How To Get Rid Of Winter Weeds In Your Lawn In 5 Easy Steps

You might think you’re off duty when it comes to lawn care until balmy weather arrives. But not so fast! Even though it’s technically winter on the calendar, weeds still may appear in your lawn—and waiting too long to treat them isn’t a good idea.

That’s because the sooner you treat them, the more successful you will be at managing them. “Catching weeds now when they are young may allow you to control them with a single application of herbicide,” says Clint Waltz, PhD, turfgrass specialist at the University of Georgia. “Weeds will get bigger and more difficult to control by late winter.”

In much of the South, warm season grasses such as zoysia, St. Augustine, centipedegrass, and bermudagrass, thrive in heat and are the dominant type of turf. While these grasses are dormant in winter, winter weeds such as henbit, chickweed, and lawn burweed, and grassy weeds such as annual bluegrass can appear. Perennial weeds such as dandelions also may be present, says Waltz.

Read on to learn what to do if you find winter weeds in your lawn:

Step 1: Scout for Weeds

Take a walk around your yard, and look for young weeds. “Ideally, you want to find them before they take off,” says Waltz. “If you wait too long, they can go from juvenile to twice the size in a matter of weeks.” The bigger they are, the more chemical or repeat treatments you likely will need to control them.

Step 2: Identify the Weed

There are two main types of winter weeds: Broadleaf and grassy. “The name tells you a lot about what it looks like,” says Waltz. Broadleaf weeds, such as henbit, chickweed, and lawn burweed, generally have wide leaves with a netted vein pattern. Grassy winter weeds, such as annual bluegrass, are more narrow or lance-like in form with parallel veins.

Management techniques are different for each type. If you aren’t sure what kind of weed you have, consult your local university coop extension agent (find yours here). Or consider using an app such as Google Lens or the University of Tennessee’s Mobile Weed Manual for ID purposes.

Step 3: Know What Kind of Grass You Have

You need to know what type of grass you have because you cannot use all herbicides on all types of grasses. If you’re not certain, reach out to your local university coop extension service, says Waltz. 

Step 4: Treat the Lawn

Once you’ve determined whether it’s a broadleaf or grassy weed, you can choose to treat in the following ways: 

For broadleaf weeds, use 3-way herbicide containing 2, 4-D as the main active ingredient. Follow the application instructions on the label, says Waltz. These products are available in granular or liquid forms. Granular types may take up to 14 days to show activity under cool conditions (the weeds begin to curl and brown), while liquid types can show activity within 3 to 5 days, says Waltz.

For grassy weeds, apply a product containing atrazine according to label instructions. Most of these DIY products typically contain a fertilizer, too. Although it’s not generally recommended to fertilize warm season grasses in winter, you can apply it once up until about mid-February, but not afterwards. Otherwise, you may stimulate the grass as it’s trying to transition from dormancy, which can make it more susceptible to damage from cold or disease, says Waltz.

Alternatively, for grassy weeds on dormant bermudagrass and zoysiagrass, you can mist a non-selective glyphosate product, such as Roundup, lightly directly on the weed (do not spray it until soaking wet or you will harm the grass). However, once environmental conditions cause these grasses to green up in mid-February and beyond, you cannot use this product because you can damage turf seriously, says Waltz.  

For cool season lawns or lawns in the Mid to Upper South with both warm and cool season grasses, you will need to consult a professional lawn care operator to treat grassy weeds that may appear in late winter because there are no good DIY options, says Waltz.

Step 5: Recheck in Three Weeks

If broadleaf weeds aren’t dead after 30 days, you may need to reapply a 3-way herbicide product, following label instructions, says Waltz. For grassy weeds, you cannot reapply glyphosate or other products at this point. You’ll either need to wait for the weeds to die off as the temperatures warm up and warm season grasses take off, or consult with a professional lawn care applicator, who may have other product options.

One final note: In some lawns, annual bluegrass can become resistant to herbicides when the same herbicide has been used repeatedly over the years, says Waltz. In this case, you may need to consult a professional lawn care applicator, who will have additional options available for treatment.