Curbing Quick-Growing Grasses in Your Garden and Lawn
Grass can and will grow everywhere if they are not regularly maintained. Whether it be a flower or vegetable garden, your lawn and its appearance or “curb appeal” is very important to your home value. There are many ways to curb grass growth but some are more difficult than others.
For gardens, the hardest way is to get right down in there and pull them. As time goes on, though, if the grasses become firmly implanted in your garden, extracting them manually can be detrimental to the roots of other plants. Roots of these plants can either be exposed, causing unnatural drying, or be yanked out. A suggestion for extracting the grasses this way is to water around the grass until their roots are exposed and then gently pull up the grass. Be careful though as there is still risks of damaging the roots of the plants that you want to keep.
Another way to curb grass growth in your gardens is to start early. After the plants break ground or before planting potted plants, put down weed a control fabric and cut holes out of it where the plants will go. Put the fabric down and carefully cover the plant with the fabric. This will prevent light from stimulating grasses to grow. This can also be started later after the plant has grown fully or after potted plants have been planted. Larger holes need to be cut though and you run the risk of injuring the leaves of your plants, which will hinder its growth.
Grass growth in gardens can also be curbed by using grass-killing agents such as Round-Up. Grass-killing agents can be very useful. It is recommended to use one of these agents very early when you first see the grass growing before existing plants begin to break ground or before planting potted plants. There is the risk, though, that any shrubbery or plant that has already been planted will be killed as well. Make sure there is no breeze; one drop of this agent on another plant will kill it. One of the benefits of this is that when many grass-killing agents contact the ground, it turns into a non-toxic form and even edible plants will not be harmed.
Pre-emergent herbicides, which are chemicals that prevent seeds from sprouting, can also be used. Make sure that all plants have already fully grown or have at least 2 sets of leaves because these herbicides kill seeds and newly growing plants.
Managing your lawn and preventing your plants from being choked out by weeds take a bit of work. To prevent the grass from growing too fast, a slow-growth and low-maintenance ones that are suited for your area can be seeded or re-seeded into your lawn. If that is not an option, though, try these simple tips to curb these grasses.
First, stop fertilizing the lawn; if you leave grass clippings on the mowed lawn, it is acts as a cover and fertilizer, thus keeping the grass adequately fed. Next, mow the lawn less. Mowing encourages new growth. Also, don’t cut the lawn too short or water it too much. Watering once a week is good. Moreover, higher grass and less water supports root growth instead of leaf growth.
The key to maintaining your gardens and/or lawn is maintenance. You have to do the maintenance to keep grasses under control. “Curb appeal” is very important to increasing the value of your home. No matter which way you use, remember that if you don’t do the work, grass will overrun everything and make your home appear unkempt.
