Nobody likes spring weed invasions. They damage your lawn, decrease your property value, and they just look bad. Lawn weeds typically grow quicker, spread faster, and consume more nutrients than regular turfgrass, leading to severely undernourished lawns. Luckily, you can prevent weed invasions by maintaining proper lawn care and knowing how to identify these pesky weeds in the Carolinas!
Nutsedge
Nutsedge is a widespread perennial weed that pops up in spring and early summer. You may mistake nutsedge leaves for grass at first since they look pretty similar. The main difference is that nutsedge has a thick stem in the shape of a V. There are two types of nutsedge, purple and yellow. Both types are mainly caused by an overall excess of water in your lawn, often due to drainage or compaction issues.
Purple nutsedge has reddish flowers, while yellow nutsedge has brown flowers. Nutsedge has a fast growth rate, and it grows upright. Its height will disrupt the uniformity of your yard. You’ll see lots of tall, flowering plants in between your neatly mowed grass. If you leave it untreated, it will slowly start to choke out your surrounding grass, devastating your lawn.
Common Causes:
- Bare patches in your lawn
- Mowing too low
- Overwatering
- Generally disturbed soil
Best Treatments:
- Apply a balanced-nitrogen fertilizer
- Overseed thin areas of your lawn
- Water in the morning
- Apply pre-emergent in early spring
Annual Bluegrass
You’ll start to see annual bluegrass popping up like mad during the summertime. It’s got a rapid growth rate, making it a formidable opponent. You can identify annual bluegrass by its light green blades. With a length of about an inch and a half, they aren’t too tall. The edges are very smooth, and it tends to grow in clumps, which is an easy way you can differentiate between annual bluegrass and regular turfgrass. The seed heads are also easily identifiable, as they resemble clusters of oats.
All it takes is one annual bluegrass plant to wreak havoc on your yard. It can create hundreds of seeds and spread them across a large area. As a result, the weed will begin pushing out other plants that can’t grow as fast. Additionally, as is the case with all invasive weeds, the surrounding turfgrass will start to thin and fade as annual bluegrass steals away the nutrients in the soil.
Common Causes:
- Bare patches in your lawn
- Mowing too low
- Overwatering
- Generally disturbed soil
Best Treatments:
- Apply a balanced-nitrogen fertilizer
- Overseed thin areas of your lawn
- Water in the morning
- Apply pre-emergent in early spring
Prostrate Knotweed
Prostrate knotweed will start popping up at the very first signs of warm weather. It’s a perennial weed that can cause severe damage if you don’t keep it under control. Prostrate knotweed is a reasonably easy weed to identify due to its unique appearance. It has oval-shaped leaves, very wiry stems, and it grows outward and low to the ground, which is where the “prostrate” name comes from.
The dense mats that knotweed forms are bad news for your yard. They can block out crucial sunlight that you need for your surrounding grass. Furthermore, prostrate knotweed releases toxins into the soil. That makes it next to impossible to grow many types of grass. This is one of the nastiest weeds you are likely to encounter in the Carolinas.
Common Causes:
- Thin lawns
- Excess water
- Yards with stonework
- Not edging/trimming pathways
Best Treatments:
-
Water deeply & infrequently
- Avoid hand-pulling/Use tools
- Use pre-emergent in early spring
- Apply post-emergent as necessary
Common Purslane
Purslane likes to pop up during both spring and summertime. You can identify common purslane by its red stems and long oval-shaped leaves. This weed is considered a succulent because of its thick leaves, and it grows from a single taproot surrounded by secondary fibrous roots. You can also identify this weed by the bright yellow flowers that develop in mature plants.
Purslane will take over your property. It will reproduce at a rapid rate while forming a thick carpet over your soil. It will then hoard all the nutrients, moisture, and sunlight, depriving your grass and plants. Due to the complex root system of this weed, it will overpower your grass easily if it is not controlled. Freshly cultivated soil is the preferred home of common purslane.
Common Causes:
- Freshly cultivated soil
- Unclean lawn mower blades
- Excess moisture
- Poor drainage
Best Treatments:
- Keep lawns regularly fertilized
- Clean mower blades
- Dig out the taproot
- Use a pre-emergent in early spring
Crabgrass
This is perhaps the most common weed on the list, and any homeowner is sure to deal with it at some point! Crabgrass starts developing in spring and fully bursts to life in summer. As a grassy weed, crabgrass can be a bit more difficult to identify, but there are some clear markers. The leaves will appear fainter in color than the surrounding grass, and the leaves are flatter and wider than healthy turfgrass. When viewed from above, crabgrass plants are often described as growing in a star-shaped pattern. You will also notice a pinkish hue near the base of the plant.
This annual, grassy weed is one of the most prevalent across the United States. One single plant can produce up to 150,000 seeds that will emerge in the following season, which makes crabgrass quite formidable for any landscape enthusiast. Crabgrass grows very low to the ground, has strong roots, and it can be difficult to control once emerged.
Common Causes:
- Dry soil
- Compacted lawns
- Thin or stressed grass
- Mowing too low
Best Treatments:
- Keep grass 3 inches or taller
- Remove before it sets seed
- Dig out the roots
- Apply pre-emergent in early spring
Schedule RDS For Weed Control Services!
We hope this guide helps you identify the types of spring weeds invading your lawn. Either way, you can always rely on our team at RDS Lawn Care to keep your weeds gone for good!
If you reside in North or South Carolina, we want to be your go-to company for weed control services. For a free consultation with no obligations, reach out to us at (704) 327-2386 to keep your lawn looking pristine all year!