We often face difficulties with weeds in our lawns. Also, do not try to overseed right before or right after applying crabgrass preventer as this chemical will prevent the germination of your desired grasses as well. Do not apply any pesticides to newly seeded lawn until you have completed 2-3 mowings. Straw mulch can be applied to keep the seedbed moist, but it is not necessary and can bring problems with weed seed that is often a contaminant of straw. It may be necessary to water twice a day to keep it from drying out and dying. Frequent, light irrigation is necessary to keep newly seeded lawns moist. The beginning part of April is best for seeding lawns, but it can be done until the end of the month. If you had some spots that were flooded out last spring, now is a great time to get some new seed planted. To help ensure that you have the best lawn on the block, here are few tips to improve your lawn this spring.Īpril is a great time to overseed your lawn. April is a good time to get out and start working in the lawn and garden to prepare our yards.
Finally, using any broadleaf post-emergent herbicide later in the fall after the henbit has germinated, such as 2,4-D, will kill henbit as well.Īpril is finally here, which means spring should be bringing in warmer weather. Using a pre-emergent herbicide for broadleaf weeds in the fall will also help reduce the seed germination. If we can do things to keep your grass growing in these locations or use other plants or mulch to cover the bare soil, the henbit will struggle. Henbit is also often found along the foundation of a house or in a garden area with exposed soils. Areas around sidewalks and driveways or areas where people tend to cut the corner around sidewalks are locations where the turf gets worn down and the henbit excels. Henbit is a plant that tends to grow in the areas where grass typically dies out. However, pulling the plant would be a fine management practice in the spring months. The fact that it is noticed when it is blooming shows us that it is already producing seed for next year, so killing the existing plants does nothing for the future generation of this plant. As I said, henbit dies when the weather warms up, so why spray it with a chemical when it is going to die in a few weeks anyway. The problem with henbit is that by the time we see it, or rather see the beautiful purple flowers, it is too late to treat it this year. A winter annual dies as soon as the weather starts to warm up in the late spring whereas a summer annual germinates in the spring and goes through it’s lifecycle through the summer months, dying with our fall frosts. Very early in the spring, henbit will start to grow again, produce flowers which produce seed for the growth to come next year and then it dies. A winter annual is a plant that germinates in the fall and grows a bit before basically becoming dormant for the winter months.
This means that henbit only lives for one growing season, but it’s development is different from something like crabgrass which is a summer annual. The differences between the two are that creeping Charlie is a perennial so it blooms later in the year than henbit and creeping Charlie has flowers that are more blue and henbit flowers are more purple. Henbit is often confused with creeping Charlie or ground ivy, which is a perennial weed from the same family with purple colored flowers as well. It has a small purple flower with darker colored purple spots on the lower petals of the flowers. It has leaves that are rounded with a scalloped edge and they are arranged oppositely along the stem. Henbit is a member of the mint family, which means that it has square stems.
This weed is also quite prevalent in our lawns and gardens. This is the weed that will cover crop fields early in the spring with large expanses of purple blossoms. Henbit is the purple blooming weed that shows its ugly face very early in the spring. This is the time of the year I always get calls about that dreaded purple flowering weed in our lawns and gardens. However, not everything about spring is fun and games. That is such an exciting time of the year, all of our plants are greening up and the early blooming trees, shrubs, and bulbs are beginning to show us their beauty for the year.
It’s spring, finally! I know our winter wasn’t terrible this year, but I always look forward to spring.
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