Keeping your lawn weed-free throughout the year requires a balance between stopping weeds as they germinate and attempt to emerge out of the soil and eliminating the ones that already have. Pre-emergent weed control treatments will create a barrier between your lawn and weed seeds in the soil, stopping them before they can sprout. Post-emergent weed control treatments are used to target existing weeds on your lawn, by absorbing into the roots and killing them. Using pre- and post-emergent weed control together is necessary to maintain a weed-free lawn in Iowa year-round by covering the entire weed growth cycle!

What is pre-emergent weed control, and how does it work?

To stop weeds before they have the chance to emerge out of the soil, you want to target them with pre-emergent weed control treatments. Pre-emergent weed control treatments are a preventative weed control measure and target weeds you don't see in your yard just yet. They work by creating a barrier in the soil that underground weeds can't penetrate. When a weed germinates under the soil and starts to grow, it will come into contact with the barrier, and won't be able to sprout through the soil. This will prevent the weed from accessing the resources it needs to live, and will wither and die underground! This treatment needs to be applied at the right time because it's only effective on newly germinated weeds, and won't work on weeds that already have sprouted or are already too far along in their growth cycle when the treatment was applied.

What is post-emergent weed control, and how does it work?

Post-emergent weed control being sprayed on weeds in Waukee, IA.

If you want to eliminate weeds that have already emerged in your lawn, then you want to apply post-emergent weed control treatments. Post-emergent weed control treatments target those pesky, visible weeds that have already sprouted out of the soil. These treatments are sprayed directly on the weeds and are absorbed into the roots. When this happens, the weeds eventually die.

Post-emergent weed control treatments should be applied to your lawn throughout the growing season to keep up with the weed growth.

You should use pre- and post-emergent weed control treatments to achieve a weed-free lawn!

Using pre- and post-emergent weed control treatments together supplies you with the tools you need to cover both ends of the weed growth cycle, helping you achieve a weed-free lawn. If you only use pre-emergent weed control treatments on your lawn, then the weeds that were already there will continue to thrive and repopulate. Aside from the weeds that already exist, some stubborn weeds might still pop up on your lawn after the pre-emergent treatments are applied. This is especially true if those specific weeds already germinated and began to grow before the treatment was applied.

If you only use post-emergent weed control treatments, then you'll continuously need to catch up with the population. New weeds can continue to emerge throughout most of the year, so it will take a lot of treatments to continually eliminate them. By utilizing both pre- and post-emergent treatments during the year, you can help keep your lawn weed-free!

Keep your lawn weed-free by giving us a call today and enrolling in our weed control program.

At Brilliant Borders Landscaping, we've been providing our weed control program for 19 years. Our comprehensive, 7-step program includes both pre- and post-emergent weed control treatments, allowing us to target the weeds on your lawn at both ends of their life cycle. We offer this service to residential and commercial properties in Waukee, IA, and surrounding cities, such as West Des Moines, Urbandale and Grimes! Give us a call today at (515) 664-6205 to sign up!