Man Uses Two Home Depot Finds To Prevent Grassy Lawn Weeds

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As the seasons change, so do your outdoor landscaping tasks. But few things are more frustrating than playing whack-a-mole with the various types of weeds in your lawn all summer, only to watch a fresh crop pop up once temperatures cool down. However, the right products and techniques can help you get ahead of pesky weeds before they emerge, saving you considerable lawn labor. Pre-emergent herbicides, which target annual broadleaf and grassy weeds before they germinate, are an excellent approach to preventing weeds from establishing themselves in the first place. Winter annuals like henbit and chickweed germinate in fall, making the autumn season an especially useful time to consider preventative weed control.

In a video filmed at Home Depot, TikTok creator bermudagrasscentral recommends applying pre-emergent lawn weed killers in fall to help prevent winter weeds. Two products were highlighted: the LESCO 0-0-7 Crabgrass Control and Scotts Halts Crabgrass and Grassy Weed Preventer. Both use pendimethalin as their active ingredient and can be applied before weeds germinate, but differences in their formulas, bag sizes, coverage, and price may make one better suited to your lawn than the other.

The gist of bermudagrasscentral's advice is simple: Don't assume pre-emergent herbicides are only a spring lawn care task. While spring applications are commonly used to get ahead of warm-season annual weeds like crabgrass and ragweed, fall applications can target winter annual weeds and keep them out of your yard. Winter annuals germinate in fall, survive through winter, and complete their life cycle as temperatures increase, so getting a pre-emergent down before germination can interrupt that cycle.

Of bermudagrasscentral's two recommendations, LESCO 0-0-7 Crabgrass Control is the heftier purchase in terms of quantity. Home Depot carries a 50-pound bag, which is currently out of stock at time of writing, that can cover up to 12,500 square feet. The granular formula contains Pre-M 0.86%, also known as pendimethalin, and is labeled to control annual grassy and broadleaf weeds as they germinate, including crabgrass, barnyardgrass, chickweed, henbit, foxtails, and more. A comparable, in-stock item is the 45-pound bag of The Andersons 13-0-0 Lawn Fertilizer with 0.103% Dimension Pre-Emergent Weed Control at $100 (covering up to 16,000 square feet), which contains dithiopyr, another pre-emergent herbicide that prevents weeds from developing properly by disrupting root and shoot growth. Dithiopyr, however, also acts as a post-emergent for crabgrass, though is functionally similar to pendimethalin otherwise.

@bermudagrasscentral

#creatorsearchinsights #yardmaintenance stop weeds in the lawn with Pre Emergent. Late Summer and Early fall is a great time to apply before your Soil Temps go below 70 degrees.

♬ Honey Glaze Groove – Marrow Fields

Unlike a traditional nitrogen fertilizer, LESCO's 0-0-7 formula contains no nitrogen or phosphorus. Instead, it contains 7% potash, a potassium-based fertilizer that supports water retention and helps strengthen stems and roots. LESCO recommends applying the granules uniformly with a properly calibrated spreader, which is not included with the product.

Scotts Halts Crabgrass and Grassy Weed Preventer offers the same type of pre-emergent protection in a considerably smaller package. It comes in a roughly 10-pound bag covering 5,000 square feet. Its formula contains 1.71% pendimethalin and can prevent a number of listed grassy weeds, including henbit, chickweed, crabgrass, spurge, foxtail, and barnyardgrass. This product is also out of stock at Home Depot at the time of writing, but a comparable item is the 14-pound bag of Scotts Turf Builder Halts Crabgrass Preventer Dry Lawn Fertilizer at around $30 (covering 5,000 square feet), another pendimethalin-based pre-emergent weed killer that helps prevent grassy weeds.

Unlike the LESCO product, Scotts Halts isn't marketed as a fertilizer, making it a more straightforward weed-prevention product. Scotts also notes that it can be used on most grass types except for dichondra and bentgrass lawns.

Ultimately, both products rely on pendimethalin to prevent listed weeds from establishing, so the better fit depends on factors such as your lawn size, grass type, and whether you want the added potash in the LESCO formula. Whichever product you choose, always check the label for the weeds, turf types, application rates, timing, and reseeding restrictions that apply to your lawn before you bring out the spreader. And make sure to plan for how much product you'll need to purchase, especially if you want to kill weeds in a large area of your yard.