What are we doing in January and February to make lawns look great in the spring? We’re applying a weed preventative to block the weeds before they even start.
We can’t prevent all weeds from growing but we can prevent a lot of them. There are basically two types of weeds, the kind that sprout from seeds and those that come back from their roots every year. Applying a late winter pre-emergent will create a barrier in the soil, blocking most weed seeds from growing which means we only have to spot treat the weeds coming back from their roots. These treatments while the lawn is dormant cut spring weeds down dramatically – saving time and, more importantly, herbicides.
As usual, St. Augustine is the exception to this because it is very sensitive to chemicals. Blanket treating a St. Augustine lawn with a weed killer will always stunt its growth so we have to be very gentle with it. While we do apply a winter pre-emergent to St. Augustine, we apply it at about half the recommended rate. Our goal with St. Augustine is to make it so happy and healthy with watering and correct fertilizer the rest of the year that during the winter it is too thick for weeds to touch the soil – Mother Nature’s weed control.
The lesson here isn’t “The only good weed is a dead one.” The real lesson is “The only good weed is one that never grew.”
At Village Green we live by the motto “It’s Easy Being Green” so if you have outdoor questions, don’t hesitate to contact us or, even better, contact us for a free lawn quote.