It’s almost springtime here in Jonesboro, Georgia, and you’re probably starting to think about lawn care. And it’s possible winter weeds are lying beneath your turf’s surface just waiting to sprout during our first warm spell. These weeds are known as winter annuals, and they start to germinate during the cooler months of fall. During the winter, they lay dormant and then flower in the spring, develop seeds, and die when temperatures increase in late spring or summer. Read on to find out which winter annuals commonly wreak havoc on your Jonesboro lawn and how you can go about preventing them from destroying yours.
Common Winter Annual Weeds To Watch Out for in Jonesboro
Chickweed
Named chickweed because it is a favorite food of chickens, it is an annual broadleaf weed with small, light green oval-shaped leaves. It produces tiny white flowers that contain five petals shaped like a star. It grows to be approximately eight inches in height, and its leaves always grow in pairs, directly opposite each other on the stem. It has hair covering its entire length. It sprouts during the winter, usually after the Jonesboro area has received a lot of cool, wet weather. In the spring, it produces seeds and then dies in the summer.
The problem with chickweed is that it can produce seeds up to five weeks after germination distributing over 800 seeds across your lawn. And though it dies out when summer comes, it can lay dormant in your soil for up to ten years, ensuring it comes back again every spring.
Henbit
Another common winter weed we experience here in Jonesboro is henbit. This broadleaf weed is often mistaken for another closely related winter annual, purple deadnettle. A member of the mint family, it has square-shaped stems, lobed leaves, and tiny pink to purple flowers. Henbit’s leaves are hairy and rounded with notched edges. Henbit can quickly invade thin turf, especially where there is exceptionally moist soil. It too germinates in the fall and survives the winter as a vegetative which eventually flowers. In the spring, it develops seeds that spread throughout your lawn and then die when temperatures increase in the summer.
Annual bluegrass (Poa Annua)
This annoying and hard-to-control weed has boat-shaped light green leaves that grow in clumps. It can reach three feet in height and is often hard to identify because it closely resembles Kentucky bluegrass. Annual bluegrass has light green flattened stems that are bent at the base. Once it takes root, it proliferates rapidly, producing up to 100 seeds in eight weeks, making it hard to keep up with. It can grow anywhere, but because it prefers areas with moist and/or compacted soil, keeping your lawn free of thatch, debris, and aerated can help prevent it from rearing its ugly head.
How To Prevent Winter Annuals From Invading Your Jonesboro Lawn
Maintain a Healthy Jonesboro Lawn
There is no 100% way to keep weeds from growing in your lawn, but you can take specific steps to help prevent them from overtaking it. The best and surest defense against weeds is a thick, healthy lawn. The healthier your turf is, the better able it will be to fight off threats such as winter weeds. Investing in a comprehensive lawn care program, such as the lawn fertilization and weed control program offered by Duncan’s Green Team, is a great first step in boosting your grass’s defense.
Maintain an Appropriate Grass Height
Know the recommended height for your specific type of grass. Keeping grass cut and property maintained leads to healthy, dense grass and more shade cover for the soil. Mowing your grass a little higher helps keep the sunlight weeds need to grow from reaching them. If you are unsure what height is appropriate for your grass type, give Duncan’s Green Team a call.
Keep Lawn and Gardening Tools Clean
Because weeds can spread through contaminated mowers, trimmers, and gardening tools, be sure to keep them clean after each use.
Use Pre-Emergent Treatment
Pre-Emergent treatments are herbicides designed to prevent winter weeds from sprouting. If weeds are allowed to grow unchecked, they can spread with a vengeance when the warm weather rolls around.
For a Healthy, Weed Free Lawn Year Round, Call the Professionals at Duncan’s Green Team
Duncan’s Green Team offers comprehensive lawn fertilization and weed control program that provides the nutrients and weed control needed to provide you with a robust, hardy, green lawn. Weeds are sneaky devils. We will never be able to stop them from creeping up in your lawn 100 percent, but we can stop them from invading and overtaking your yard. Our pre-emergent weed control applications act as an invisible shield that covers and protects your lawn. Our post-emergent kills all weeds in its tracks. Together, these products round up weeds and send them packing.
Learn more about our lawn fertilization and weed control service, fill out our online form, or give us a call. You can reach us at 770-478-0098.
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