HI HI- wrote:
thanks for the info, if you dont mind my ignorance please explain where
weeds come from and why they grow so fast.

It depends on how you define weeds. If you're trying to create a golf
course putting green type lawn, you might consider daffodils to be
weeds. A "weed" is simply a plant you don't want to grow where it's
growing.

A healthy lawn will have very few "weeds". The turf will choke most of
them out. There will still be an occasional weed, but not enough that
you'd be complaining about them, and they'll likely be easy to pull.

The way many people care for their lawns encourage weeds. Problems
include:
1. Using a grass that is not suited for the area.
2. Allowing thatch to build up.
3. Over fertilizing.
4. Mowing too short, or cutting too much off at one time.
5. Watering too often and not deeply enough.

Making those mistakes will leave you with a lawn that's not healthy
enough to choke out the "weeds."

Some other things you can do include making sure that you get to the
"weeds" before they set seed heads, and completely remove the roots and
runners when you pull them. Some "weeds" will set multiple runners, and
come up in four different places if you simply chop-off the above ground
part of the weed.

Generally you want to avoid spreading weed killing chemicals all over
your lawn. These chemicals are designed to kill vegetation, and if you
misuse them, including using them in the wrong situation, they'll kill
far more than the weeds in your grass, and they don't do anything to
help the turf become healthy enough to control it's own weeds.. They'll
also join the run-off, and end up in any local streams. And you don't
want your kids playing on the lawn when those chemicals are there.

Occasionally you might want to treat a particularly bad localized area,
but if things are really bad in a small area, you might also want to
consider removing the turf, and then smothering whatever is there before
putting in new grass.

There are no good instant solutions. If you find a solution that seems
to work instantly, you're just setting yourself up for a lot more work
down the line. It's going to take some time to develop a healthy lawn,
but in the long run it's going to be less work, less expensive if you
don't fall into the trap of spreading and spraying more and more deadly
chemicals.

Contact your county extension office, and see if you can get somebody to
look at your lawn to make some specific suggestions. You might have a
build-up of thatch. You might have a type of grass not well suited for
your area. Or you just might be trying to grow a lawn in a place not
suited for a lawn.

There are lots of good websites that address lawn care. Try to avoid
taking advice from sites that exist to sell you stuff. For example, if
you follow the instructions at Scott's website, you'll end up with a
lawn that's dependant on their products -- you'll have the lawn
equivalent of a dope addict.

--
Warren H.

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Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.