Introduction
When spring rolls around in Northern Virginia, your lawn is in prime growth mode, so are early spring weeds.
The most popular type of sod and lawn in the Northern Virginia area is Tall Fescue, a cool season grass. Cool Season Grass lawns grow best during the spring and fall season, when temperatures are in the 40-60 degree range and rainfall is plentiful.
The key to an environmentally (and wallet friendly) lawn maintenance is preventing weeds.
Prevention of disease for your lawn is the same idea as preventative care for our bodies, a little maintenance means a happy and healthy life. Your lawn needs help to resist soil borne diseases, fungi and virulent weeds.
While Fescue has a lot of aesthetic value, it is not able to withstand the onslaught of weeds with their rhizomatic root systems and prolific seeding cycles, I’m looking at you Dandelion!
Treatment Tips
Before you start any treatments, make sure you remove leaves and excess debris from the surface of the lawn to reduce the chance of developing snow mold and fungus. Removing leaves also means you get more coverage of any pre-emergents you apply.
Use a slow release pre-emergent versus a liquid chemical. Slow release granular chemicals slowly dissolve over several weeks, lengthening the effective window for the treatment.
Apply a pre-emergent chemical to prevent crabgrass, which starts when soil temperatures are nearing 55 degrees. A good indicator of when to apply the first round of pre-emergent is when the dogwoods are blooming.
Mowing Tips
In April time frame, you will typically see enough growth to require cutting. Weekly mowing is best to maintain a sufficient crown and not stress the grass too much. You should be mowing your grass at around 3-1/2 inches during the spring.
Don’t bag your grass even if your mower came with a bagger.
The leftover clippings provide a natural fertilizer for the grass, so unless you have piles that are killing the grass and turning it yellow, leave those cuttings for a natural fertilizer.
Don’t
- Don’t fertilize your lawn after March 15th.
- Don’t seed your lawn in the spring unless you are trying to cover a damaged area, as the newly sprouted seed won’t have enough time to sprout and gain strength before the summer heat, it will scorch and may die.
Of course, we would love to cut and treat your grass for you, and our estimates are free as always. Call us at 703-239-8000.