Weed control in Spring Hill and Hudson, FL

Weeds in Florida yards

Between the heat, the summer storms and sandy soil, weeds grow almost all year here. They show up first in the beds, along the edges of the driveway and sidewalk, and in the thin spots of a lawn that isn’t getting what it needs.

Some weeds tell you something about the yard. Dollarweed, the round, coin-shaped leaves you see in a lot of Florida lawns, loves wet ground, and the University of Florida points to too much watering as one of the main reasons it spreads. Cutting back on watering helps more than anything sprayed on it.

Clearing out the beds

The quickest win is the beds. Weeds get pulled out by the root, the edges get cut back in, and a fresh layer of mulch goes down about 2 to 3 inches deep. That layer blocks the light weed seeds need to sprout, so the bed stays clean for much longer than pulling alone.

Rock beds with landscape fabric underneath stay clean the longest, and the odd weed that seeds on top is easy to pull on a regular visit.

A thick lawn crowds out weeds

In the lawn, the best weed control is grass that’s thick enough to leave weeds no room. Mowing at the right height is a big part of that: the University of Florida suggests 3.5 to 4 inches for most St. Augustine grass, and a lawn cut too short lets light reach the soil and weeds move in.

Where a lawn is more weeds than grass, it’s often faster and cheaper in the long run to take it out and lay fresh sod than to fight it a patch at a time.