Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Lawn weed killer

MeomyeMeomye Posts: 949
in Problem solving
Is it the right time of year to use a weedkiller on the lawn? I usually use Verdons. There are far too many to pull up by hand. t i a  

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Do you mean one of the overall applications, like a weed and feed type of product,  or a selective one you apply directly to the weed itself?
    I think you can use the latter at any time that the conditions are suitable  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • micearguersmicearguers Posts: 646
    It is a sad thing when gardening involves toxic sprays to maintain a green desert. Why not invite clover, yarrow, self-heal into the lawn? It looks fabulous. Daisies are pretty too.
  • glasgowdanglasgowdan Posts: 632
    edited September 2019
    micearguers said:
    It is a sad thing when gardening involves toxic sprays to maintain a green desert. Why not invite clover, yarrow, self-heal into the lawn? It looks fabulous. Daisies are pretty too.
    If you can't offer help, please keep your opinions to yourself. 

    Meomye, it IS getting a bit late, but it should still work if you do it now. I've got a lot of treatments going out this week and next. 
  • gillmatt1167gillmatt1167 Posts: 1
    Hi Just looking at this post about lawns, I want to rid myself of my lawn, but want to keep the green. As above if I had clover, yarrow, self heal, will I still have to cut it, as I am about to travel, and will be away for long periods.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Self heal and clover are very low growing, so they'll be fine. Yarrow is a bit taller, so you would just wait until this time of year to give it a cut. It will largely take care of itself. You could introduce some common daisies too, as they're also low. If other things seed in that you don't want, you'll need to address that now and again.

    A poster once put photos of their 'grass' on here - the whole lawn was a sea of daisies, with a very formal, terraced garden surrounding it. It was stunning  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • MeomyeMeomye Posts: 949
    Thanks @glasgowdan I will do it this weekend
  • micearguersmicearguers Posts: 646
    @glasgowdan why should I keep my opinions to myself? I like to share them. Especially when it comes to reducing the amount of toxic spray let loose on the world. There is no rule that a question is only allowed to be answered in a narrowly defined way. Anyway, my help consisted of pointing out that the concept of 'lawn' can have a solution that is different from a green desert requiring toxic sprays, a solution that is pretty and additinally beneficial to wildlife rather than harmful.
  • glasgowdanglasgowdan Posts: 632
    micearguers said:
    @glasgowdan why should I keep my opinions to myself? I like to share them. Especially when it comes to reducing the amount of toxic spray let loose on the world. There is no rule that a question is only allowed to be answered in a narrowly defined way. Anyway, my help consisted of pointing out that the concept of 'lawn' can have a solution that is different from a green desert requiring toxic sprays, a solution that is pretty and additinally beneficial to wildlife rather than harmful.

    Not being rude here, but if you took the time to understand some of these products you'd know their mode of action a bit better. I spray at least 2000 litres of solution each season (between lawn weedkillers, total weedkiller, horsetail and other specialist treatments, lawn iron, fertilisers, wetting agents, biocides and all sorts more). I also have a post-graduate biochemical background and am confident that I am not harming the environment or myself/others. I know how these products work, I know how to use them and 10 years later the gardens I use them in, the soil, the undergrowth, is still teeming with all the usual forms of life that you'd expect. 

    I know you won't like my viewpoint, but I do always try and remain objective. 

    The poster wants a grassy lawn, not a wildflower meadow. It's their garden, their time/money/effort. You may be surprised at how many people want them same! 
  • Papi JoPapi Jo Posts: 4,254
    micearguers said:
    It is a sad thing when gardening involves toxic sprays to maintain a green desert. Why not invite clover, yarrow, self-heal into the lawn? It looks fabulous. Daisies are pretty too.
    This matter of weedkillers & other pesticides is always a hot issue---on this forum as elsewhere. I think a well-maintained green lawn is a great asset to make herbaceous/shrub borders stand out in a garden. My lawn is small enough (under 150 m²) that I can weed it by hand (actually my OH's hands most of the time :* ), so I do not use any chemical products on it (anywhere else in my garden either).
    Yes, clover, yarrow, daisies are pretty flowers ... in the countryside or in "prairie gardens", not on my lawn. My lawn consists of no less than 5 different species of living grass, it is not "dead".
    If you call a lawn "a green desert", what will you call a parking lot? ;)
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I think it's the way you phrased it @micearguers. 
    I like a green bit of grass too, but I also like nature. It is perfectly possible to have both [as @Papi Jo indicates] hence my initial response to @Meomye, and how you achieve that depends on your view on chemicals, and/or your time and situation. It wasn't appropriate for me to say 'you shouldn't be doing that' when a specific question was asked. You can always suggest trying a few different plants, methods or ideas, but it should really be in addition to a response to the opening query.  :)

    However, my response to the subsequent poster [ @gillmatt1167 ] is quite different.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Sign In or Register to comment.