Weed Control

Weeds are quick to colonise any space in your lawn and quickly become a nuisance spoiling the appearance of any lawn.

Off the shelf weed killers do a job of combating weeds but unless the conditions for weed colonisation and growth are treated they will be back!

Our weed control programme treats the growth and tackles the conditions that promoted the growth. West Norfolk Lawn Care are experts in this field and can devise a weed control plan that goes on working where other treatments fail, saving you the endless cost off self application.

Listed are some of the most commonly treated weeds.

Control of commonly occurring weeds
The efficient broad spectrum systemic herbicides West Norfolk Lawn Care use are safe, very effective and control weeds easily. The products are not available to the general public or most small gardeners as they contain specific active ingredients – 2.4.D, Meca prop and Di cambra – not usually found in retail style products. Common weeds such as daisies, buttercup, dandelions, plantains etc are usually controlled after one application. Certain weeds such as yarrow, field wood rush, speedwells clovers and celandine require more than one application. Repeated applications will control new weed plants from seeds carried by birds, the wind and laying those dormant in the soil. Weeds are approx 70 % water and will usually decompose completely 14 days after treatment from West Norfolk Lawn Care. Herbicides are usually applied during periods of vigorous grass growth, such as the spring, summer and late autumn when weeds are also growing too.

If you have weeds and want to control them call us and we will easily control even the most difficult of weeds and give you a relatively weed free lawn. West Norfolk Lawn Care herbicides contain a larger range of effective key active chemicals such as 2.4.D and meca prop dicamba, fluroxypyr. Methyl epthyl ester not always contained together in products purchased in the retail market.

Herbicide applications to control weeds etc are only a small part of any lawn care program and should be carried out combined with regular applications of various professional fertiliser to establish a thick healthy grass sward to help prevent the appearance of weeds and moss. Feeding your grass with the correct fertiliser regularly and improving the grass condition with scarifying and aeration all play an important part of weed and moss control.

Coarse grasses in lawns
Annual meadow grass sometimes called Couch grass appears as tuft like clumps of grass that grows faster than other more desirable species of grass such as bents fescues and rye grasses. After moss coarse grasses appear to be one of the biggest concerns for lawns. It is irritating that after controlling weeds and moss that unwanted grass species seeds spreads by birds and wind should move into your lawn and spoil the appearance.

The appearance of coarse grasses invading well maintained healthy lawns is frustrating. The more desirable grass species stop growing and even die off at certain times of the year. The hardier coarse grasses continue to grow and colonise the space left. The grass has creeping underground stems that help it spread great distances. There are no selective weed killers that can be used against coarse grasses. Ask West Norfolk Lawn Care for advice how to control the growth of coarse grasses. Regular application of essential lawn care treatments will keep your lawn healthy and can help to prevent weeds and coarse grass.

More Difficult Weeds

Field wood rush
Wood rush is a Grass like perennial weed, with dark green, broad bladed leaves with dark brown flowers and seed heads. Field woodrush has the reputation for being difficult to control. Poorly nourished soil is a key reason for woodrush. West Norfolk Lawn Care has a range of selective herbicides to control this difficult weed and can help you keep it under control.

Speedwell
Speedwell are resistant to many weed killers. They can be spread across lawns in the clipping dropped when mowing the lawn. Parts of the speedwell plant cut up in the mower clippings will quickly root and develop as new plants. Weak grass encourages speedwell so correct and regular fertilisation is vital to strengthen the grass. West Norfolk Lawn Care can treat all speedwells with one of our specialist selective herbicides.

Yarrow
Grass weakened by long periods of dry weather and poorly nourished can weaken and allow weeds such as yarrow to become established and develop. West Norfolk Lawn Care has a selective herbicide to control Yarrow.

Mares Tail or more correctly Horsetail
Said to be one of the oldest plant found in the domestic garden. Mares tail fossils have been found dating back 30 million years. This hardy adaptable plant has survived for a reason and can be a difficult plant to control without the right herbicides. Mares Tail starts to develop in the spring with brown green shoots appearing laden with spores. Like most weeds it likes poor under fertilised soils with weak grass. Once the spores have germinated the plants sends out roots that travel away from the plant sometimes to a depth of over 1 metre. The waxy coating makes general purpose weed killers almost useless. Mares tail usually grows in marshy conditions near ponds. Do not try to dig this weed out as the plant breaks up into numerous filaments that are all viable and can form new plants. Disturbing the soil encourages growth from dormant roots. We have years of experience and success controlling this plant and can provide you with help and advice how to control this weed.

Baby’s tears (Sometimes called “Mind your own business”)
Difficult weed that works its way into brick work and stone walls etc. Requires several applications of herbicide to control it but it is very persistent and can spread quickly from the smallest piece of the plant. Must be treated with systemic herbicide as the roots are extensive.

Nettles and brambles
Nettles and brambles are fairly common weeds which are easily controlled by several applications of our specialist herbicides. dead nettles decompose. Dead brambles are quite woody and may need cutting to clear.

Japanese Knotweed
There is an urban myth about controlling this plant. The plant is difficult to control if you do not use the right combination of herbicides at the right time. This plant has a huge reputation and has been described as almost impossible to control and many colonies of knot weed have been dug out and transported to specially licensed sites at a great deal of expense. The plant can be easily and relatively inexpensively controlled with the relevant herbicide applied at the relevant time and with the right techniques.

Japanese Knotweed was imported to shore up canal and railway sidings during the industrial revolution. It has bamboo like stems that grow to up to 3 metres with large spade shaped leaves. The plant has thick cuticle like skin on the leaf. The plant spreads by developing a large network of rhizome which can travel underground and spring up distances of up to 10 metres away from the parent plant. The seeds are sterile but the heavy leaf canopy created by the plant produces a sterile area beneath the canopy that prevents colonisation by other plants etc. Control has to be focused on the rhizome in order to defeat this plant. Probably one of the most troublesome invasive plants in Europe and America.

Ragwort
Tall plant with bright yellow flowers. Dangerous to mammals particularly horses. The alkaloid in the plant accumulates in the body if eaten or absorbed through the skin and can cause problems with the liver. Fairly easy to control but should be treated quite early in the year. People make the mistake of pulling it out usually leaving a small piece of root which comes back the following year. Pulling the weed is good exercise but not as effective as applying a herbicide. If you are in contact with ragwort try to wear a glove to reduce absorbing alkaloid through your skin.

Clovers
Not technically a weed but part of the family known as a legume. Plants that fix nitrogen into the soil from the atmosphere therefore a useful plant in agriculture but considered by the gardener as unwelcome in any lawn. Clovers tend to appear later in the growing season and can require more than one application of the relevant herbicide to be brought under control. They do not present a problem to West Norfolk Lawn Care.