What type of herbicide can control some weeds without harming turfgrass?

Selective herbicides are designed to target specific types of plants, typically weeds, while minimizing damage to desirable plants such as turfgrass. This selectivity is achieved by taking advantage of the biological differences between the target weeds and the turfgrass. For instance, selective herbicides may affect the growth pathways or metabolic processes in weeds that are not present in grasses.

In contrast, preemergence herbicides prevent the germination of weed seeds and can be effective before weeds appear, whereas postemergence herbicides are applied to actively growing weeds. Non-selective herbicides, on the other hand, kill all plants they come into contact with, including valuable turfgrass, making them unsuitable for controlling weeds in a lawn or established turf setting. Thus, the ability of selective herbicides to focus on weeds while leaving turfgrass unharmed makes this the correct choice.