Killing ALL Weeds on your lawn with MINIMUM Fuss

Weeds grow FAST. They often turn up unannounced. Especially in Spring and Summer.

That’s why if you struggle to prevent them, they can take over your lawn and make it a bigger job than you ever wished it would be.

So, in this article, I’m going to explain the different ways in which you could get rid of the weeds in your lawn. I’ll also give you some pointers on how to revive your grass after killing the weeds and share how you can do it in the most eco-friendly way possible.

Not only that. I’ll tell you how to care for your garden so you can minimise weeds coming through each year. Meaning you shouldn’t need to use a herbicide at all.

Kill the weeds with your BARE hands

Believe it or not, you can kill weeds with your bare hands. You just need to make sure you ALWAYS get the root out so that it can’t come back. Just ripping the leaves off won’t kill them.

If you want to get rid of it completely it’s best to use a tool to dig around the root. Get down to about 3 inches and pull the full roots out.

If you like, to fill the hole, you can fill it in with compost or top soil, then apply a bit of seed.

However, if you have waaay too many to take out by hand, keep reading. There are, of course, other ways to do it but you’ll want to choose the best way at the right time of year.

Kill them with selective Weed Killer in Autumn

Applying a selective weed killer is probably the second best option for getting rid of weeds in the lawn. You can simply spray it on the unwanted plants to help the grass come through instead,

In Autumn, this is probably your best option. Many people want to use a weed and feed product but these tend to contain too much nitrogen. So are actually unsuitable to use between September and February.

Thus, the best way toimprove your lawn at this time of year is going to be to kill the weeds first, then apply a feed. Making sure the feed is specifically designed for Autumn.

Kill them with Weed & Feed in Spring

Oooooph!-WOW!

That’s what people usually say after applying a weed and feed product in Spring. Mainly because it is packed with fast acting nitrogen.

These copious amounts of Nitrogen will also your give your grass a MASSIVE boost. Pretty quickly too.

There’s a problem with this method though. Over-using herbicides on the soil will make most things in your garden deteriorate over time.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s not a problem applying it once as you begin your journey to a better lawn. BUT if you keep your grass healthy throughout the year, you’ll DEFINITELY help your grass to out compete the weeds. Meaning you can go back to managing the area by hand.

You might be surprised – once you have limited the area to just a few unwanted creepers it can be quite therapeutic spending a bit of time removing them by hand.

Great for your mental health and your satisfaction levels.

Killing weeds in your lawn organically

Many weed killers on the commercial UK market contain glyphosate (the killer). This is a strong chemical herbicide and its usage is very controversial among expert and amateur gardeners alike.

Glyphosate has been linked to cancer cases in the USA, although it’s also been suggested that the minimal use on domestic lawns is very unlikely to cause any harm.

That said, it may be your personal preference to avoid glyphosate based products altogether. If so, keep reading.

Believe it or not, there are ways of getting rid of weeds organically and in a pet-friendly or family friendly way. I personally think the spot treatment solutions are best when using organic methods. Mainly because you often need to avoid touching the lawn with any home made, organic solutions.

A simple search and you will find loads of resources online, which give you hints and tips to making your own at home.

Some of these include the super basic, such as boiling water or lemon juice, whereas others use various products combined as a recipe.

For example…

Mixing one-part baking soda to two-parts vinegar then a dash of lemon juice.

This easy-to-follow article from Gardeners World will give you a few different ways that you can kill of weeds organically.

Prevent weeds by Fertilising the lawn better

Yes, that’s right, by keeping the grass strong with regular feeds throughout the year, You will be sure to prevent 80% of common weeds. Of course it’s virtually impossible to prevent ALL the unwanted dandelions coming through but the very few that do make it to the surface can easily be removed manually.

This is a way more eco-friendly method than trying to sprinkle herbicides on your grass every single year.

While fertiliser will help significantly towards preventing weeds, you can also prevent weeds by mowing at the ideal height for the grass seed variety you use on your lawn.

Things to note when killing weeds in your lawn

Many weed killers, whether organic or otherwise will affect your lawn too. So, it’s important to be careful when using any product.

One of the biggest questions is:

How long to wait to sow grass seed after applying weed and feed to kill weeds?

The short answer is to wait approximately 6-8 weeks after applying any herbicide before sowing grass seed. Ultimately, you need to wait until ALL of the solution has disappeared from the soil before sowing any seeds. What’s more, if you apply weed and feed, you also need to wait about 6-8 weeks before feeding your lawn again. That’s because it contains nitrogen and you should NEVER overfeed any area with too much nitrogen.

Be careful even when using organic solutions

Using things like lemon juice to kill weeds will make the soil more acidic – lawns like the soil to be a pH 7, which is neutral, so you should be very careful when adding acidic formulas to the soil. Particularly where you want your grass to thrive.

One final thing to note is that after you’ve killed off the weeds, there may be some further work to do before overseeding. Tasks may include scarifying or aerating.