Prepare Your Lawn for Spring

Spring will be here before you know it, and the time to get your lawn ready is now. It’s best not to wait until the days become longer and warmer to begin prepping your lawn; there are a few simple things you can do now that will make all the difference this spring and summer. Today we are sharing a simple checklist of pre-spring lawn tips that are sure to pay off in the coming weeks and months.

1. Clean Up Winter Debris

Winter weather brings fallen leaves, branches and other yard debris that has likely collected on your lawn over the course of the cooler months. A little picking up and raking will get your yard back to square for the spring season.

2. Apply a Pre-Emergent Herbicide

To avoid pesky weeds from cropping up and ruining your lawn before spring rolls in, apply a pre-emergent herbicide. The purpose of a pre-emergent is to stop weed germination early so that your turf can thrive. A pre-emergent, as its name suggests, prevents weeds from emerging in the first place—this is useful if you are expecting the same kind of weed to appear annually or to control weeds before they appear so that you can reduce labor spent outside hand-pulling them. Recommended pre-emergents for a variety of warm season turfgrasses include Prodiamine 65 WDG, Dimension 2EW and Surflan AS. Read more about applying a pre-emergent in the spring here.

3. Apply a Fungicide

It can be hard to spot a disease if your lawn hasn’t started coming out of dormancy and turning green yet—everything may still look brown. If you suspect disease in your lawn or have had disease around this time of year in the past, it is recommended for you to apply a fungicide at a preventive rate first. Being safe is always better than being sorry. We have listed a few recommended fungicides below, but it is important to purchase a fungicide that targets the specific type of disease you’re dealing with. Combining fungicide chemistries is the most effective way of targeting and treating a disease in your turfgrass. You can learn more about this in our Lawn Disease Control Strategies article.  See our full inventory of fungicide products here.

4. Begin Researching a Fertilizer Regimen

To maximize the health and beauty of your lawn, an appropriate fertilizer regimen is essential. It’s important to note that you will not want to apply fertilizer until your lawn has fully come out of its dormancy or else it won’t be effective—it is similar to feeding a pill to someone who is sleeping. Instead, use this time to start scoping out fertilizers that fit your lawn’s needs. The different phases of each season require different nutrition, which is why we recommend the Lawnifi® Spring Fertilizer Box for the upcoming spring. Lawnifi is a fertilizer program powered by Catalyst Technology^TM, which ensures the safe and efficient nutrient delivery to your grass. The Spring Fertilizer Box includes two bottles of Maintain and one bottle of Boost. Maintain is an easy to use fertilizer that should be applied during the first few weeks of spring. It helps to promote healthy roots and the return of green grass blades after winter dormancy during this time. In mid-spring, apply Boost to deepen the green appearance of your lawn. Boost will deliver greening benefits to your lawn immediately and long into the season because of its time-release formula. Finally, you will want to make your second application of Maintain to prep your lawn for the heat and stress of summer as it grows closer. Learn more about Lawnifi and Catalyst Technology at Lawnifi.com.

5. Don’t Wait to Mow

As soon as your lawn begins to see growth again, it’s important to begin mowing. Allowing grass to grow too tall can hinder root health and causes a variety of other issues in your lawn. Aim to mow at least weekly, if not more often in the early spring. During the first mow of the year, you will want to scalp and bag your fully established bermuda and zoysiagrass. This helps reduce amounts of thatch, which chokes your lawn off from sunlight, fertilizer or water. Your first mow should take place around mid-March. If you have an EMPIRE® Zoysia lawn, be sure to check out our First Mow of the Spring for EMPIRE article.

If you are interested in learning a little more about Lawnifi, Sod University has an article that specifically focuses on Boost, the second bottle in the Lawnifi Spring Fertilizer Box. You can check it out here. If you are one of those homeowners who deal with a fungus problem around this time every year and haven’t quite figured out how to get rid of the lawn disease for good, we recommend reading our Lawn Disease Control Strategies article. This article discusses combining fungicide chemistries to get rid of even the toughest lawn diseases.

With spring growing closer and closer, it’s good to start getting ready for some of the maintenance you will have to perform. These six steps will help you and your lawn get a head start for the upcoming spring months so that you can have a flourishing, green lawn all season long.