Wednesday, February 18, 2009

What to do with my Brown Grass???

Many of customers are inquiring as what to do with their grass now that the freeze/frost is gone (this weekend cold spell should have no effect on your grass)

1) Check the grass for areas of crabgrass and other weeds that were frozen....this is the good news story of the frost....many of these weeds are annuals and freeze back. Now is the time to remove the dead areas/weeds and plug with new sod. This is also a very good visual cue as to what is crabgrass and what is St. Augustine.

2) Now is time to put down a "pre-emergent" weed control for the lawn. We recommend either an Atrazine in liquid form or a new product called Dollar Weed Control Plus in a granular form. Many people ask whether now is the time to "weed and feed"....the answer...it depends. It depends on how many weeds you have....if you have heavy weed coverage...follow the direction above (use a weed control only product first..liquid or granular). If you have only a few weeds we generally recommend using the "weed and feed" product in the 1st or 2nd week of March. Its weed control chemical is Atrazine...the same chemical that we have available in the liquid form....but when you "weed and feed" the fertilizer is released to the weeds as well as the grass so you don't want to feed the weeds if they are heavy.

3) Check your irrigation. The grass is still not actively growing yet...so don't apply more water than needed...generally once/week is sufficient. Any excess water is just helping the weeds grow. Also check for leaks and damaged heads...poor coverage...get these fixed now before you really need it this summer.

4) Fertilizing.....if you have the weeds under control with the directions in item 2) above then the first or second week of March is a great time to put down a fertilizer only product (if you weed and feed this suffices). We recommend Lawn Food plus Iron...the iron will get the green color back in the yard quicker.

5) Relax....enjoy your grass...Spring is the best time to be out in the garden so make the most of it.

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