trees and shrubs a good non-selective weed killer is ok to use. Don't forget a non-selective weed killer that is bio-degradeable is the safest to use. Get an inexpensive sprayer so use can use it just for weed killers that way when you want to use fertilizers, insectcides or fungicides you don't have to worry about leaving residue from the weed killer in it and causing damage to something else.