You try your best to grow nice, green grass, but pesky weeds can spoil your best efforts at property perfection. Broadleaf weeds are pernicious plants that can wreck your attempts to cultivate that ideal lush lawn and even attract undesirable pest insects. They can make it harder for your lawn to achieve its proper look and can be stubbornly difficult to eliminate. If you’re suffering from broadleaf weeds in Mobile, here’s what you can do.
Types Of Broadleaf Weeds In Mobile
There are dozens of different broadleaf weeds found in Alabama with a spectacular variety or size, shape, and color. While some weeds blend in with your lawn, broadleaf weeds can be recognized for their prominent leaves and flowers. Common types found in Mobile include:
- Carpet weed – Carpet weed tends to grow low to the ground in a large, sprawling mat up to several feet in diameter. The small, smooth green leaves form in whorls around the stem. Carpet weed is commonly found in sandy soils.
- Dandelion – A common broadleaf weed found throughout the United States, dandelions can be recognized for their serrated, tooth-like leaves, long hollow stalk, and feathery yellow flower heads. These weeds can regrow annually and thrive in most conditions of light, moisture, and soil.
- Chickweed – Chickweed tends to grow in moist areas with partial shade and can tolerate colder temperatures, making them a year-round problem in Alabama. These weeds have small, rounded leaves and grow white flower heads clustered at the end of their stems.
- Buckhorn plantain – These weeds can grow large leaves between three and ten inches in length with flowering, leafless stalks that can grow up to two feet tall. Buckhorn plantain is particularly adept at tolerating drought.
Problems Broadleaf Weeds Cause
The term “weed” really just refers to any aesthetically undesirable plant, and most weeds don’t pose significant danger to human beings. But broadleaf weeds do cause trouble for the health of your lawn and can point to underlying issues with soil, moisture, and light.
Broadleaf weeds compete for light, water, and space and discourage grass and other plants from growing. Weeds grow and reproduce rapidly, allowing them to take over an area in a relatively short amount of time. Not to mention, weeds often create a dense network of roots that can cause weeds to take valuable topsoil with them once removed from the ground.
Broadleaf weeds often serve as a haven for unwanted insects like mosquitoes and can even attract wasps with their flowering parts. And finally, some broadleaf weeds can be hazardous. For example, ragweed can cause hay fever, and stinging nettle can be incredibly irritating to the skin.
How Broadleaf Weed Problems Start
Broadleaf weeds are most likely to take root in lawns that have thin grass or empty patches of exposed soil. Without thick, lush grass forming a unified carpet across your entire lawn, broadleaf weeds are bound to pop up. These plants have evolved to spread their seeds in a variety of remarkable ways from being carried by the wind to being carried by wildlife, making stopping weeds difficult. However, the reason weeds grow in your yard is often because of underlying soil and moisture issues.
Getting rid of weeds is tough, and while pulling up weeds by hand is tedious, it can be a better option than most do-it-yourself chemical sprays. Store-bought weed treatments can damage the surrounding grass and discourage new growth. Windy days are especially bad for spraying weeds.
For help with broadleaf weeds on your Mobile property, get in touch with the experts at EnSec Of Alabama. With a full range of lawn care services available, we can eliminate unsightly weeds and help you grow that perfectly green lawn of your dreams. Contact us today.