Weeds such as dandelions are very prominent in the Spring and quickly flower making themselves very visible. They’re often complimented by others such as Daises, Speedwells and Celandines!

Some of the weeds in your lawn will be perennial plants such as buttercups (below). These will grow back each year and spread by either seed or runners called stolons. With perennial plants, it is difficult to eradicate them completely in the short term and it will take several applications of selective herbicides to reduce the underground root system to remove the plants completely. Even after that, fresh plants may occur from imported seed which may arrive on the wind or transported by birds.

It often surprises people that weeds appear in their lawn, but they expect them to appear in flower beds! In truth, there’s no difference at all and the dandelions that have appeared this spring will relate to the large amount of dandelion seed floating around last summer and autumn. These seeds settle on the lawn and germinate after rain. They happily overwinter and grow when the weather begins to warm up.

The chemistry we use to control these weeds will not work until the weather warms up and we loose what is known as the diurnal shift in temperature. This means the large difference in temperature from a warm April afternoon and a possible frost at night.

This usually occurs in late April to early May and triggers us being able to get on and control these weeds.

Not sure which weed you have in your lawn? See our weed Identification guide or get in touch for advice.

Also see our dedicated Japanese Knotweed and Ragwort weed control pages for help.