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GLT's Grow: Three Ghastly Weeds

Kamil Gopaniuk
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Flickr via Creative Commons

You work hard on your lawn and garden, and you deserve to reap the benefits of a beautiful landscape.  But there's nasty weeds out there that are bent on invading and ruining your yard.  Patrick Murphy, host of GLT's Grow, has advice for dealing with the top three weeds you don't want in your yard.

  • Let's name some names -- and at the top of nearly everyone's unpopularity poll when it comes to invasive weeds is the dandelion.  
  • This tenacious invader was actually brought from Europe with the intent to use it as a food source in the New World.  Unfortunately, now it spreads like crazy and eats up lawns from Maine to California.
  • Dandelions break up the smooth texture and uniformity of lawns.  This weed is a broadleaf that can be treated with a  herbicide, before or after it blooms it's trademark little yellow flower.  Just make sure it's a selective herbicide when treating the weed on your lawn, otherwise, you'll kill the grass, too.
  • Crabgrass is a bad guy due to its ability to produce so many seeds.  Plus, it's stems can take root in your lawn.  Look for them on the edge of your lawn.
  • Yellow nutsedge is our third nasty weed.  Looks like grass, yes, but it's lime green, so it stands out -- and not in a good way.  It's seeds can hang out around ten years in the soil. Sneaky!
  • Cultural practices that discourage weeds include mowing your lawn a little taller which gives grass an edge.  Fill in bare spots on your lawn with grass seeds to not give room to weeds to establish. Mechanical weeding can actually work.  Just stay on top of it!
Reporter, content producer and former All Things Considered host, Laura Kennedy is a native of the Midwest who occasionally affects an English accent just for the heck of it. Related to two U.S. presidents, Kennedy appalled her family by going into show business.