Everyone with a beautiful Gainesville landscape has one main enemy that they fight year-round and rarely ever beat, and that's weeds. There are weeds in the mulch beds, weeds in the lawn, weeds in the garden. and sometimes Gainesville weeds even grow in the cracks of the sidewalk and/or driveway! Sometimes it seems that no matter how much we do work in our lawn, weeds still take over.
That's why we're in business, because lawn care and cutting grass are two different things. We want to partner with you to get a Gainesville weed control program in place, and the first step to that is being able to identify the different types of weeds so you know how to get rid of them in the easiest way.
Below are a list of weeds that are common in Alachua County for you to get started:
Dandelions are named from their sharp lanced laced leaves that resemble lions teeth. They are distinguishable by yellow flowers that grow in flower beds and throughout lawns. The dandelion can change into a global seed head over night. Turning white in color it will spread seeds over a broad distance with a hint of wind.
The best way to combat crabgrass is to prevent it from taking hold by maintaining a healthy dense lawn. Baking soda has proven effective at targetting small areas of crabgrass. Crabgrass grow from seed annually and forms independent clusters. The only way to control crabgrass completely is to dig it out by the roots, apply pre-emergent herbicides regularly so that it's seeds cannot germinate, and install new sod in the area to keep the turf dense enough to choke it out.
Spurge is identified by the sets of rounded leaves and hairy stems. Spurge excretes a poisonous sap that is dangerous to pets and people. General broadleaf weed control is an effective method of managing spurge inside of a Gainesville monthly lawn service.
Most commonly identified by the iconic three leaf pattern. General broadleaf weed control should eliminate the presence of clover from your Gainesville lawn.
Buttonweed produces by both shoots and seeds and prefers high moisture soil conditions. Buttonweed is identified by the small white flowers produced during the late summer and early fall. General broadleaf Gainesville weed control should eliminate the presence of buttonweed from your lawn.
Without a program in place to regularly spray weed control, remove weeds by the roots, and protect from seeds (blowing from neighboring lawns), weed control will always be a losing battle. That's why we're doing this blog series on noticing problems in Gainesville lawns. For more information, feel fee to read the articles about Gainesville Chinch Bug Protection and Gainesville Sod Webworm Prevention too.