Lawn weeds are a real pain in your beautiful yards, flowerbeds, driveways, sidewalks, and patios. Also, choosing the best weed killer for lawns is a daunting task.
- For instance, any non-selective and flower bed weed killers kill both weeds and the lawn grass non-selectively.
- Experts advise various weed killers for different circumstances to help you maintain lush and healthy grass on your lawn. Below, I’ve reviewed the best weed killer for lawns.
By definition – Weeds are plants (without botanical consequence) growing in an unwanted place or situation, including any human-controlled environments like lawns and gardens. But, to help you identify the different weeds, check this weed ID tool.
1. Our #1 Pick: Roundup For Lawns1 + Weed & Crabgrass Killer
Roundup is a popular brand of herbicides, a vegetation killer, which implies that it’ll kill flowers, grass, and weeds.
- Roundup Concentrate Plus contains 0.015% Sulfentrazone, dimethylamine salt, 0.029% Dicamba, 0.118% Quinclorac, and 0.257% MCPA.
Roundup Concentrate Plus attacks both the weed’s roots and foliage (absorbed by leaves and stems) to hinder further growth and reproduction in the yard.
- The perennial weeds begin dying in 12 hours to 2 weeks (such as the quick knockdown effect due to its FastAct technology).
To kill many weeds, any fasts, apply Roundup Concentrate Plus in summer, hot/warm weather. But it’ll still give you good results if you apply the herbicide 1 hour before the rains begin.
If you do this, the active ingredients (Glyphosate – 18%) will already have been absorbed into the weeds’ system – through the leaves, stem, and roots.
- Roundup Concentrate Plus is more pricey compared to Compare and Save but will act fast on the weeds in your lawn.
- Further, the 16 ounces of the herbicide concentrate will easily make 3 gallons to kill weeds in an area of roughly 1,500 square feet.
On selectivity, the herbicide will kill all plants on contact, and thus you must be careful not to spray on your flowers or other useful crops.
But if you spray on your crops’ leaves, then rinse their leaves with water. You can use it on lawns, hedges, pathways, fences, and driveways.
Although some limited concentrate may leach into the soil, it won’t significantly affect its PH (including acidity and alkalinity) or vary its chemical composition to pose a danger to humans and other animals.
2. #2 Pick: GORDON’S 761200 Trimec Weed & Crabgrass Killer
GORDON’S 761200 Trimec Weed & Crabgrass Killer is a game-changer in the world of weed control. Its unique formula is designed to target and eliminate both broadleaf weeds and crabgrass, giving your lawn a fighting chance.
Key Features
- Broad-Spectrum Weed Control (H3): GORDON’S 761200 tackles a wide range of weeds, ensuring comprehensive coverage.
- Crabgrass Eradication (H3): Say goodbye to crabgrass infestations with this powerful solution.
- Fast-Acting Formula (H3): Watch as weeds wither away within days of application.
- Easy Application (H3): Applying GORDON’S 761200 is a breeze, thanks to its user-friendly design.
GORDON’S 761200 utilizes a selective herbicide approach. It targets the weeds and crabgrass while leaving your desirable plants unharmed. The formula is absorbed through the leaves, disrupting the weed’s growth and ultimately leading to its demise.
When to Apply
Timing is crucial when it comes to weed control. Apply GORDON’S 761200 in the early spring or late summer when weeds and crabgrass are actively growing.
Follow these steps for optimal results:
- Prepare Your Lawn: Remove debris and mow the lawn to the desired height.
- Mix Dilution: Follow the product’s instructions for mixing the herbicide with water.
- Apply Evenly: Use a sprayer to apply the solution evenly across your lawn.
- Monitor Progress: Keep an eye on the treated area to ensure the weeds are wilting away.
3. #3 Pick: Ortho WeedClear Herbicide – Weed Killer Concentrate
Ortho WeedClear is a fast-acting non-selective herbicide that’ll kill both the weeds and other plants it contacts (it literally clears your ground).
It has a long residue effect (about 12 months), and it’ll attack the vegetation both from the leaves and the roots. Besides the lawn, use it on the walkway or patio.
Lawn lovers report that Ortho GroundClear is also highly effective against perennial weeds like dandelion, white clovers, and crabgrass in just a single spraying session.
- However, the herbicide is non-toxic to human beings and any of your household animals.
On selectivity, the Ortho GroundClear concentrate contains non-selective active ingredients (0.08%-Imazapyr and 5.0%-Glyphosate) that’ll penetrate the foliage, stems, and roots.
The herbicide is effective in weed-treating large lawns, so shun the lawnmower, tillers, or slashers and go the easy weed-killer way.
On safety, the herbicide is a very safe weed killer to use – both for humans and pets. For example, the herbicide won’t irritate the human respiratory system or skin.
- Further, it’s safe for the environment, children, cats, your lovely fish, and dogs.
So, what area will the Ortho GroundClear cover? Well, here is the outline; – 32 oz. (for 75 square feet), One gallon (for 300 square feet) and 2 gallons (for 600 square feet). However, use a more generous measure of the herbicide if the lawn is heavily infested with weeds.
- But Ortho GroundClear is recommended for treating patios, walkways, and driveways since it has limited capability.
- Further, avoid spraying on flowers and useful vegetation since it’ll cause soil contamination and thus hinder plant development in the coming days.
The herbicide has a quick action time (roughly 4 hours), and the weeds will have died in the next three days after the initial application.
But the chemical will leave a residue that may affect the soil, and thus to plant other crops or grass, you must wait for like three days.
4. Southern Ag 2, 4 – D Amine Selective Weed Killer
Finally, our best weed killer for lawns is Southern Ag 2. That’s a highly selective herbicide that’ll kill weeds in your properties, mainly the broad-leaf weeds (such as clover, chickweed, poison ivy, dandelions, etc.), woody plants, and grasses.
On action time, the herbicide will kill the weeds in about three days. The herbicide is primarily composed of 2,4D, Mecoprop, and the Dicamba formulation.
Luckily, you can spray Southern Ag 2 in many areas of your homestead, including golf courses, animal pastures, and sidewalks.
- You’ll be required to mix about one tablespoon of this herbicide with 1 gallon of water to effectively weed-treat roughly 330 sq. ft.
- Therefore, Southern Ag 2 is a budget-friendly concentrate since the 32 oz bottle can last you more than a year of effective weed treatment on your lawn.
Luckily, Southern Ag 2 won’t kill your lawn grass since it mainly targets woody plants and broadleaf weeds.
On safety, Southern Ag 2 won’t affect the chemical composition or PH of the soil in your lawn.
However, it would be best if you used low pressure when spraying to avoid dripping the herbicide onto any of your useful plants that are also broad-leafed since this would kill them too.
On application, Southern Ag 2 is super simple to reconstitute and apply on your lawn or sidewalks.
The weed killer packaging has very elaborate usage instructions. Identify the patch of weeds in your yard and then spray on them directly without dripping the herbicide on your useful plants.
5. Compare-N-Save Weed Killer, 41% Glyphosate
Compare-n-save is my best weed killer for the lawn – including broadleaf weeds, grasses, woody shrubs, cinquefoil, bindweed, and white clover.
The pre-emergent herbicide has 41% Glyphosate (a non-selective water-soluble ingredient) to prevent growth protein production.
Also, it leaves no residual activity on lawns. You can plant some flowers a day after application. You can spray the compare-n-save concentrate on your driveways, lawns, orchards, and walkways.
Expect some positive results (weeds dying) in 2-4 days after application. However, the whole weeds collection will be dead in 1-2 weeks – your lawn should be utterly weed-free in about two weeks.
Caution;
(1) Apply a Compare-n-save on a sunny day with temperatures being over 60 F. Further, ensure there is no rain forecast in the coming 24 hours before applying the weed-killing formula.
(2) Should you, however, want to use it in your vegetable or fruit garden, you will need to be careful when spot-spraying to avoid dripping the herbicide on your crops.
Compare-n-save will kill both the perennial and annual weeds getting to the depth of their roots.
Glyphosate ensures that the leaves (or foliage) quickly absorb the herbicide, move to the roots, and kill the weeds and the whole plant.
But Compare-n-save is a non-selective weed killer and will kill any green plants that contact it – but focuses largely on the weed’s leaves and foliage. Also, don’t spray on the valuable plants and lawn grass – only target the weeds.
Application procedure? Well, dilute 1 gallon of Compare-n-save with water to produce a spray solution of about 85 gallons. Luckily, 1 gallon of this Compare-n-save concentrate can treat 25,000 square feet.
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6. Roundup 5725070 Extended – a Pre-mixed Weedkiller
Next up on the best weed killer for lawns is Roundup 5725070, that’s fast-acting (kills weeds in 3 hours) for extended weed control.
- It’s a double-action formula, and thus destroys the weeds will foliage and prevents seeds from sprouting for four months.
- If you’re in rainy or wet areas, Roundup 5725070 will avoid wetting/ washing away/diluting for roughly 10 minutes.
Besides, these herbicides come ready to use and not as a concentrate that requires mixing.
Roundup 5725070 will exterminate broad-leafed weeds attacking them from their roots upwards – in just 3 hours. It’s also easy to use – has an extendable wand and a detailed application guide.
- On application, the 1.33-gallon package of the herbicide will weed-treat an area of 400 square feet.
But, if your lawn is heavily infested by weeds, you’ll need to be a little generous with the herbicide amount you’ll use.
On selectivity, Roundup 5725070 will kill all crops and lawn grass sprayed, and thus you must be extra careful when applying.
Its exceptional pump allows lawn owners to easily control the herbicide output and spray only the desired weeds and not other crops.
Roundup 5725070 is a dual-action formula. This means that it’s both a pre-emergent (kills weed sprouts before emerging from the soil) and a post-emergent (kills existing weeds) – all for about four months.
- Further, the weed killer will be rain-proof for about 10 minutes – this means that it’ll be useful if the rains don’t start within 10 minutes of its application.
The weed killer has a quick action time – you’ll see positive results (weeds dying) within 3 hours after applying the Roundup 5725070 formula.
- The formulation will also dry (wither) all the sprayed weeds in just two days because it’ll destroy them both from the root and the foliage (leaves).
As a broad-spectrum herbicide, Roundup 5725070 will kill all weeds effectively on the edges of various hard surfaces, including sidewalks, patios, decorative rocks, natural fences, or driveway, wall cracks while leaving your grass intact.
However, this herbicide’s residue won’t affect the pH (acidity or basicity) of the soil in your lawn.
7. Scotts Halts 41% Glyphosate (Pre-emergent Weed Killer)
Weeds will constantly attack your neatly manicured lawn or flower beds – which is It’s quite offensive. Fellow lawn lovers should regularly use preventive methods against these stubborn weeds.
- Its long residue effect will keep your lawn weed-free for about six months.
- It’s also advisable to apply Scotts Halt’s weed killer in the dry season.
This will naturally inhibit the germination or growth of weeds, but this herbicide’s efficacy is largely not affected by the weather.
Being the powerful pre-emergent weed killer, Scotts Halts will prevent any nasty chickweed, henbit, crabgrass, etc. from sprouting from your established lawn.
Equally important is that this herbicide won’t kill any of the selected flowers or grass in the yard.
- Application & Coverage, there are packages of this Scotts Halt weed killer that’ll easily cover between 2,500 square feet (if your lawn is small) to about 17,000 square feet (for a more giant lawn) at a budget-friendly price.
- Further, applying Scotts Halts bi-annually (allowing a twelve weeks break) will ensure you get the best value.
Luckily, just like with the Roundup 5725070 weed killer, Scotts Halts is rainproof, and thus its effectiveness in killing the weeds in your lawn won’t be affected by rain or wet weather.
Therefore, I found it to be a powerful all-year-round weedkiller, including during fall, spring, heat, or rainy weather.
Scotts Halts contains Pendimethalin, which makes it a tremendous selective herbicide to hinder weed seeds’ germination. The downside is that you won’t be able to plant any other seeds in 6 months successfully.
Therefore, Scotts Halt’s herbicide will only inhibit new weeds’ growth but won’t kill the already-grown weeds.
It has a long residue effect (roughly six months), but it won’t harm other grown plants, crops, and flowers.
On application, start by mowing the area and removing all the grown weeds. Next, spread the appropriate Scotts Halts herbicide using the provided spreader.
Finally, water your lawn to activate the weed killer. Remember, your lawn will remain clean for about six months – no new seed germinations will happen.
Conclusion
The herbicide will prevent weed infestation, including shrubs and grasses, for about one year.
- Weeds compete with your lawn grass for sunlight, land, and water,
- Weeds create many dormant seeds that’ll survive through the cold and heat seasons,
- Sadly, once weeds attack your lawn, you’ll have lost most of its beauty, and
- Weeds are also quick in reproduction and spreading.
Ortho GroundClear is also rainproof for about 1 hour. Therefore, if you apply the herbicide 1 hour before starting the rain, then the active ingredients will have been taken up into the plant’s system.