PURDUE UNIVERSITYCOOPERATIVEEXTENSION SERVICEWEST LAFAYETTEINDIANA 47907
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Control of BroadleafWeeds in Homelawns
Zac Reicher and Clark Throssell Purdue University Turfgrass Specialists
Dandelions and other broadleaf weeds arelisted among the most troublesome turf pestproblems in lawns. Even though these weedsare fairly easy to control, it is important tounderstand that you need not eliminate allweeds from your lawn, and a few weeds areacceptable. It is not economically or environ-mentally practical to eliminate all weedsfrom your lawn. The best way to minimizeweeds in your lawn is through good culturalpractices. On the other hand, the best way toencourage weeds in your lawn is by usingpoor management techniques such as lowmowing, no or improperly timed fertilization,and over-watering. Weeds can also infestareas killed by disease or insects.
Where Do Broadleaf Weeds Come From?
•The seeds of broadleaf weeds occurnaturally in all soils, and they persist for30 or more years.•Most broadleaf weeds are prolific seedproducers. Many produce thousands of seeds per plant, and these seeds candisperse into your lawn from miles away.•Boxes of poor quality, inexpensive grassseed may have many unwanted broadleaf weed seeds.•Broadleaf weed seeds are often in anytopsoil brought on the lawn.
Cultural Control Measures
Mowing
•Mow at 3.0 to 3.5 inches.•Mow frequently so as not to removemore than 1/3 of the leaf blade at onetime. This may mean mowing twiceweekly in spring and every other week insummer.
Irrigation
•Irrigate deeply and infrequently. Water towet the soil to the depth of rooting andthen do not water again until you see thefirst sign of drought stress. The first signof drought stress is a bluish-grey hue of the grass or footprints remaining in theturf after it is walked upon.
Fertilization
•Fertilize to create as dense of lawn aspossible applying 2 to 4 pounds nitrogenper 1000 ft
2
per year.•Apply 60-100% of the nitrogen in twoapplications in fall: one in Septemberand one in November after the finalmowing.
Shade
•Many broadleaf weeds originate andthrive in the shade, eventually spreadingto other parts of the lawn. Selectivelyprune tree branches to maximize thehours and amount of sun that reachesyour lawn.
Herbicidal Control Measures
The best herbicide choice is a general-purpose mixture made of two or three of thefollowing components: 2,4-D; MCPP(mecoprop); and dicamba (Banvel). Productswith more than one herbicide component willcontrol a wider spectrum of broadleaf weeds.Read and follow all directions on the herbi-cide label.The best time to apply a general-purposebroadleaf herbicide is mid-September to mid-October. The fall represents the best time tocontrol perennial broadleaf weeds such asdandelion, plantain, and clover. These weedsare storing energy reserves for the winter intheir roots. Thus the herbicide will enter theplant and travel to the roots with the foodreserves, thereby giving a complete kill of the weed. The second best time is in the latespring or early summer period after theweeds have flowered. If applying in the late-
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