Wondering about your lawn?

Have you been wondering about your lawn yet this yeawr? We were. So I found this (and many more articles) at www.LarrySagers.com Here is an excerpt followed by my summary:

"All of these cultural practices reduce problem weeds but may not totally eliminate them. Gardeners facing serious weed problems may have to do more. Pre-emergence herbicides should be applied prior to April 15 to control crabgrass, spurge and other annual weeds. Dacthal, pendemethalin and betasan are all common crabgrass controls. These require two applications at six-week intervals to control crabgrass and spurge. Galleria and Team are longer-term products that can be applied much earlier to give seasonlong control of these weeds from seed.

"Fertilization is one of the most important practices to keep a good, healthy, weed-free lawn. Normally grass is extremely competitive and crowds out many weeds. Apply high nitrogen fertilizers three to four times per year to keep the lawn adequately supplied with nutrients. The natural tendency of many homeowners is to pour on excessive fertilizer when they think about it, but a much better method is to apply small amounts of fertilizer evenly throughout the growing season. This same process is accomplished by using a slow-release fertilizer a couple of times per year. Broadleaved weeds also can be a problem in the lawn. Dandelions are the most prominent but certainly not the most difficult to get rid of. Apply a broadleaved-leaf killer as soon as the weeds start to actively grow. Weed killers should not be needed on a frequent basis. If they are, check cultural practices to find the problem and correct it."

Summery:

1. It is time to put a slow release fertilizer with pre-emergent herbicide on your lawn. If it isn't going to rain (or snow) in about 24 hours, water it in.

2. Do it before April 15

3. Broad leaf weed killers (like for dandelions) will only work on the growing plant, so wait until later when they are growing in your lawn to worry about them.

This is for my own zone (zone 5) of course. You poor folks who still have snow covered yards just get to relax for a few more weeks! That's all. Hope your lawn is nice and green (in more ways than one) this year.