It doesn’t matter how hard you’ve worked to improve your home’s curb appeal — an invasion of weeds can ruin its overall appearance.
And sometimes, it seems like it doesn’t matter how much you’ve babied your lawn. The weeds just keep coming back!
Fortunately, we can help with some advice to encourage grass — not weed — growth.
We’ll share that, and many more tips, on this week’s Today’s Homeowner Radio Show.
Around the Yard — Sponsored by Pavestone
Weeds are a constant for most homeowners. Whether we baby our lawns or not, most of us have to deal with weeds.
In fact, I just planted a whole new lawn after building my new house. I did all the right things to start off weed-free, and you guessed it, a few months in and I’m seeing weeds.
But I’m not giving up the fight. The most valuable advice I’ve heard on this subject is that “the best way to control weeds … is by having a healthy lawn.”
The presence of weeds is a cue that that your grass isn’t completely happy. So, focus on improving your soil and getting your grass healthy, and many of the weeds will disappear on their own.
If your soil and lawn are in really poor shape, it may take a few years to transform it, but you should see improvement each season.
Here are a few things to try:
• Test your soil regularly. You can’t add the right amendments to your soil if you don’t know what it needs, and a good soil test will tell you. Interested in learning how to conduct soil tests? Explore our guide to testing soil texture.
• Next, be sure the grass has room to grow. Core aeration loosens up compacted soil to allow room for roots to grow while it opens the soil up to more water, nutrients, and oxygen. You can rent an aerator yourself or hire a local lawn service to do the job.
• When watering is required, do it right. Frequent light watering won’t encourage roots to grow deep. So, water less frequently for long periods of time.
• Finally, mow with the grass in mind … not yourself. Mowing more frequently requires extra effort on your part, but it’s healthier for the lawn. And that’s what you want … to keep the weeds at bay.
This Around the Yard segment is brought to you by Pavestone.
Quikrete Q&A
Alli from Brookhaven, Georgia, writes, “Our 40-year-old brick home has several spots where the mortar has cracked and fallen out. I’d like to fix this without having to hire a brick mason.
Is there an easy way to mix my own mortar and get it into those joints without making a huge mess? Or should I bite the bullet and spend the money on a mason?
Well, Alli, I have two answers. The first is, yes, you can buy pre-mixed mortar and do the job yourself.
In addition to the mortar you’ll need a tool called a grout bag, which is like a heavy-duty cake-decorating funnel that you use to force the grout into those mortar joints. It can be messy until you get the hang of it, but it is effective.
The second answer is even easier, though. Quikrete makes a Mortar Repair material that’s a sanded acrylic formula that adheres to brick, block, stone and concrete surfaces. But unlike normal caulk, it has a texture and color that blend in perfectly with the surrounding mortar.
It comes in a tube similar to caulk, but it has a square applicator tip that allows you to create smooth mortar joints.
So, either way you go, you’ll get a good repair. But I would recommend Quikrete Mortar Repair. It will make your project easier and faster. For more information, you can check it out on quikrete.com.
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