How to Use Ortho WeedClear Lawn Weed Killer: Mix Ratio, Timing + What It Kills

What Ortho WeedClear Is (and What Happened to Weed B Gon)

WeedClear is Ortho's selective lawn weed killer line. Selective means it kills the weeds and leaves listed lawn grasses standing. Simple enough. The catch is the name. WeedClear covers several different chemistries, and the front of the bottle is the only thing telling them apart.

The two concentrates you'll find in the aisle:

• WeedClear Lawn Weed Killer Concentrate, sold as the North version. 2,4-D, quinclorac, and dicamba. The quinclorac is the crabgrass killer. EPA Reg. No. 2217-896-239.
• WeedClear Weed Killer for Lawns Concentrate. 2,4-D, mecoprop-p, and dicamba. Broadleaf weeds only. EPA Reg. No. 239-2744.

The ready-to-use bottles are different formulas again. The South ready-to-use adds carfentrazone to a 2,4-D, mecoprop-p, and dicamba mix. One Weed Killer for Lawns ready-to-use swaps in MCPA. Same logo on all of them. Read the active ingredients box before you read anything else. Ingredient percentages come from Ortho's Lawn Weed Killer Concentrate page and Weed Killer for Lawns Concentrate page.

Is Weed B Gon being discontinued?

The name is going away. The chemistry stays. WeedClear Weed Killer for Lawns Concentrate carries EPA Reg. No. 239-2744. EPA's file for that number lists the product as "WBG 553 Concentrate," with the same three actives at the same percentages: 8.658% 2,4-D salt, 2.127% mecoprop-p salt, 0.371% dicamba. Same engine, new badge on the hood.

So if Weed B Gon worked for you, the Weed Killer for Lawns concentrate is the closest match. Ortho sells its lawn weed killers under the WeedClear name now. Find an old Weed B Gon bottle in the garage? Use the rate on that bottle. Label wording changed between printings.

Which Weeds WeedClear Kills

Both concentrates list the everyday broadleaf weeds. They split on crabgrass and wild violet. Here's what each label lists for the weeds people actually search for, plus what extension research says to expect.

Label listings from the Lawn Weed Killer Concentrate label (PDF) and the EPA master label for Weed Killer for Lawns (PDF). The Weed Killer for Lawns label says it outright: "Clover will be damaged if sprayed." Skip it if you overseeded clover on purpose.

Does WeedClear kill crabgrass?

One of them does. The Lawn Weed Killer Concentrate lists large and smooth crabgrass, plus foxtail and broadleaf signalgrass. The label timing is specific: spray in spring before crabgrass hits 4 inches tall, or when you first notice it. Dense patches get a second application after 3 weeks.

The Weed Killer for Lawns concentrate doesn't list crabgrass at all. If crabgrass is the problem, check the front panel for the word "crabgrass" at the store. And plan on a pre-emergent next spring, because spraying crabgrass every June is the expensive way to do it.

Creeping charlie and wild violet: the two that come back

Both are on a WeedClear label. Both regrow. Budget for two passes.

Creeping charlie first. Purdue turf research found fall applications made from September 1 through October 15 cut ground ivy to 5% cover or less, against 45% in untreated plots. Purdue also notes it often regrows after about 24 days and recommends a second application at 28 days. Your label sets the floor, though: 21 days on the crabgrass bottle, 30 days on Weed Killer for Lawns. Wait for the label date. One more Purdue finding worth knowing: dicamba and quinclorac do little on ground ivy. On either bottle, the 2,4-D does the heavy lifting. Source: Purdue Turfgrass Science.

Wild violet is worse. Penn State Extension blames a thick, waxy leaf coating that blocks herbicide uptake and tough underground rhizomes that regrow, and says triclopyr products give the best control, with repeat treatments across multiple years. Penn State's list of products labeled for violet does include the 2,4-D, quinclorac, and dicamba combination, which is the crabgrass bottle's recipe. Works, slowly. Violets the target? Skip the Weed Killer for Lawns concentrate. They aren't on its label. Source: Penn State Extension.

The dallisgrass problem: why WeedClear won't fix it

Dallisgrass is a grass. WeedClear is built to spare grass. Neither concentrate lists it, and the crabgrass bottle's grass-weed list stops at crabgrass, foxtail, and signalgrass. Re-spraying won't change that.

Is WeedClear Safe for Your Grass? North vs. South Formulas

Match the bottle to the grass. That's the whole safety rule. Ortho sells a North and a South version of Lawn Weed Killer, and the Weed Killer for Lawns concentrate covers both regions with two different rates. Most lawn damage from this product line comes from skipping that step.

Grass lists come from the Lawn Weed Killer Concentrate label and the Weed Killer for Lawns EPA label. Bermuda may yellow for a bit after either spray. Both labels say full recovery can be expected.

St. Augustine or centipede lawn and you want a ready-to-use bottle? Ortho's Lawn Weed Killer (South) lists both, except Floratam. It's a different mix with carfentrazone, and it says to spray below 90°F with no 90°F heat expected for 6 hours. For Bermuda and zoysia specifically, the tolerant warm-season grasses like Bermuda and zoysia get their own rundown.

Mixing and Applying WeedClear

Ready-to-spray vs. concentrate

The Ortho WeedClear ready-to-spray hose-end bottle meters itself. Hook up the hose, walk the lawn at an even pace, done. Buy it if you're treating the whole yard and don't own a tank sprayer. The concentrate is cheaper per square foot and better for spot-spraying, but you mix it yourself in a pump sprayer.

Concentrate mix ratio

Two concentrates, three rates. These numbers come straight from the current labels. If your bottle ever disagrees, the bottle wins.

Two pieces of fine print. First, the older directions still on EPA's Weed Killer for Lawns file give southern grasses 1 fl oz per gallon over 1,000 sq ft in a pump sprayer. Half the dose. If that's what your bottle says, use it. Second, Ortho's web page for the crabgrass concentrate shows 3 fl oz per gallon per 500 sq ft, while the bottle label says 2.5 per 400. Both work out to about 6 fl oz per 1,000 sq ft. Go with the bottle.

Application limits from the labels. The Lawn Weed Killer Concentrate caps at 6.4 fl oz of product per 1,000 sq ft per application, two applications per year, at least 21 days apart. The Weed Killer for Lawns Concentrate caps at 4 fl oz per 1,000 sq ft, two applications per year, at least 30 days apart. Don't freelance a stronger mix. Overdosing a selective herbicide turns a weed treatment into lawn damage, and it doesn't kill tough weeds any deader. Sources: the current retail label (PDF) and the EPA master label for the Weed Killer for Lawns formula (PDF).

Shop math: a 5,000 sq ft lawn

Givens: 5,000 sq ft of lawn, measured. Pump sprayer.

1. Kentucky bluegrass with crabgrass in it, using the Lawn Weed Killer Concentrate: 5,000 ÷ 400 = 12.5 gallons of mix.
2. 12.5 gallons × 2.5 fl oz = about 31 fl oz of concentrate. That's one 32 oz bottle. Ortho rates the bottle at up to 5,000 sq ft and listed it at $14.49 in September 2026, so call it about $2.90 per 1,000 sq ft.
3. Same lawn, broadleaf weeds only, using Weed Killer for Lawns (northern rate): 5,000 ÷ 500 = 10 gallons of mix, 10 × 2 fl oz = 20 fl oz of concentrate.
4. Southern lawn with the same bottle: 10 gallons of mix, 10 fl oz of concentrate. A 32 oz bottle covers 16,000 sq ft at that rate, per the label.

Weeds in three patches? Measure the patches, not the yard. You don't repaint the whole truck for a scratch on the door.

To get square footage, measure the area first. The Lawn Size Calculator gets it from a satellite trace in about a minute. Then the table above tells you how many gallons to mix.

When to spray

The setup sheet, straight off the labels:

1. Weeds: small and actively growing, spring or fall. Dormant or drought-stressed weeds take up very little.
2. Temperature: below 90°F. The crabgrass bottle's page gives a 45°F to 90°F window. Bermuda: not above 85°F.
3. Mowing: none for 2 days before and 2 days after. You want leaf surface for the spray to land on, and time for it to move into the plant.
4. Water: if the lawn is dry, water it 24 hours before spraying. Then no watering for 24 hours after.
5. Wind: calm. Spray drifts onto flowers, vegetables, and shrubs, and WeedClear kills those too. Broadleaf means broadleaf.
6. Sprayer: coarse spray. Fine mist drifts.

Set it. Spray it. Leave it alone.

Juggling this against pre-emergent windows, fertilizing, and seeding? The Herbicide Timing Tool maps when each product belongs on your lawn so the applications don't fight each other. Seeding matters most. Both concentrate labels say wait 4 weeks after spraying before you reseed. On a new lawn, the crabgrass bottle wants the grass at least 2 inches tall, and Weed Killer for Lawns wants it mowed 3 times first.

How Long Does WeedClear Take to Work?

A few days to see it. A few weeks to judge it.

• First few days: the Weed Killer for Lawns label says "Effects begin to show after a few days, and weeds gradually die." Treated weeds twist, curl, and cup. That twisting is the signature of growth-regulator herbicides like 2,4-D and dicamba. It means the spray landed. Ortho's product pages advertise results "in hours." Early symptoms, maybe. Dead weeds take weeks.
• Three to four weeks: the re-treat check. The crabgrass bottle allows a second application or spot treatment at 21 days. Weed Killer for Lawns says if tough weeds aren't dead within 30 days, repeat.

Wild violet and creeping charlie routinely look half-dead at week three, then push new leaves from surviving roots. Perennial biology. Wait for the label's date, then hit the regrowth. Two applications a year is the cap on both concentrates, so make them count.

Rainfast window

The marketing and the labels don't agree. Here's each claim, side by side.

Is WeedClear Safe for Pets?

Keep pets and people off until the spray dries. Both concentrate labels say it word for word: "Do not allow people or pets to enter the treated area until sprays have dried." Ortho's page for the crabgrass concentrate adds that they "may safely reenter once the area has dried."

Make it easy on yourself. Spray in the morning so the lawn is dry by afternoon. Treat the backyard and front yard on different days so the dog always has somewhere to go. Store the concentrate in its original container, locked up, which is what the label asks for anyway. If you keep rabbits or other pets that graze the lawn, read your bottle's precautionary statements first. They vary by formula.

WeedClear vs. Roundup: Not the Same Tool

Roundup (glyphosate) is non-selective. It kills about everything green it touches, your lawn included. WeedClear is selective. It kills listed weeds growing in listed grasses and spares the grass. Use WeedClear on weeds in the lawn. Use a non-selective product for driveway cracks, gravel, fence lines, and total-kill renovations where dead grass is the point. If you're clearing an area completely, or you came here for the GroundClear mix ratio, the Ortho GroundClear vs. Roundup guide covers the non-selective side of the aisle.

What Other Guides Miss

The name hides the chemistry. Most WeedClear write-ups treat it as one product. It's at least four. The crabgrass concentrate runs quinclorac. The Weed Killer for Lawns concentrate runs mecoprop-p and is the old Weed B Gon registration. The South ready-to-use adds carfentrazone. One ready-to-use runs MCPA. That's why the rates, the grass lists, and the weed lists all differ. Read the active ingredients box and the grass list on the bottle in your hand.

The failure is lopsided, too. Use the southern rate on a northern lawn and you get weaker weed control. Use the crabgrass bottle on St. Augustine, centipede, or bahia and you can kill the lawn. Big-box stores stock both bottles side by side.

Weed identity matters as much as the bottle. A lot of "WeedClear didn't work" complaints come from spraying a broadleaf herbicide at grassy weeds like dallisgrass, quackgrass, or coarse tall fescue clumps. The product did its job. It spared the grass. The weed just turned out to be a grass. Thirty seconds of identification saves a season of useless spraying, which is why the free photo diagnosis keeps coming up before the sprayer does.

Last one. Killing weeds without a follow-up plan just books the rematch. Every dead dandelion leaves a bare patch, and bare patches are where next year's weeds sprout. Pair the spraying with a pre-emergent and feeding schedule. That's what the site's paid 12-month care plan does: it gives you the week to put down pre-emergent for your ZIP code and grass type, so you reach for products like WeedClear less often.

Comparing Notes with Other Herbicides

WeedClear sits in a crowded aisle. Spectracide Weed Stop is the budget-shelf rival with similar selective chemistry, and the Spectracide Weed Stop instructions guide covers it the same way. Fighting weeds during a seeding project? Tenacity (mesotrione) plays a very different role and can go down around new seed where WeedClear can't.

Your WeedClear Action Plan

1. Identify the weed. Photo, free AI diagnosis, then confirm it's on your bottle's label. Dallisgrass or another grassy weed? Stop. Different tool.
2. Pick the bottle by grass. Crabgrass concentrate for cool-season lawns, Bermuda, zoysia, and buffalograss. Weed Killer for Lawns for anything else except Floratam.
3. Measure. Use the Lawn Size Calculator, then mix to the label rate: 2.5 fl oz per gallon per 400 sq ft, or 2 fl oz or 1 fl oz per gallon per 500 sq ft.
4. Pick the day. Weeds actively growing, calm, under 90°F (85°F on Bermuda), dry for the next 24 hours, no mowing 2 days either side.
5. Spray to wet, then wait. Curling in a few days. Pets off until dry.
6. Re-treat survivors at the label interval: 21 days or 30 days. Wild violet and creeping charlie almost always need it, ideally in fall.
7. Close the loop. Reseed bare spots no sooner than 4 weeks after spraying, then get on a pre-emergent and feeding schedule so the gaps fill with grass instead of next year's weeds.

Right bottle, right rate, right week. That's the job.