“I kind of think the reason we all put out pumpkins, hay bales and all that festive fall stuff out now is to take attention away from how bad the rest of the yard looks,” Erin said with a laugh. The South Shore homeowner shook her head. “I don’t know what happened, but all at once the lawn went from looking pretty decent to oh no. We’ve got dandelions all over the place all of a sudden and just a bunch of weeds that came out of nowhere.”
Fall weed season in this part of Massachusetts tends to begin the third or fourth week in August. That means that by this point, weeds have been growing for a couple of weeks – and as we all know, weeds grow fast and they spread rapidly. In the blink of an eye, broadleaf weeds can establish quite a presence in your yard.
Some types of weeds are annuals, meaning the plant grows, creates & distributes seeds, and then dies. Other weeds, such as plantain and dandelion, are perennial, which means they will keep coming back basically as long as they have roots in the soil to grow from.
This means you’ll want to have a fall lawn weed control strategy that addresses both types of weeds. One advantage of working with a local lawn service is that they have a range of herbicide products that just aren’t available to the homeowner. These products are family and pet safe while being strong enough to eliminate the current crop of weeds & stop the next generation from growing.
In terms of setting expectations, weed control is generally needed in the spring, mid-summer, and in the fall. This is because our yards are always exposed to seeds that are coming from other properties. And once weeds are established, look out: a single crabgrass plant can produce two hundred more crabgrass plants without even trying hard. Working with a local lawn service makes it easier to keep weeds from getting the upper hand.
