Introducing Our Five-step Lawn Care Program
Step 1: Apply Pre-Emergent for Summer Annual Seeds
Pre-emergent herbicides are spread on the lawn before certain weeds sprout. It works during the germination process of the weeds. Summer annuals germinate in the spring and reach maturity in the fall. Pre-emergence herbicides for summer annuals must be applied in the spring between February and April. Examples of summer annuals include crabgrass, knotweed, and foxtail.
Step 2: Apply Spring Fertilizer
There are three main ingredients in lawn fertilizer. These are Nitrogen, which promotes growth and greening ("up"), phosphorous, which aids root development ("down"), and potassium, which fortifies the grass against disease, cold, and insects. Warm-season grasses like Bermuda and Zoysia flourish during the warmer summer months and therefore tend to require fertilizing shortly after green-up in the spring and in the late summer months. Spring fertilization should be done between May and July with more Nitrogen.
Step 3: Apply Post-Emergent Weed Control
Post-emergent weed control is a herbicide used to kill weeds after they have germinated. This type of weed killer is used once the initial spring season has begun and plants have started to grow. Post-emergent herbicide is applied directly to the leaves of the plant and travels down the stem to the root system. These are mostly used to control specific broadleaf weeds like dandelions and curly dock. They don't kill other weeds or grasses. Post-emergent is applied April through May when soil temperatures are between 70 and 90 degrees F.
Step 4: Apply Fall Fertilizer
Fertilizing your yard during the fall can be essential to maintaining a healthy lawn, especially if you have cool-season turfgrasses like bluegrass, fescue, and ryegrass because fertilizer has a better chance at getting down to the roots in the fall--the part of your grass that really needs the nutrients--fall is the most crucial time to fertilize. The three main ingredients in lawn fertilizer are Nitrogen, which promotes growth and greening ("up"), phosphorous, which aids root development ("down"), and potassium, which fortifies the grass against disease, cold, and insects. Fall fertilizing should be done between September and October.
Step 5: Apply Pre-Emergent for Winter Annual Seeds
Pre-emergent herbicides are spread on the lawn before certain weeds sprout, and it works during the germination process of the weeds. Winter annuals germinate in the fall, and if you apply pre-emergence herbicides for winter annuals in the spring, the herbicide will probably be broken down by soil microbes before the seeds germinate, and the application will be wasted. Examples of winter annuals include annual bluegrass and common chickweed. Apply pre-emergent herbicides for these weeds later, in the summer and before spring arrives. For best results, apply pre-emergent herbicides from early October through November.