Keep grass out of plant beds for happy clients

While most of Master Lawn’s clients love their lawns, they don’t want grass growing in their plant bed areas. Joey Steele, the company’s lawn and plant health care manager says that grass growing in mulch, rocks, and flower beds, in general, is a major source of frustration for clients. Fortunately, the Olive Branch, Mississippi-based company has found several effective ways to ensure that grass stays out of these areas.

One of the best ways to keep grass out of plant beds is with a weed control program dedicated to these zones, says Steele. Master Lawn has a Weed & Feed service for plant beds that uses specialized weed control products that won’t harm plants but will take care of unwanted weeds.

Yes, even grass is considered a weed when it’s growing in an unwanted location—such as plant beds. Steele says that this service also includes hand-pulling when it’s necessary.

“The specialty controls that we use include pre-emergent products to prevent grass from germinating in plant beds in the first place,” Steele continues. “We also switch up the controls as needed based upon what the client has growing in their plant beds.”

Monkey Grass and Nutsedge are two common grassy weeds that pop up in lawns and plant beds. But Steele says the company has specialized weed control products to address these.

Keep weeds out of the lawn to keep them from creeping into plant beds

Tidy plant beds contribute to the overall aesthetic appeal of a property.Master Lawn

Steele says that it’s also important that homeowners are taking good care of their lawns if they want to keep weeds out of their plant beds. Weeds in the Northern Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee areas where the company operates tend to be aggressive growers thanks to the warm climate. Therefore, it’s important that the company pays attention to effective lawn weed control.

“We have a lot of aggressive growers that can spread across the lawn and end up in plant beds,” Steele says. “We make sure that clients know if they want to keep weeds out of their plant areas, they have to take really good care of their lawn. It all goes hand-in-hand.”

Mulching and edging for weed suppression

While Master Lawn is solely focused on lawn care, they can also offer clients mulching and edging services through their sister company, Michael Hatcher & Associates. Both of these services can help with keeping grass out of the plant beds.

Because edging helps to create a delineation between the turf areas and the plant beds, it can help mulch from washing out into the lawn. It can also add a physical barrier between the grass and the mulch—making it a little bit harder for creeping weeds to spread from one area to the other.

But Steele says that not just any edging product will do. He advises against cheap plastic edging that can be bought at a big box store. This material rarely holds up and is likely to become a hassle when mowing.

Mulching is also beneficial in its ability to help suppress weed growth. A fresh layer of mulch not only looks great but also blocks weeds’ access to sunlight and helps to keep them at bay.