Q: Emma asks: What is the best way to control weeds in lawn?

A: Hi Emma,

You can apply corn gluten meal (sold under various trade names both as a fertilizer (10% nitrogen) and as a herbicide) to the lawn to prevent weed germination. The effect buils up over the years.  Don't do it prior to overseeding the lawn with grass seeds though as it will dessicate grass seedlings as well. It did not work that well last year as the lawn never dried out!

However, it will not deal with established weeds which have to be pulled or dealt with through better lawn care practices such as soil tests, aeration, proper mowing, overseeding and fertilizing with "live" fertilizer which provides soil and plants with the proper organisms for their health. Chip Osborne has turned around a lot of municipal properties in the U.S. with cultural methods, especially aeration, which our Regina soils are desperate for.

Information on appropriate soil tests (Saskatoon) and proper lawn care can be found at

http://www.snapinfo.ca/html/OrganicLandCareTraining.htm

where you will also find extra resources

and at:

Safe Lawns Campaign. Paul Tukey’s site.  Educational material, award-winning video: "Making the Organic Transition in Lawn Care." Also 2007 published " Organic Lawn Care Manual." available through many libraries in Saskatchewan. Paul is successful regularly dealing with 2-3 acre size home lawns.  (U.S. based)                            http://Safelawns.org

and

New spring lawn care factsheet emphasizing a new approach to understanding non-chemical lawn care – Read Your “Weeds” – A Simple Guide to Creating a Healthy Lawn.     http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticidefreelawns/resources/Read%20Your%20Weeds-Organic%20Lawns.pdf