Spring Weeds to Look Out For!

Weeds are never good for your lawn, and new ones tend to pop up throughout the year. They aren’t all pretty sunflowers, and they’re always creeping around the corner. Now that the winter is ending, winter weeds are going out of season. This also means it’s time to watch out for spring weeds.

SPRING WEEDS

Spring is a season for planting and growing flowers, vegetables, and herbs in your garden or other plants on your lawn. This is also when you need to stop weeds from pollinating along with your plants because you won’t know the results for months. Winter and summer are when your plants grow. During this time, you can commonly see the stems of weeds growing near your plants.

Keeping weeds from killing thriving plants is easier than finding weeds that are taking nutrients from seeds. This makes it all the more important to look out for spring weeds before, during, and after you plant new seeds. Even if you’re just taking care of plants you already have and will have for years, you want to know what these weeds look like and how to protect against them.

CRABGRASS

Crabgrass is a group of weeds that grow all around your yard. They’re annual summer weeds, which means they grow during the warmer months and take nutrients away from your plants while your plants are weakened. Thankfully, in small numbers, they’re not as deadly as some other weeds, but when there’s a lot of crabgrass, it can kill most small plants.

To distinguish crabgrass from healthy non-weed grass, you can look at the coloration and the texture. Crabgrass is a lighter green than most non-weed grasses, sometimes even appearing yellow, giving it an unappealing color. Sometimes its color is close to your grass, and then you can distinguish it by its hair-like follicles.

The main time to watch out for crabgrass is when the temperatures start warming up. This spring weed germinates in high-temperature soils, which you need to look out for.

DESERT WILLOW

Don’t be tricked by its pretty colors, the desert willow is a weed that will starve grass around it if left uncontrolled. Because of its colorful form, we’ve made ways to control it and keep it from killing other plants. It can grow to be a large shrub if on the ground and can grow up trees. It’s not uncommon to see this weed grow up to 25ft in length and height if given the chance.

You can identify it by its pretty leaves if you have one you don’t want. They’re elongated and narrow, with each leaf resembling a flower with its 6-inch length. If left to grow, it’ll survive for months, sometimes years, with the leaves falling off in the winter, making it harder to distinguish from non-weeds in some instances.

As they grow in popularity, so grows the spread of their seeds. You could easily have a new spring weed in your landscape if you’re not careful.

SALTCEDAR

Unlike desert willow, these are not popular spring weeds, despite their appearance. They can grow as high as 20ft and have deep root networks that make them incredibly difficult to remove. They’re worth ripping out and removing as soon as you see them. If you don’t, you risk having an expensive nuisance in your yard. They are perennial, so they will live for years as long as they can find nutrients. Saltcedar weeds will not die out on their own.

You can identify them by their reddish-brown bark when they’re mature. When they’re small or pollinating, you can identify their small, scale-like leaves. The flowers themselves are any color between pink and white, growing in clusters that can spread throughout a yard when they fall.

HOW TO STOP SPRING WEEDS FROM GROWING AND SPREADING

You can memorize and be able to identify every weed known to Arizona, but it's better to do what you can to prevent spring weeds before they grow. A healthy lawn is the best defense against any weed. If your plants can survive a weed infestation or starve them out, that’s perfect. Here are a few things you can do to get your lawn to that point:

• Raise the blades on your lawnmower. Being 3 to 4 inches tall already helps your grass survive the Arizona heat. Do it so it can grow in thick and block sunlight from weeds, too.
• Keep the grass healthy with mulch. You want to fertilize your grass so it has all the nutrients and water it needs to survive and outlast your landscape’s weeds.
• Grab a gardening hoe to pull up the spring weeds you do find. It’s difficult to keep all the weeds out and just as difficult to catch them all. Some weeds will get through, so when you find them, you need a tool to dig them up as carefully as possible.

CONTACT PIONEER LANDSCAPE CENTERS FOR HELP AGAINST WEEDS

If you’re not sure what you should do to keep weeds out of your yard, the experts at your local Pioneer Landscaping Centers are here to help. We can help you find the right tools and materials for your lawn and garden. This spring, the weeds won’t get the better of you. Contact your local Pioneer Landscaping Centers for help.