The Benefits of Using a Backpack Sprayer for Lawn Weed Control

When it comes to keeping your entire lawn cared for, nothing helps build a healthy lawn like a backpack sprayer.

Capable of applying a wide range of lawn care products like pre-emergent herbicides, post-emergent herbicides, fertilizers, and pesticides, backpack sprayers have got your back.

No matter how many square feet your lawn is, the padded shoulder straps and easy pressurization of a pack sprayer outperform even hose-end sprayers when it comes to herbicide application. 

When using a sprayer to wipe out weeds and preserve desirable plants and healthy grass types, you will want to know all the benefits available to you and how to take advantage of them.

Using a sprayer for lawn care comes with many benefits, and below, you can find out the best way to get a healthier, better-looking lawn by killing weeds with a backpack sprayer.

Is a Backpack Sprayer Useful for Lawn Weed Control?

A backpack sprayer can help you find the middle ground between slow and inefficient hand application and larger, more expensive electric lawn equipment solutions. With a pack sprayer, you can hold a large capacity of herbicide that can make lawn maintenance a breeze.

For an average size lawn, one tank should be enough to lay down an even layer of post or pre-emergent herbicides, giving you the best-looking lawn for way less work. There are plenty of drawbacks to sprayers, but the lawn care benefits are too good to pass up. 

Pros

Your local lawn care company probably uses a backpack sprayer as it is easy for them to mix the herbicide to the correct ratio beforehand and use the sprayer to kill weeds at many properties with the same formula.

This prevents mixing mistakes when rushing from job site to job site that can result in unaffected weeds or scorched turf. The wand on the backpack allows for accuracy of application, so there is far less lawn damage from drip spills.

Cons

Backpack sprayers that are full of effective weed killers can be heavy and cumbersome. If you fill the sprayer up on the ground, it may be difficult or impossible for you to lift it up and hoist it onto your back, depending on your current physical conditions.

If the application rate is not correct, you may treat most of your yard before realizing it and do damage that can harm your turf and prolong the life of weeds. Some lawns have many types of weeds, and control with a single formula may be ineffective at killing any but the most common weeds. 

Weed Removal Techniques

Before you run and grab the sprayer to control the weeds in your lawn, it is a good idea to assess the situation and see if chemical control is even the right option. There are many ways to manage issues like emergent broadleaf weed control that don’t require a sprayer or herbicides at all.

Some of these solutions may prove difficult on lawns with a large number of square feet, and a sprayer for lawn care is a better option.

Check out these weed removal methods to figure out the best way to take care of your lawn care issues. 

Technique	Process	Effect
Hand Pulling	Wait until after rain or irrigate prior to grabbing the weeds firmly by the stem and removing them in a single upward thrust attempting to remove all roots in the process; this can be supplemented with spades and other weeding hand tools that help extract root balls without disturbing the surrounding turf	It can kill weeds without harming the turf or the soil microbes in the same way salt-based herbicides can do
Covering	For lawn treatments of an aggressive type of weed, you can cover the affected area with plastic to cook the plants underneath and deny the sunlight needed for growth and development	Weeds under the plastic will not get what they need to survive and will die in a few weeks, especially where daytime temperatures get above 80°F
Herbicide	Many broadleaf weed killers can be applied before and after the weeds have sprouted using your choice of sprayer; spray the lawn in rows and evenly apply the poison for selective herbicides or spot treat only on the foliage of stubborn weeds when using a non-selective herbicide	Lawn products designed to wipe out the weeds in your lawn will kill immature weeds quickly and prevent the growth of older weeds while also preventing new weed seeds from germinating and affecting your turf
Biological Control	Using the correct grass types and soil conditions, turf can be grown densely, preventing weeds from finding a foothold and establishing; existing weeds can be choked out by fortified grass as it grows bigger and steals the resources of the weeds	Weeds will be replaced by strong turf and be able to continue dropping seeds and propagating as the bare soil is replaced with thatch and other ground covers that surround healthy growing grass
Environmental Control	Using heat and cold as well as water and shade, you can effectively choose which plants can survive in your lawn; scorching, freezing, shading, and altered watering can all kill weeds when utilized correctly	Weeds that are burned will die and not recover quickly; freezing water and ice cubes can shock and kill weed roots, adding shade over weeds or giving them far less water (or more if they are dry-loving plants) can make it hard for weeds to spread while not affecting your grass negatively

What Harmful Effects Do Weeds Have on Lawns?

Weeds offer very little in terms of benefits to a healthy green lawn, and all efforts should be made to keep them out. It is unavoidable for some weed seeds to germinate in or on the borders of your lawn, but you should be able to keep situations like this under control.

If your lawn becomes full of weeds, then the effects can become negative. 

Steal Resources

Weeds need the same nutrients that your grass does, and if their roots get to it first, then there will be less for your lawn to use to grow, turn green, and recover from use and traffic.

Even if you fertilize more and try to increase the number of nutrients in the soil, chances are this will make the weeds stronger, and still, your grass will begin to fade.

Removing weeds can immediately restore balance and allow your grass to recover and fill in the bare spots left by removing invasive plants. 

Unappealing

There are lots of lawn techniques that make your grass look amazing, but weeds throw a wrench in the whole operation. Lawn striping, for example, doesn’t work when clumps of the turf are weeds that won’t bend.

Some weeds are prickly, and others grow much faster than the grass giving the lawn a very uneven appearance. Mow regularly to help keep appearances up while dealing with the weeds. 

Uncontrollable Spreading

Some types of weeds will completely take over and never yield their place once it has found fertile ground. Weeds are often adapted to harsh conditions and act as a natural pioneer system that lets them occupy bare patches of earth that no other creature could survive on.

This advantage will allow weeds to take over bare spots in your lawn much faster than the grass seed or young sprouts you plant to fill it in. Weed control is needed to stop them from spreading out of control. 

Grows Contrary to Lawn Timing

When a lawn goes dormant, there is a certain feeling of calm and peace, and you know that you will not need to worry about as much lawn maintenance as when it is actively growing.

If weeds are present, that may not be the case, as they can take this opportunity to move across the lawn and take over while your turf rests. Large patches of weeds can pop up, go to seed and die while your lawn rests during hot, dry summer weather or frigid winter conditions.

Make sure to eliminate weeds and prevent weed seeds from germinating before your lawn enters dormancy by using a backpack sprayer for lawn weed control.