Happy Spring to be!! Its been a cold winter and we at TLC are looking forward to Spring this year. 

 

Together we will be working to get you a beautiful lawn.  There are some things we will be doing and some you can do to reach this goal. The most important one for you is to get your mower ready to go, typically in April.

 

We will be applying a pre emergent with our first treatment.  This is for crabgrass control and some late occurring weeds like spurge.  We need to get this down before the soil warms enough for these annual weeds to germinate.  An early spring is forecasted this year.  

 

One important thing to do is sharpen the blades(s) of your mower.  An easier way to accomplish this is to have a spare blade or blades, depending on your mower.  If you do not have a spare blade(s), they are easy to find.  You can google your mower and the size blade and buy one on Amazon or at the local big box or hardware store.  Then when you take off the old one you can put the new one on.   This will give you some time to bring the old one to someone to sharpen it if you are not comfortable doing it yourself and you will be ready to mow. 

 

We also recommend setting your mower at 3.5-4.0 inches, typically as high as a push or self propelled mower will go.

 

The higher the blade, the deeper the root system which helps build a stronger, healthier turf plant.

 

Taller grass helps outcompete weeds for sunlight, moisture and space. Most weeds grow in a rosette fashion, closer to the ground.  A tall, properly mowed lawn will help reduce the weeds. 

 

Do not bag or catch your clippings.  They are primarily water but you can recycle nutrients.  Clippings contain 4% nitrogen, 2% potassium  and 1% phosphorus which will keep the lawn a more consistent color.  This is a big benefit.

 

Wait until fall to seed. Fall is a much better time to seed grass.  The way the turfgrass works if you seed in the spring it will be an immature plant come summer and it will not have a deep root system which is bad for our cool season grasses. You can not use weed controls on new grass.  The weeds will gain a competitive advantage. Shade areas are the main ones we see that can be seeded.  I know there are exceptions and please let us know if you are seeding on your own so we can make adjustments.  Its pointless to seed prior to April in my book as the soil temps are not warm enough to germinate seed until at least then.

 

We look forward to seeing you in the coming weeks.  Please check on our newsletter page for other tips and information that we will update seasonally on our webpage. 

 

 

 

Thank you

 

The Folks at TLC, Total Lawn Care, Inc