“Homeowners should know that from now until mid-March is the ideal time to spray their lawn for our winter spectrum of weeds,” said UGA weed scientist Tim Murphy.
Even though the warm-season turfgrass in your lawn isn’t green, various winter annual weeds are growing. These include common chickweed, henbit and annual bluegrass.
“These weeds grow slowly at cool temperatures,” he said. “But in just a few weeks they will grow profusely as temperatures rise in the spring.”
Murphy recommends using a post-emergent herbicide to control the various winter weeds in your lawn. Select a day when the air temperature reaches 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit and apply a “selective” herbicide.
“Selective herbicides control some species without affecting others,” Murphy said. “Determine whether your weeds are primarily broadleafs or grasses and then select the proper herbicide product.”
Using pre-emergent herbicides in early September, he said, followed by post-emergent herbicides in the winter is a good strategy for future years, especially on sites where overseeding isn’t planned.
More research-based turfgrass recommendations from UGA are available online (www.georgiaturf.com).
