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A beautiful green lawn is the hallmark of a personal plot, and it’s a shame when annoying weeds grow through the green grass and spoil the whole look of the landscape. Weeds can be controlled mechanically or by using a chemical called a herbicide. This weed killer on the lawn is highly effective, easy to use and some other advantages. Information about what types of herbicides for the lawn are and how to apply them correctly can be found in the above article.
What are herbicides
For many people who are distant from agriculture, the word “herbicide” is not at all clear, and the remedy itself is not used very often in everyday life. This word is translated from Latin as “to kill the grass.” The substance is a chemical that destroys weeds. It can be used to protect vegetable ridges and lawns from unwanted vegetation. On an industrial scale, herbicides are used to treat agricultural fields, slopes of railways and highways, and areas adjacent to enterprises.
According to the principle of impact on vegetation, herbicides are divided into:
- Selective or selective spectrum herbicides. They are able to destroy all types of plants with a certain trait, for example, broad-leaved grasses.
- Continuous spectrum herbicides destroy all vegetation in the treatment area.
Lawn weed control can be done using these two types of herbicides. The way they are used and the principle of influence are different, so you need to know and understand how to deal with weeds on the lawn will be one or another chemical.
Long range weed control
Proper lawn cultivation with pre-treatment and proper soil preparation will allow you to have a beautiful green lawn and not worry about how to remove weeds at an early stage of crop care. It is necessary to prepare the soil in advance, approximately 3-4 months before the proposed sowing of lawn grass. For such pre-treatment, continuous herbicides are used.
The technology of work is as follows:
- initially you need to mark out a personal plot, determining the place of the lawn;
- after marking, the future lawn is abundantly watered with a continuous action chemical. About a week after treatment, the existing vegetation will begin to dry out, and after another week the site will need to be dug up, weeds and roots remaining in the soil should be removed;
- loose soil is rammed a little and left in this state for a month, during which weeds remaining in the soil should appear;
- after the germination of a new crop of weeds, the soil is watered again with herbicides of continuous action and after a week dry residues of vegetation are removed;
- The chemical acts on plants for a month. Only after this time, you can start sowing lawn grass, which will sprout without weed “neighbors”.
It is recommended to process the lawn before sowing grass according to the above technology in early spring or autumn, starting from September. Processing the lawn in autumn allows you to reliably clean the soil from weeds before the appearance of snow cover, and with the advent of spring, sow grass seeds in the soil without chemical residues.
Green lawn care
By sowing lawn grass into prepared, cleaned soil, you can get a high-quality, leveled lawn, however, you can preserve its beauty and health only if you follow some rules of care:
- Lawn mowing is a must. It allows you to improve the planting of grasses and mow weeds. Annual weeds with regular mowing of the lawn do not have time to form flowers and sow seeds, which means that next year there will be no “harmful neighbors” on the site. It is recommended to mow young lawn grass for the first time after the height of its leaves exceeds 7 cm. Subsequently, the event should be carried out regularly 1 time in 2 weeks.
- Combing the lawn with a rake allows you to identify and destroy low-growing climbing weeds that are located below the cutting level. Such weeds can be, for example, bindweed or wood lice. It is to combat climbing and climbing grasses that the owners of personal plots comb the lawn not only after working with a trimmer in order to collect the remains of vegetation, but also after mowing the grass with a lawn mower.
- Most perennials have a deep, highly developed root system and it is not always possible to fight them by mowing and combing the lawn. So, it is especially difficult to remove dandelions, thistle or plantain from the lawn. You can fight these enemies mechanically by manually removing plant roots. To do this, you can use special garden tools to remove weeds. It will allow you to get rid of unwanted vegetation with minimal damage to lawn grass. The mechanical method of struggle is only good if the number of weeds is small.
- Moss often infests areas of the lawn in the shade of trees or in low-lying areas. Wet weather can also provoke their development. Moss should be controlled by aerating the soil. It can be done by piercing the lawn with a pitchfork. Liming and fertilizing the soil will also prevent the spread of moss on the lawn.
- With a large number of weeds, it is recommended to treat the lawn with selective herbicides. Chemical treatment will take little time and will show high efficiency in weed control. The names and photos of selective and continuous herbicides can be seen below.
Over time, the number of weeds on the lawn will constantly increase. This is due to the fact that there are a large number of seeds in the soil, which strive to germinate and shade the green grass. Therefore, in the first year of growing a lawn, you can only get by with methods of mechanical destruction of weeds, but over time, it will become more and more difficult to deal with them. The absence of measures to destroy weeds will lead to the complete displacement of cultivated vegetation. That is why, over time, the use of selective herbicides becomes more and more relevant.
Continuous herbicides
As it has already become clear, continuous herbicides destroy all vegetation on the lawn, which means that they can only be used during the preparation of the soil for sowing grass seeds or for the destruction of old plantings. The most effective and safe, from the point of view of ecology, herbicides of continuous action are:
Tornado
This chemical is an aqueous solution of glyphosate. The drug is produced in ampoules with a volume of 5 to 1000 ml. Use a substance for spraying plants with a solution prepared on the basis of water. Depending on the exact name, the Tornado preparation is diluted in accordance with the instructions.
After using the Tornado herbicide, all vegetation on the lawn will be destroyed after 3 weeks. The drug itself will remain in the soil for 2 months.
Herbicide “Tornado” can be used at any air temperature and weather. At the slightest hit on the leaves of the plant, it penetrates deep into the root, gradually destroying it. With the help of the herbicide “Tornado” you can get rid of not only weeds, but also shrubs, tall trees. The chemical is used in the agricultural industry, since the lack of toxicity allows vegetable crops to be sown the very next year after the fields have been cultivated. If necessary, the Tornado herbicide can be stored for 5 years. The analogues of “Tornado” are the preparations “Glisol”, “Urogan”, “Agrokiller” and some others.
Diquat
The basis of this herbicide is the substance of the same name – diquat. It is safe for the environment and humans; it can be used for continuous mowing of grasses for sowing cultivated plants. The chemical is used for spraying plants at a temperature of +15-+250C. The substance acts on plants immediately after contact with green leaves or in the soil. You can see the result of the treatment in 4-7 days. Air temperature and humidity can affect the drying time of grasses.
Removal of weeds from the lawn is carried out by spraying with an aqueous solution of herbicide. Getting on grass leaves, diquat is synthesized into hydrogen peroxide, which destroys plant cells and dries them. The chemical quickly decomposes and does not harm insects, soil microflora.
Continuous herbicides can be used before planting lawn grass or to remove all lawn vegetation on the lawn. If it is decided to develop land on the site of the lawn for the subsequent cultivation of cultivated plants, then it is preferable to use a less toxic preparation that will not damage the quality of the grown vegetables and berries. “Diquat” for such purposes is the best option, however, its disadvantage may be a relatively low efficiency in the fight against weeds.
An overview of some other effective blanket and selective herbicides can be seen in the video:
Selective herbicides
How to destroy weeds on the lawn and at the same time not damage the delicate green grass? This is the question many land owners are puzzled by. And the answer in this case can be only one: you need to use selective herbicides. Among these chemicals, the following drugs are highly effective:
Lontrell 300
The active substance of the drug is clopyralid, a hormone that limits the growth of weeds and destroys them. The drug is highly effective in the fight against annual and perennial weeds, including dandelion, sedge, plantain.
Herbicide should be used after mowing the lawn in the early morning or after sunset. Apply the substance by spraying on the aerial part of the plants. The substance is quickly absorbed, and you can see the result on the treated weeds after 2 weeks.
Deimos
Treatment of the lawn from weeds with “Deimos” allows you to remove hated broad-leaved plants. The spectrum of action of this drug allows you to immediately eradicate about 100 different types of weeds. Such weeds as wood lice, clover, dandelion and others cannot resist him.
The active substance of the drug is dimethylamine salt, which is safe for plants and humans. After dissolving in water, the chemical is used to spray the lawn. After 2 weeks, weeds will dry out and will no longer spoil the green lawn. They can be removed mechanically without much difficulty.
Hacker
This turf grass herbicide is relatively new, but is already very popular due to its high efficiency in the control of many weeds. The active substance of the chemical penetrates through the leaf plate of the plant and blocks its growth. As a result of such exposure, after a week, the weeds turn yellow and dry out, while the lawn grass remains healthy.
The given herbicides for the lawn against weeds of selective action are characterized by high efficiency and environmental safety. They can be used for lawn treatment, including playgrounds, parks, and home gardens. Their safety is confirmed by the fact that they can be used not only to remove weeds from the lawn, but also from ridges with vegetable and berry crops.
You can see the process of treating the lawn with selective herbicides in the video:
Conclusion
Killing weeds in your lawn with herbicides is an effective and relatively easy way to take care of your lawn. Herbicides are used from the moment the soil is prepared for sowing seeds of lawn grass until the moment the lawn is completely destroyed. For the complete destruction of grasses, the herbicides “Tornado”, “Diquat” and some of their analogues should be used. These chemicals will quickly cope with all the vegetation on the lawn. In the first year of growing a lawn, single specimens of weeds can be found on the green surface. They can be destroyed mechanically or by a point injection of the herbicide under the root of the plant. With the mass distribution of weeds, it is recommended to use herbicides of selective, selective action, which will destroy weeds, but will not damage the green soil cover. The specific choice of how to treat the lawn from weeds depends on the financial capabilities and preferences of the landowner.