If you’re like a lot of homeowners, you might assume that you don’t have to worry about weeds in the winter. But the truth is, there are quite a few winter weeds in Tennessee and Northern Mississippi that can wreak havoc on your lawn and within your landscaped areas. If you’re not on a landscape maintenance or lawn care program that will address them, your mulch beds or lawn could be a total mess come spring.
Winter annual weeds germinate in the late summer and early fall and emerge during warmer winter spells. Weeds compete with your lawn for nutrients and water and crowd out desired grass. They also invade groundcover plants and even growth right up through shrubs in your landscaping.
For this reason, it’s always important to get a handle on any weed problem you may be facing, no matter what the time of year.
There’s no question that most of the weeds that you will see in your lawn will pop up in the warmer months. But there are some varieties of winter weeds that are also common in our region.
Ones that we tend to see pop up in lawns in our area include Chickweed, Henbit, and Corn Speedwell. These weeds can invade a lawn and be prevalent in the early spring if a few warm spells allow them to grow.
So what can be done to address winter weeds in the lawn?
It’s true that lawn care companies are not actively treating weeds in the winter. Weed treatments generally stop by late November when temperatures start to really drop. When plants are no longer aggressively growing, weed control materials are no longer as effective.
The good news is that a program that is on top of weed control during the rest of the season should keep winter lawn weeds out of your lawn.
But the type of lawn care program that you’re using will make a difference. You want a lawn care program that varies its products and their approach throughout the changing seasons in order to be most effective.
You also want to make sure that your lawn care company is definitely using pre-emergent products in the fall. If they’re not taking all of these precautions, weeds will continue to pop up throughout the year, leaving you stuck in a frustrating cycle in which it never feels like progress is made.
A lawn care program that has also been focused on promoting an overall healthy lawn will also give you power against winter weeds. After all, nothing chokes out weed growth like thick, healthy grass.
Just as you don’t want any unexpected weeds popping up in your lawn, you also want to keep your plant beds free of weeds. Fortunately, the same information for lawns applies to plant beds.
In other words, if you’re already utilizing a shrub bed weed control program that includes a regular rotation of weed control products throughout the spring, summer, and fall in your plant beds, then winter weeds can be prevented in the first place.
The bottom line is that if you’re utilizing a year-round comprehensive lawn care and/or landscape maintenance program that includes timed treatments when they’re needed most, then winter weeds should not be an issue for you in your lawn or your landscape.
Choosing a lawn care company that is proactive and knows what your lawn and plant beds need throughout the year is the key to success. Your lawn will maintain good lawn health and your plant beds will continue to look neat and tidy.
With the right lawn care service provider—a company that you can trust is performing all of the tasks your lawn and landscape may need—then winter weeds need not be a worry.
At the end of the day, the best company is one that gives you peace of mind that everything is being handled at the right time. That means you should have a healthy lawn and landscape no matter what the time of year.
Ready to win the battle against weeds no matter what the season? Talk to one of our experts about our 3 Lawn Care Program options for your lawn and/or our Landscaping Weed & Feed program for your plant beds, and become the master of your property.
