Healthy grass creates a nice canopy
I want to talk for a minute today about how to prevent weeds in your lawn ‘naturally’ or ‘organically’. Many of you/us are trying to figure out how to keep our properties looking perfect, without using many chemicals which when used incorrectly can damage the environment. Last time I told you about using pre-emergent to prevent weed seeds from germinating, today we will talk about the natural approach to weed prevention.
It all begins with a healthy lawn. Seeds need moisture, and sunlight to germinate and grow. This is true for any type of seed. When preventing weeds without chemical, you must figure out a way to eliminate at least one of the elements which allow those weed seeds to grow into plants. The easiest one to eliminate is the sunlight. I am not suggesting you build a big tent over your entire yard to eliminate the sunlight, but what I am suggesting is to allow your grass to create a tent-like effect over the dirt. By keeping your grass healthy, it will create a ‘canopy effect’ over the dirt. As the blades of grass lean in towards each other, they will intertwine themselves and ultimately shade the dirt.
There are many ways to encourage your lawn to create the canopy, the first thing is to make sure you have enough grass. In my area, Fescue is the grass of choice, but with fescue it is a clump style grass. Which means, if you have a clump of grass die, you will have a bare spot in the lawn until you plant more grass seed in the bare spot. If you have Bermuda, Zoysia, or St. Augustine, these grasses will creep and fill in gaps on their own.
The second thing is to make sure your grass is healthy. By getting on a routine fertilization program, you can insure the grass always has enough nutrients to maximize its size requirements.
The third thing is water. You MUST water you lawn certain times of the year. If you go through a hot and dry spell, your grass will suffer, giving the weeds a chance to grow.
The forth thing is to not cut your grass too low. In the springtime when you have ideal weather conditions, you may cut your grass slightly lower than during the summer when the grass can easily be stressed. I like to say, never cut lower than 3 inches, and during the summer, move up to at least 4 in. and sometimes 5 inches. Pay some attention to your lawn and let it talk to you and tell you what it needs. (not literally 
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Happy Lawns
