How to Control Grass Growth

Many people suffer with grass in unwanted parts of their yards, but not everyone knows how to control grass growth. Before you saturate the edges of your garden in harmful chemicals, consider taking these natural steps to stopping the spread of grass.

Clear the Area to Control Grass Growth

This method works best as a preventative measure: Before you start planting seeds in your garden, make sure you've completely removed any grass or weeds that have moved in. You'll want to do this in early spring, and if you're a gardener who enjoys tilling, that would be an excellent time to take out any developing sprouts.

It's important to do this before planting because once grass takes root, it can easily become entangled with your garden plants and will be impossible to remove without killing the rest of your garden. If your garden is entirely covered with grass, of course, this method may be too time-consuming to work effectively.

Hinder Growth with Mulch

Mulch can be a great tool to kill unwanted grass. If gardening is a new experience for you, mulch is essentially dead material like leaves that is applied to soil to provide it with extra nutrients and/or for insulation. With this trick, you'll be using mulch primarily for its utility as an insulator.

For this trick, you'll first want to de-grass your garden, then spread a layer of newspaper around whatever space you won't be planting. Ideally, this layer should be about ten sheets thick and covered with four inches of mulch. This is to stop grass from getting any sunlight or air, and can be an effective way to prevent annoying grass growth. As an added bonus, once the newspaper has degraded, your garden will get a nice boost of nutrients from the mulch.

Heat is Your Friend

Boiling water has a longstanding use as a weed-killer, but this strategy can be improved upon to also control grass growth. Simply take one cup of boiling water, add a cup of vinegar, and spray it on the areas you're trying to de-grass. The heat and vinegar will sink down to the root and kill the grass at its core. Because this method requires some preparation in small quantities, it works best for small outbreaks of grass rather than large-scale growth.

 

One note: This method can be harmful to the pH level of your garden because of the vinegar, so be mindful of how much you're using and what you plan on growing before attempting this solution. Some plants can thrive in soil with a high pH, while others will be impossible to grow in the same conditions.

Be Resourceful

Unwanted grass can be a serious pain to deal with, but remember that you have options before you resort to spraying your entire garden with weed-killer. These natural solutions are excellent and time-tested methods of controlling the growth of grass in your lawn, so use them before resorting to more drastic methods of grass removal.

Custom Weed & Pest Control has been in business since 1989, serving the greater Phoenix metro area for both residential and commercial. We offer organic, natural and chemical weed control, with customized service to meet your specific needs.

Related Page: Practices to Keep Weeds Away 



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control grass growth , weed control