What workarounds did people try for "How to get rid of creeping weeds without breaking roots"?

Question

Accepted Answer

Community members documented 205 workarounds:
1. Pulling weeds by hand
2. Manually pulling weeds
3. Pulling them out by hand
4. Pulling the grass out manually by hand
5. Checking the Cool Season Beginners Guide
6. Pulling the vines and rooted nodes out by hand after a rain or when the soil is moist
7. Using a gardening knife, 2-prong weeding implement, or cooking fork to pry the plant from the soil
8. Applying herbicides containing dicamba or Weed-B-Gone via spot-spraying
9. Painting individual leaves with neat glyphosate using a cotton bud or swab
10. Scraping the driveway with a tractor blade and adding fresh gravel
11. Applying home remedies like dish soap, water, vinegar, and salt
12. Using chemical weed killers and soil sterilants like Ortho GroundClear or Pramitol
13. Mowing the driveway weeds as if they are part of the lawn
14. Installing driveway fabric beneath new gravel layers
15. Using chemical treatments like triclopyr with MSO or T-Zone SE
16. Spraying chemicals to kill the sprouts
17. Applying heavy doses of pre-emergent
18. Hand-pulling the seedlings manually
19. Using Tenacity, which thinned the fine fescue but allowed it to come back
20. Applying glyphosate directly to weed leaves
21. Using targeted weed control products or DIY alternatives
22. pulling each dandelion by hand
23. Applying 2-4-D herbicide
24. Digging out the patches manually
25. Spot-treating with non-selective herbicide like Roundup
26. cutting it shorter
27. killing it
28. digging up your entire front yard
29. Applying glyphosate carefully using a sponge or spray bottle
30. Using cardboard or plywood as a physical shield while spraying
31. Digging a trench along the fence line and installing a physical barrier
32. Killing the entire lawn and starting over with a full renovation
33. Weedeat the area
34. Spray a thin line of roundup next to the fence
35. Keep the area cut so weeds die and grass spreads
36. trying various weed killers from home improvement stores
37. spraying Celsius and Sertay
38. trying atrazine
39. planning to overseed and fertilize
40. Covering the area with non-woven geotextile fabric for a couple of months
41. Treating surviving shoots with glyphosate before laying rock
42. Scraping off the top 6 inches of soil entirely
43. Using plastic sheeting in full sun to solarize and cook the grass
44. Applying chemical herbicides
45. Using herbicide
46. Digging up and sifting through the topsoil over the entire yard area
47. waiting until the grass matures before applying weed treatments
48. hand-pulling or ignoring the weeds temporarily while focusing on watering and mowing the new grass
49. using pre-emergent or post-emergent herbicides in late fall or early spring
50. Using Google Lens to identify the plant
51. Embracing the growth
52. Applying quinclorac to kill the crabgrass
53. Using a propane torch to burn off the crabgrass
54. Dethatching and mowing dead material to start fresh
55. Aerating and overseeding
56. Pulling the weed up by the central taproot
57. Applying post-emergent retail weed killers like Q4 or Celsius WG
58. Applying pre-emergent to stop future growth
59. Using broadleaf spray
60. Painting with glyphosate or using precision gel
61. Applying glyphosate to the weed leaves using a tool like a lawn liberator, a DIY version, or a paintbrush
62. Using Ortho Weed B Gone from Walmart
63. Spraying and digging out the roots
64. Using overlapping cardboard to prevent thistle growth
65. Applying a product called Thistledown after pulling existing weeds
66. Waiting it out through fall to let the fescue establish, then hitting the lime green patches with glyphosate when actively growing.
67. Doing spot treatments over time instead of a full reset.
68. Paying a landscaping service between $500 and $1000 to maintain the yard
69. Accepting shaded problem areas as mulch beds or planting different grass types like fescue
70. Using a backpack sprayer with selective herbicide to spot-treat weeds
71. Waiting until retirement to fully handle yard maintenance
72. Pulling small patches by hand
73. Trying over-the-counter products that only bleach the plant without killing it
74. Considering canceling professional lawn care service
75. Debating on calling someone to kill the area and lay new sod
76. rake it really well
77. put a nice topper soil on it
78. scarify
79. aerate first
80. reapply roundup again before you seed
81. Spraying Fusillade II herbicide at specific application rates and timing
82. waiting for the moss to fully brown and crispy before power raking
83. applying a second, lighter dose of moss killer
84. Cutting down the plant and treating with Round-Up
85. Drilling holes into tree suckers and pouring hardwood killer or Crossbow in them
86. Using diesel as a weed killer
87. Using Bonide Chickweed, Clover and Oxalis Killer concentrate
88. Following the Cool Season Beginners Guide
89. Dethatching (which pulls up the grass in clumps and looks terrible)
90. Using Triclopyr ester with a surfactant
91. Using a pre-emergent in the spring to prevent them
92. Spraying everything with a weed killer like Spectracide
93. Mowing the weeds along with the new grass and waiting until spring to address them
94. Applying pre-emergent
95. Growing dense, healthy turf to crowd out weeds
96. Putting grass down on bare ground after treatment
97. Applying a broadleaf weed killer
98. Putting down a fall or spring pre-emergent
99. Overseeding thin or bare spots
100. buying commercial killer products from hardware stores
101. applying sulfentrazone
102. Applying granular moss treatments like Moss Out followed by iron treatments, then waiting until day 14 to see if the moss dies completely before dethatching.
103. Spraying broadleaf-based herbicide
104. Waiting several weeks before expecting results or re-spraying to avoid damaging the grass
105. Cutting down plants and applying poison or weed killer
106. Using a chainsaw and drilling holes in remaining stalks or stumps to fill with Epsom salt
107. Pulling vines and roots by hand or with pickaxes
108. Using aggressive ground cover plants to compete against invasives
109. Using glyphosate to kill the affected areas, raking out the dead thatch, and putting down fresh tall fescue seed
110. Using post-emergent herbicides such as Sedgehammer or Dismiss
111. Manually pulling the weeds weekly to exhaust them over time
112. Applying repeated, high-concentration mixes of glyphosate
113. Accepting a multi-year battle against weeds
114. Dethatching and overseeding
115. Killing the weed with glyphosate
116. Letting the weeds grow and waiting until the grass is established to treat them
117. Applying pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicides in the spring once the turf is mature
118. Applying weed control products like Speedzone southern
119. installing metal dividers to prevent runners
120. using selective herbicides
121. spot-treating or nuking the property line with glyphosate
122. killing it all with herbicide and replant with fresh grass seed
123. consistent mowing every four or five days at 65-75mm
124. weeding all that by hand
125. Applying fall weed and feed products
126. Aerating and overseeding in the spring
127. Applying insecticide granules and weed spray
128. Used weedkiller in the past
129. Cleaned up mushrooms manually
130. Waiting until next fall to apply glyphosate
131. Treating as wild strawberry or coriander
132. Using selective removal herbicides like pylex or fusilade
133. Completely nuking the lawn and starting over
134. Embracing the grass type and following the Bermuda Bible to maintain it as a Bermuda lawn
135. spraying treatments
136. scalping, dethatching, core aerating, and overseeding
137. considering scalping the entire yard and starting over
138. searching for natural broadleaf killers
139. Using herbicides like Celsius
140. Using herbicides like Q4 Plus
141. Using roundup on-contact and 30-day
142. Applying Triclopyr
143. Using Tenacity
144. Applying Sedgehammer, Certainty, or products with sulfentrazone
145. Adding surfactant to roundup
146. Using salt and vinegar
147. Using Sedge Ender
148. Using RM43 Total Vegetation Control
149. Calling an exterminator
150. Re-seeding and adding new soil
151. Watering the lawn several times a day
152. Considering killing the entire lawn with herbicide to start over
153. Keep spraying them yourself
154. Pull them yourself
155. Pay someone else to spray or pull them
156. Mow regularly to keep population to a minimum
157. Pre treat the lawn every year
158. Overseed thin spots to establish thicker turf that chokes out weeds
159. working at the weeds over the next couple springs
160. hoping it puts nitrogen into the ground and doesn't come back in the spring when normal watering and mowing resume
161. Pulling and spraying weeds and vines manually
162. Applying products like Preen after mulching
163. Using triclopyr for remaining vines and roots
164. Removing landscape fabric/plastic and using a hula hoe followed by a thick 2 to 3-inch layer of mulch
165. Planting ground cover long term to outcompete weeds
166. pulling the trigger on a full reset and glyphosate application
167. hand pulling Dallisgrass
168. using broadcast sprays like IMAGE All-In-One before winter
169. Switching to different herbicide treatments like Sedgehammer
170. Doing online research after initial application
171. Hand weeding over multiple sessions
172. Applying non-selective herbicides using targeted tools like foam brushes
173. Using weed whackers followed by chemical treatment and replanting
174. Digging out feet of soil and roots to start over
175. asking for seed advice and guidance on online forums
176. Using a grass killer with a sponge paint brush
177. Using Roundup with a spray wand and a protective cup over it to limit misting for spot treatment
178. Applying broadleaf herbicide like Speedzone or Triclopyr
179. Over-seeding the lawn after treatment
180. Applying triclopyr in the fall with two applications around the first frost
181. Adding 2,4-D to the mixture
182. renting goats
183. using 2,4-D herbicide
184. googling for a detailed description
185. pulling these one by one
186. spraying bow & arrow everywhere
187. treating it with all purpose weed control
188. Digging the weed out manually by the roots
189. Raking the area to clear dead material and get a better look
190. Using chemical treatments based on the surrounding grass type
191. Using a dethatcher set to the ground to tear it out.
192. Applying Tenacity herbicide across multiple applications.
193. Ripping it up by hand using a stiff rake.
194. Nuking the affected area completely and starting over.
195. Overseeding with stronger grass types to outcompete it over time.
196. Applying common herbicides repeatedly.
197. Switching to different targeted vegetation killers like triclopyr.
198. waiting until the grass is established enough for a first mow before applying herbicide
199. pulling the weeds by hand at a leisurely pace
200. bow and arrow!
201. putting a tarp and filling it up with rocks/pebbles
202. laying down 4 inches of mulch
203. using a pre-emergent herbicide to prevent most weeds
204. Physically removing the plant and tubers
205. Selective spraying using glyphosate and 2-4,D

How to get rid of creeping weeds without breaking roots

What the numbers show

What people tried

Found another way around this?

In their words

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised