Sometimes it is not possible to avoid laying a new lawn if the grass is only growing sparsely or the area is completely covered in weeds. To ensure that the new lawn does not suffocate in weeds again, you should carefully remove all weed residues before sowing.
How can you prevent weeds when planting a new lawn?
To effectively prevent weeds when planting a new lawn, remove the old turf completely, loosen and improve the soil, let the area rest for at least a week, remove germinating weeds in the meantime and, if necessary, use a total herbicide.
Preparation for the new lawn installation
- Remove old turf completely
- Improve and loosen soil
- Let it sit for at least a week
- Continuously remove germinating weeds
- Use a total herbicide if necessary
Remove old lawn completely
If the lawn needs to be renewed because the old area was completely overgrown with weeds, thorough removal of the old turf is strongly recommended.
To do this, the old lawn is “peeled” away from the ground, at least five centimeters deep. If there is a very heavy weed infestation, the soil should be removed even deeper. By removing the old turf, roots of root weeds and weed seeds are also removed.
Lawn peelers (€184.00 on Amazon), which many hardware stores rent, are practical. This means that the strenuous work can be completed in a short time.
Deeply loosen and improve the soil
The freed-up area is filled with topsoil for lawn seeding.
The subsoil must be loosened well while waiting and then leveled down so that as few new weeds as possible germinate. All plants that appear on the future lawn are immediately torn out with all their roots.
You should wait at least a week until the new lawn is sown or the turf is laid out. Beforehand, the soil is roughened a little so that the plant roots can penetrate more easily.
Removing weeds from newly planted lawn
To ensure that your newly laid lawn remains weed-free, you should remove all weeds immediately before they can spread. This is especially true for flowering herbs that scatter their seeds on the lawn.
Frequent mowing is a good prevention against weeds. This causes the young lawn to grow denser so that unwanted plants cannot emerge. In addition, flowering plants are mowed down before the inflorescences appear.
Tips & Tricks
A total herbicide reliably destroys all weeds. It takes a few days for it to decompose. A weed killer should only be used in extreme emergencies as it puts a lot of strain on the entire garden.