Prevent Weeds In Your Yard With A Small Change To An Important Lawn Care Task

Are you dealing with a lot of weeds in your yard recently? Not sure why they keep popping up? If you're trying to maintain your yard or garden, it can be frustrating when new weeds start rearing their heads regularly. While there are many things you can do to prevent weeds, one of the simplest is to make a small change to your lawn care routine. When adding topsoil, consider buying one that's "weed-free." 

Topsoil is the topmost layer of soil that helps deliver nutrients to plants and can be beneficial when added to the lawn or garden. Topdressing your lawn is an easy way to get better-looking grass, and it benefits the soil and encourages plant and lawn growth; however, it still has its drawbacks. Adding topsoil has a risk of introducing weeds to your yard. Most topsoil contains plenty of organic matter — including common garden weeds or their seeds. To prevent accidentally planting weeds in your yard, you may want to simply change the topsoil you buy and choose an option that's explicitly sold as "weed-free."

Prime weed-free choices include Coast of Maine's organic topsoil, available on Amazon for about $27 per cubic foot. (Many "weed-free" topsoils are also sold as "premium topsoil.") On the cheaper end, Scotts premium topsoil retails for about $12 per 0.75 cubic feet at Walmart and about $3 for the same amount at Lowe's.

When you buy weed-free topsoil, you're buying topsoil that has been sterilized and had weeds removed from it. This soil can be a good solution if you're particularly worried about weed growth. However, remember that there are drawbacks to using this type of topsoil, which depend on how your bag of topsoil is prepared. Sterilized topsoil, first of all, won't be completely weed-free, since it's impossible to expunge every weed seed from a bag of soil — unless, that is, the soil is treated with heat to kill the seeds and render them sterile. But that has its drawbacks, too — sterilized soil isn't ideal because it won't have all of the useful microorganisms that other, non-sterilized topsoil has. Regular topsoil has a combination of microorganisms, including crucial bacteria, fungi, and protozoa that you want in your yard. Together, these help promote nutrient cycling, benefit soil structure, and improve the health of your lawn and plants.

If you're not totally sold on weed-free versions, consider using regular topsoil and making a point to take great care to prevent weed growth. After adding topsoil, a light amount of mulching or pre-emergent herbicides can be worth the effort. Make sure to rely on some of the least harmful ways to remove weeds in your lawn if you decide to go with standard topsoil. Taking these steps can help prevent weed problems while still allowing your yard to benefit from the organic matter provided by a standard topsoil.