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Characteristics:
Describing the weeds that live in a grassy lawn is no easy task. It would be an extremely long, and probably very boring, list. We need merely say that in general, they can be divided up into two groups: narrow-leaved weeds and broad-leaved weeds.
In a lawn consisting of graminaceae (and therefore of weeds with long, narrow leaves), broad-leaved weeds stand out for their disorderly appearance (ribwort, dandelion, clover, etc.). These plants are difficult to eliminate because they feature excellent dissemination systems and a thick root apparatus that is extremely competitive in the search for water and nutrition.
Narrow-leaved weeds, on the other hand, similar to the graminaceae of the lawn, are the lesser evil because they are finer, and, generally speaking, are shorter lived.
Of the plants infesting lawns, Plantago lanceolata, major and media. All have rosette arranged leaves (often very flat against the ground) that are long and narrow in Plantago lanceolota. They are broad and rounded and marked by clear nerves in Plantago major, and between the two in Plantago media. The lengthened flowers are characteristic, which, if allowed to reach the flowering stage, produce from 1,500 to 21,000 seeds per plant.
Widespread everywhere, they prefer heavier soils with plenty of nutrition. The leaves of Taraxacum officinale, the dandelion – one of the most feared lawn infestants, are also arranged as a rosette. The size of the plant is nothing compared with the persistence of the species that manages to re-vegetate even from small portions of taproot that, once flowered, produces in the region of 5,000 seeds. This also lives everywhere, once again preferring limey soils that are deep with plenty of nutrition.
The Trifolium repens, the white-leaved clover, is also very well known. Once upon a time this was used as a lawn essence, but was found to be lesser quality than expected, but extraordinary competitive, particularly with regard to lawn graminaceae, and even more so when sown in poor nutrition soils.
Setaria genus infestants are high resistant in vegetation for the entire summer and autumn. The erect or ascending culms bring long, narrow leaves and panicle flowers that can form, if allowed to reach the flowering stage, 5,000 seeds per plant. Six wild species grow in Italy, of which Setaria glauca is the most famous.
Similar to these, we also have the digitarias, of which the Digitaria sanguinalis is the most dangerous. As the first cold arrives, the plants take on lighter or darker brown hues and disappear quickly, leaving empty patches on the ground that are now impossible to fill. It can be easily recognised by the flowers that are arranged as the fingers of a hand.
Echinochloa crus-galli, barnyard grass, is also common in overly-watered lawns, and, just like the previous species, disappears as the first cold arrives.

How to protect yourself against lawn weeds
The lawn, as indeed any other crop, must be weeded, namely removing all grasses that can compete – for space, light, water and nutrition – with those constituting the actual lawn. What is, in fact, a weed, if not a grass that grows where we do not wish it to?
In a lawn where the grass is strong and healthy, weeds are not a problem. It is therefore poor maintenance of the lawn and a lack of carrying out the most important cultivating operations, that are often the true means of weed propagation. If the soil has been properly prepared, and cleaned of all plant residues, such as seeds, stolons and rhizomes, seeding has been carried out using good quality seeds, milling with a lawnmower fitted with a grass collector, fertilization and watering carried out at the right time, distributing the exact quantities of fertiliser and water, the lawn will be thick and healthy, making it difficult for weeds to take root.
The mechanical fighting system is the oldest and safest way to clean the lawn of weeds, even if today it is only really practical for small areas, or on lawns with very few weeds.
It is efficient in eliminating annual or biennial species, a little less so for the elimination of perennial weeds that require, in addition to the careful cleaning of the area infested by the epigeous organs, also the elimination of much of the root network. It may be useful in the spring, during a period of intense vegetative development, when the lawn grass will grow back quickly, filling bare patches, but is no longer useful when the year is well on and the growth of the grass slower, with more numerous weed seeds and the danger of the weeds re-colonising the previously weeded areas is greater.
If we choose to work manually, in any case, we are better off waiting until it has rained, or been abundantly watered, in order that the soil is softer, making removal of the roots easier. We can use a weeder, for example. When pushed into the soil, in contact with the plant's taproot and pulled to the side, it causes the smaller roots to detach from the main root. At this point, we need merely take the plant by the neck and pull upwards to remove it completely.
If the lawn shows a great many weeds, however, the only solution is to use herbicides, given that manual weeding is no longer worthwhile.
Generally speaking, these products are available as liquid concentrates to be diluted in water before use, and distributed using sprayers. The most practical solution is the combined weed killers and granular fertilisers that can be conveniently spread using a compost spreader.
Please remember these are anti-parasite treatments (medical devices for agricultural use) and as such must be used in accordance with the instructions given on the label.