Spring Seasonal Care

Spring is here!

It's time for Step 1 application in a series of 4 Steps for your lawn. This application is applied from April 15th to May 20th. 

Scotts Step 1 consists of a Fertilizer to feed your lawn and Crabgrass pre-emergent  to control dormant Crabgrass seeds that wintered over from germinating. 

How to Apply

HINT:  First before any application this Spring make sure that you do all your spring clean-up raking . Re-raking after this spring application will void the crabgrass pre-emergent working action in both products.

RAKE, APPLY, WATER

Apply Scotts Step 1 to a dry lawn, Choices are:

Scotts, 

Insect Control - used if only wanting to control grubs

Halts Plus - a combination of  strong fertilizer and a crabgrass killer

Step 1 - first application in a 4-Step package

Insect Control with Fertilizer - a combination of grub killer and fertilizer

Water in for 15 minutes by a sprinkler and then again once a week, rain or not to keep soil moisture up in the soil,

 HINT: Grub killer only stays effective when there is moisture available in the soil.

Weeds

Still having weed problems, in a dry summer the only thing that will flourish is your lawn weeds.  If not taken care of, most of the weeds will be there next spring.  Applying a early summer weed killer is an excellent idea to avoid a problem next season.

WEED SEARCH 

IMAGES & IDENTIFICATION OF LAWN WEEDS

Lawn weeds are divided into two general categories....annuals and perennial types.

Annual weeds

Annual weeds sprout from seeds to mature plants throughout the growing season, and then drop their own seeds before dying, which provides another crop the following year. In lawns throughout most of the northern United States, these annual weeds are primarily grassy weeds such as crabgrass and foxtail, plus some dicot weeds such as spurge and oxalis.

Annual weeds, such as crabgrass, are prevented by pre-emergent controls, that stop the young seeds and plants as they germinate and develop from seeds.

One can only stop this cycle by applying a crabgrass pre-emergent before the germination begins. This would occur early in spring before soil temperatures reach 40-50 degrees. Prohibiting the seed formation on mature plants will rid your lawn next year from invading crabgrass.

Perennial Weeds

Perennial weeds do not die at the end of the growing season. Instead, they remain in the lawn ( although they may become dormant and scarcely noticeable until the following spring). These are primarily rosette and vining-type dicot weeds such as dandelion, plantain and clover

Perennial weeds such as dandelions are controlled by post-emergent controls, that get rid of established plants, rather than germinating seedlings

How to Apply Weed killers

Apply all weed killers to a wet lawn and no rain for 24-48 hours after application.  Choices are:

Scotts, Turfline (dry granular products applied by a lawn spreader)

Lawn Weed killer

Weed Control with Fertilizer

Ortho. Bonide (liquid sprayed on the lawn)

Weed B Gone