If a perfectly pristine lawn is the dream, an influx of weeds can suddenly turn your yard into a nightmare. Even though summer weeds like crabgrass, purslane, spurge, and ragweed are common visitors, these invaders can quickly sabotage the lush look of your lawn and garden, whether it’s creating a haggard appearance or harboring destructive pests and diseases.
These heat-loving, highly adaptable annuals produce thousands of seeds that remain dormant for years. Once the conditions are right, they sprout, establish, and spread rapidly, which makes them difficult to control. Since weeds are opportunistic plants, they wait until grass is stressed out by summer heat or weakened by lawn-care mistakes, such as improper mowing, incorrect watering, or over-fertilizing, to strike. Because weeds have the upper hand, they typically outcompete desirable plants. “While they're sitting there, they're stealing water, sunlight, and nutrients from your grass right when summer heat is already stressing it out,” says Tyler Brady, president and owner of Sure Shot Pest & Weed Control in Oklahoma.
Even though summer weeds are aggressive and extensive, they don’t have to determine the fate of your yard. Luckily, there are certain measures you can take to prevent them from overrunning your outdoor living space, even if they’re actively growing. Here’s how to control summer weeds before they take over, according to Brady.
How to Control Summer Weeds
To effectively control existing summer weeds, the key is tackling the issue early—far before the pesky plants consume your lawn. “Once weeds take over, they've already gone to seed, so you're not just dealing with this year's problem, you're planting next year's, too,” Brady notes.
Follow these expert tips, and you’ll remove summer weeds in a week or two:
Use a Post-Emergent Herbicide
To tackle actively growing summer weeds that’ve sprouted above the soil, Brady recommends applying a post-emergent herbicide. For the treatment to work, be sure to target the summer weeds before they’ve fully grown. “A post-emergent herbicide works way better on young weeds than mature ones,” he says. Apply it early in the evening when temperatures have cooled, so the chemical won’t scorch your desirable plants.
Hand-Pull Them Early
You can also hand-pull summer weeds as soon as you spot them. To prevent these invaders from growing back, make sure you pull them from the root. “Mature weeds have deep roots that break off when you pull them, so they just grow back,” Brady explains. Damp soil will help you remove the full root, so water the area first or wait until after rainfall to weed.
Strengthen Your Grass
While properly caring for your yard isn’t enough to ward off summer weeds, it’ll help strengthen your grass against these competitors. Brady suggests regularly mowing your lawn at the right height (not too short) and watering deeply to help your grass build sturdy roots that’ll crowd out weeds.
How to Prevent Summer Weeds
Year-round prevention is the strongest defense against summer weeds. Instead of waiting to deal with this common lawn issue until they’ve matured, implement these preventative measures months beforehand:
Apply a Pre-Emergent Herbicide
Applying a pre-emergent herbicide will eliminate summer weeds before they become a problem: The store-bought treatment will kill the seeds before they sprout and prevent new roots from growing. “Put down a pre-emergent herbicide in early spring before soil temperatures hit the mid-fifties,” Brady suggests.
Aim for Deep Watering
Frequent, shallow watering can foster summer weeds, but hydrating your desirable plants deeply and only when needed will encourage stronger grass roots to grow. “Keep your watering consistent rather than overdoing it, since soggy soil favors weeds,” Brady says.
Feed Your Grass Regularly
Fertilizing your grass throughout the season will keep your blades healthy and strong against summer weeds. “A thick lawn is your best defense since weeds need open space to grab,” Brady explains.
Avoid Scalping
Cutting your grass too short, otherwise known as scalping, gives summer weeds more sunlight and space to land. To avoid giving weeds a window, mow your grass at a higher setting, so your blades will shade the soil.
Lilly Blomquist is the associate editor at The Pioneer Woman, where she writes lifestyle stories across a wide range of topics—including news, entertainment, holidays, food, and more.
