Why Weeds Are Still Showing Up After Pre-Emergent

You did everything right. You got your pre-emergent down in the spring, and now weeds are popping up anyway. Frustrating - but there's a real explanation for it, and it's more common than you'd think.

Pre-emergent works by creating a chemical barrier in the soil that stops weed seeds from germinating. The problem is that barrier doesn't last forever. Heavy rain, extreme heat, dry spells, and soil disturbance from things like aeration or tilling can all break it down faster than expected. Some products hold up for a couple of months. Others can stretch to ten. But once that barrier is gone, weed seeds have a wide-open window.

That's exactly where we are right now heading into fall. Cool-season weeds like henbit, chickweed, and prickly lettuce are just waiting for the right conditions to take root. If your spring pre-emergent has worn out - and for a lot of lawns it has - those seeds are sitting there ready to germinate. Getting a fall application down before soil temps drop is the move that keeps them from ever becoming a problem.

We handle pre-emergent applications as part of our weed control program, and timing matters a lot with this one. Wait too long and the seeds have already started. Get ahead of it now and you protect your lawn through the cooler months without having to play catch-up in the spring. It's one of those things that's way easier to prevent than fix.