Weeds are a fact, that's a fact. Tom makes a good point that some weeds here and there are nothing to worry about. Those who say (over and over) that all weeds can be controlled by enough mulch are correct, but a constant heavy layer of mulch is plenty of work to maintain and really is only practical for quite small gardens. In my case, where I want to grow enough crops to provide all my pulse and some grain, maintaining a foot of mulch on over a half-acre is not going to happen. Other ways to keep weeds controlled must be utilized, and fortunately the lore to do so exists and it works. IME, grassy weeds are the main problem, and a heavy continual presence of those despite periodic tillage indicates a mineral balance in the soil that is not close to optimum for crop production. What you want to see is the "fertility" weeds, which are easier to control be mechanical means and are much less onerous for the crops. This is achieved mainly by raising calcium.

I'm currently battling a very similar weed after a complete lawn restoration in September 2013 so it looks like we could have the same problem. By the end of January it was completely weed free but I noticed these weeds popping up by mid February. The stuff I have is very easy to pull up after a rain when he soil is very moist and it doesn't appear to be spreading from the roots. I was thinking its crabgrass that germinated in the fall and sat dormant through the winter. Only problem with that theory is that we have had several heavy frosts and a couple snows which didn't kill them. I would have thought this would have killed crabgrass, right? The seed I used was the Hogan Tall Fescue blend from the Hogan company which clearly states on the label 0% weed and 0% other crop so I'm positive this weed didn't come from the seed. I did use straw I purchased from a local company so I'm thinking if this weed is orchard grass the straw is most likely where it came from. Some of these weeds in my lawn are just individual while there are others in small groups which to me indicates they were in the straw, some as complete seed heads while others were just individual seeds. Last weekend I put out an application of Prodiamine 65 WDG (Barricade) pre em in hopes it would keep more of this stuff from germinating but it doesn't say anything about controlling orchard grass. So far I have manually pulled about 50% of it but that's not much fun on 20,000 square feet of lawn with my beat up old knees! I did spot spray a week ago with Ortho Weed-B-Gon crabgrass killer which seems to be hurting it a little. Going to wait another week and do a second spot treatment and see what happens. Here's the photo of my weed for comparison: This post was edited by ForsheeMS on Sat, Mar 8, 14 at 9:42

Rouge 21 - Veronica 'Georgia Blue' is definitely a groundcover. It doesn't have the thicker, but floppy stems that many of the "groundcover" Veronicas have. It is a form of V. peduncularis (along with 'Waterperry Blue') which has delicate thread-like stems. In general, I am not fond of Veronicas, but the V. peduncularis forms are much more delicate, spreading without overwhelming other plants. Mine is only 4 or 5 inches high. I have not had issues with weeds in it at all, but mine is in a spot with only a couple hours of direct sun, and the bed is well-mulched. It doesn't overwhelm other plants in the bed, but weaves among them, so I don't know if it would make a great weed-blocker in a sunnier spot with more aggressive weeds. Like Miclino, I find that Snow-in-summer (Cerastium tomentosum) looks pretty unkempt after bloom without severe cutting back, and it does best in full sun, a bit on the drier side. It will spread by seed as well.

If you live in the south and want bermuda or St Augustine, we can help you get to a nice lawn in a few months. If you live in the north and want something like rye, fescue, and/or Kentucky bluegrass, I would suggest you hang onto that thought until after summer as suggested by someone in your past. In the mean time practice proper watering, mowing, and fertilizing and you will have the best looking weeds on the block. That's what I'm currently doing at my new home. Because I'm satisfied with the look of green, even though it is green weeds, this is a very low stress approach. Here's a picture of my weeds from last July. Proper watering means deep an infrequent. Deep means 1 inch all at one time; not spread out over several days. Infrequent means to adjust frequency for the temperature. When it's hotter you deep water more often. With temps in the 90s water once per week. With temps in the 80s water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70 water once a month. This works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so wherever you are it will work. Mulch mow most grasses at the highest notch on the mower. The only grasses that get mowed at the lowest level are bermuda, centipede, and creeping bentgrass. Fertilize once in the late spring and twice in the fall. Late spring is Memorial Day. Early fall is Labor Day and late fall is around Thanksgiving. That's about all there is to it.