It’s officially Spring. Now is your chance to get a head start on those grassy weeds in your lawn. The time has come to put down your first application of the year. This isn’t a lawn fertilizer, it’s what is known as a pre-emergent. It will particularly target crab grass and other grassy weeds in your lawn. Think of it like this. Each year these weeds sprout in your lawn, grow up and mature, then drop seeds. The seeds stay dormant over winter until the weather is warm enough to sprout up and start the process again. A pre-emergent is put on the lawn to stop the seeds from germinating and sprouting
Tips for Using Pre-emergents
- Timing is important– Because this needs to be put down before the seeds are able to germinate and sprout to the surface, this needs to be put down at the right time. In general it needs to go down when the soil temperature is 50 degrees. There are some indicators of a good time to apply it, including: when you see the forsynthia bushes starting to bloom (that yellow bush on this page), using a soil temperature probe and by using a useful website www.Greencastonline.com/tools/soil-temperature
2. This also stops grass seed from sprouting. You’ll need to make a decision as to what is more Important to your lawn goals, filling in bare spots with grass seed or controlling weeds. If you use a pre-emergent, then it is best to wait 4 weeks before Spreading grass seed. The pre-emergent will also stop the germination of the grass seed. Doing both is not impossible, though certain types of grass (ie: kentucky bluegrass) takes upwards of 3-4 weeks to germinate. This will push that young grass into the heat of summer, depending on the timing of application that year.
3. Apply it alone. It is my belief that applying pre-emergent by itself is best. No need to apply It with “lawn food” or a fertilizer. Those can be added later on. I would suggest using a chemical called Prodiamine or going to a big box store to purchase a “crab grass preventer”.
Everything is very open with a precise clarification of the challenges. It was really informative. Your website is useful. Thanks for sharing!