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Pre-emergent herbicide for winter weeds in Alpharetta, GA

Posted by Christine Crandall on Aug 31, 2019 8:30:12 PM

Winter is the time when warm-season grasses such as bermudagrass go dormant. This is a normal part of the grass cycle, and although the grass will be a little yellow during the colder months, it will return to its luscious green beauty in the spring. During dormancy, you don’t have to mow, and your grass gets almost all the water it needs from precipitation. However, there is one thing you might want to do in order to protect your lawn during its dormancy, and that is to plant a pre-emergent herbicide for winter weeds.

Winter weeds?

According to the University of Georgia Extension Office, annual bluegrass is the biggest nuisance when it comes to winter weeds in Georgia lawns. It can thin your wanted grass and invite other weeds like crab grass to join in on the fun.

Henbit is a broadleaf winter weed and can grow as high as 16 inches. It has reddish purple flowers. The best defense against henbit is a thick, healthy lawn, so the weeds cannot move in. However, a pre-emergent herbicide works well too.

Chickweed is a small-leafed annual that will adapt to lawn height, so it can take over a lawn even while regularly mowing. There are two types of chickweed common to this area: common and mouse ear, and they both respond to pre-emergent herbicide.

One more common winter weed to this area is bittercress, which has heart-shaped, hairy leaves and also will invade a lawn for years if not taken care of properly.

bittercress

When to apply.

September is generally the time to start thinking about pre-emergent herbicides. Many winter weeds germinate much earlier than you may think, so early application is good. These herbicides may be effective if applied as late as November.

When not to apply.

Don’t apply pre-emergent herbicides on new lawns or if you are overseeding in the fall because it may prevent your lawn from growing properly.

Pre-emergent won’t kill existing weeds.

The last thing to remember is that pre-emergent herbicides prevent germination, but once a weed germinates, it will grow even with the presence of pre-emergent herbicide. Make sure to apply your herbicide before weeds germinate, or it will be too late. If this happen, post-emergent herbicide will be your next action. You will probably end up using both until you get your weeds under control anyway, but then your pre-emergent herbicide should do the trick.

The key to getting rid of weeds is to stay on top of it until they are gone. So use your herbicides at the right time, and pull weeds that remain, and your yard will be weed-free much sooner.

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