Weeds are unwanted inhabitants in your garden and make use of nutrients that are for other useful plants that are present in the lawn. However, the appearance of these weeds should be an indicator for you that there are problems with the soil health that need your attention. It could be fertility, moisture or pH imbalance present in the soil, which you will have to look into.
Recognizing Common Weeds and Problems Associated with them
Crabgrass:
You will see them showing up in newly planted lawns and fertility rate is higher. Both humidity and dryness are conducive for this weed.
You need to ensure that mowing is not being done very low and it can be controlled by maintaining higher surrounding grass. The weed has an annual growth cycle, thus you will have to take steps to prevent spreading of the seeds. One way of discouraging germination in lawns is to use corn gluten.
Annual Bluegrass:
Bluegrass is a tuft like grass that can produce many seeds even after close mowing. It requires good amount of moisture and growth is better if shady spots are available.
Some of the reasons favoring its growth include frequent watering and mowing at low height. If you see annual bluegrass in your lawn then it means that the soil is highly fertile. One of the ways you can stop their growth is by aerating the soil since badly drained ground helps it grow.
Black Medic:
If you notice appearance of black medic in your garden then it means lack of fertility and nitrogen deficiency in the soil. Solution is to do a top dressing of organic fertilizer or compost in the lawn.
Prostrate Knotweed:
The strong point for this weed is its early germination, which helps it to occupy space as well as use up resources before other plants germinate. As it emerges, it may look like normal grass and create confusion in your mind thus you will have to look closely to properly identify it. The appearance of this would mean that the soil is too compacted or acidity level is quite high.
Chickweed:
The main feature of this weed is that it flourishes in nicely watered as well as fertile conditions. Overgrowth of this weed in the lawn will mean that you have overwatered the lawn, soil is compacted or dense and drainage is not good. In such condition, aeration will be helpful and you will have to keep a gap between watering till the time drought stress signs appear.
Plantain:
These are tough weeds and you will see them growing where other plants or weeds cannot grow such as sidewalks and driveways. In case the weed starts to outperform grass in the lawn then it would mean that density in the soil is high, there is high acidity and fertility is not as needed.
To check if aeration will be required you can do a screwdriver test. In case you are able to thrust your screwdriver into the soil up to handle then it will signify that there is required aeration in the soil otherwise it is denser than required. As a solution, you will have to mow high and do proper compost mulching.
Violets:
The main reasons for appearance of this weed are wet as well as shady lawn. Proper drainage will solve one part of the problem but in many situations, we cannot solve shading problem. In such cases, you will have to prevent low mowing use grass such as fine fescues to compete with the weed.
Summary:
Many types of weed create problems in our lawns. The only solution is to find the reasons why these weeds appear and address those root causes.