Prepare your lawn for Spring

Spring will be here before you know it; and with Spring comes lawn care. Are you not sure where to start on your lawn maintenance?  Are you working on a fixed budget?  Would you like a lawn to be low maintenance with lower costs on watering, while having a beautiful yard?  Then we have the answers to help keep your home investment growing from year to year!

Right now, is the time to start a good pre-emergent for weed control.  The weeds you currently see now are annual weeds, which will die out as the temperatures start to change. Along with the change in the temperatures, we will see different annual weeds appear. These weeds are currently at the seed stage waiting for warmer days and nights so they can start to emerge. These include crabgrass, dandelions, purslane, barnyard grass, and even Bermuda grass. Yes, Bermuda grass is a weed that we use for our lawns.  Especially in southern regions because it does look nice and is very drought tolerant. Bermuda grass can be seeded but not until the hot days of Summer.

Not to worry when using pre-emergent for your lawns this time of the year. You can use the pre-emergent weed and feed when seeding with cool season grasses.  You will need to use caution when doing this and wait to apply the weed control after the grasses have started growing.  Our choice for annual weed control is corn gluten meal.  Spread the corn gluten meal at the rate of 20lbs per 1,000 square feet.  corn gluten meal is the biproduct of corn and is safe to use around children and pets! It is also used as food for cows, cats, dogs, fish and poultry.  It is a natural weed suppressant.  It dehydrates the weed seeds when dry and keeps them from germinating.  The product that is currently on the market is very good with 9% to 10% nitrogen and is an excellent natural fertilizer.

If your budget allows, you can also add Humate, which is low grade lignite coal.  Humate is a natural soil conditioner.  Adding it to the soil at the rate of 4 to 6lbs per 1,000 square feet increases the utilization and retention of fertilizers being used, preventing them from being leached away from your grasses and plants root zone.  It also improves the water holding capacity of the soil.