[Lawnmower_Man]

Hello,

I sodded my lawn late last year and it's nice and thick...however there are quite a few dandelions that popped up during this new season.

I have a manual weed remover, and have manually removed all the weeds...HOWEVER, there are now quite a few open holes in my lawn (where the weeds used to be).

By manually removing these weeds...did I just make things worse?

I assume that the only reason I had weeds to begin with, is that these ones managed to slip through the spaces between my sod. By manually removing them, I removed the weed but some surrounding grass as well. Did I just create an open pocket for more weeds to grow out from?

I dont want to get into the habit of constantly spraying chems onto every weed on the lawn (and I kind of get some sick enjoyment out of removing these weeds manually)...but if I am making things worse, I would like to know.

Anyone got any feedback?

Can weeds be removed manually without repurcussions?

 

[g-man]

It is fine to pull most of them. Quackgrass is a no no since it spreads via rhizomes (roots).

 

[glenmonte]

I've always found pulling dandelions has been a relaxing way to spend a few minutes in the yard, and the number in the lawn really decreases after a few years of getting the whole plant out. I use a pointing trowel, not a weed puller.

 

[MikeD]

I always pull weeds.. never had a problem.. Nutsedge is one you don't want to pull also.. it has little nuts down by the root system once the parent plant is pulled the little nuts hatch and you get a crap load more..

 

[chrismar]

+1 on the nutsedge. That's about the only thing I don't hand pull. Everything else is fair game.

 

[Richard Slater]

The rule I follow is anything that isn't rhizomatic will get pulled, that includes plants that are stoloniferous (i.e. shots out runners) but you have to make sure you carefully tease up the runners so you get it all. Regardless of which lawn I am on I fill in the hole with a bit of dirt or sand, and for the non-creeping grasses (i.e. PRG and Fescues) I overseed as it's not going to fill in on its own, with the KBG I leave it a week and it seems to have self-healed rhizomatically.