Unless you’re living with a lawn made of dreams instead of grass, you’re likely not looking forward to weed season. This is understandable, after all there is a huge variety of different weeds, and it can be a real challenge for Calgary homeowners to keep their lawn free of them all. Beyond that, weeds are weeds for a reason: they’re durable, highly reproductive, and a pain to get rid of. Just one dandelion can create enough seeds to grow 15000 others! So how do you compete? At Five-Star Landscaping, we know the first step is getting a head start.

A Healthy Lawn. Weeds do best when no other healthy plants are available to out compete them. They’re opportunistic in nature, and prefer to germinate in areas that are less ideal for their competition. That means one of your best tools against weeds is a healthy, great looking lawn.

At Five-Star, we know lawns. We know the balance to strike between too much fertilizer and not enough. You want to feed the grass, but not have left over nutrients that are free for weeds – or worse use so much that you give your lawn a chemical burn.

Watering is also important. Promoting strong deep roots is vital to keeping your lawn healthy. The best way to accomplish this is to give your lawn a lot of water infrequently. An inch of water (about 2.5 cm) once a week works great. You can get a rain gauge or just take a short can (canned fish or cat food is about the right height) to measure how much water you’re giving your lawn.

Another error many Calgarian’s make is cutting their lawn too short. While it might be your prefered look and it reduces how often you need to mow the lawn, when grass is kept too short it doesn’t have enough blade to produce adequate energy. Not enough energy means a patchy and unhealthy lawn.

Herbicides to control weeds are always a last resort. With proper lawn-care on your side, you can keep a healthy, happy lawn without defaulting to harsh poisons that can kill the plants you want as well as potentially harm kids and pets. If your lawn needs some expert help, Five-Star Landscaping is just a phone call away! Call us today at 403-203-4058.