Anything
that sounds too good to be true…IS! Just wanted to get your attention.
What a
strange trip it’s been with the weather this spring. Soil temperatures are
about 3 weeks ahead of normal, cherry trees are budding out in Shrewsbury as
are Dandelions and Bermuda grass has not gone 100% dormant all winter. Never
have seen anything like this is my life time.
I went to
Costa Rica with my family a couple of weeks ago. We flew into San Jose, but
stayed in Turrialba for week at my friend’s house. If you ever get the chance
to go, it really is a beautiful country with friendly people living at a pace I
have rarely seen. I envy them in some ways and glad I was only a visitor in a
lot of ways. Great time with my 25 and 23 year old adult children and my wife.
When I got
back it was right to work at a not so Costa Rican pace. The sun was shining, it
was 60 degrees and folks had enough of winter and are ready to do lawn work.
Here is what we’ll tell anyone walking in the door this month:
*Get out your action plan for lawn care out and be ready to
do something around March 25-30th. We suggest a low nitrogen, high
potash fertilizer with a season long application of pre-emergent. (7-0-22 w/.15
Dimension)
*Always try to mow that cool season lawn @ 2.5“ two
times before making the first application of ANY fertilizer.
This cleans up the clutter collected by winter and will help insure a quick
green up.
*DO NOT mow or do anything to Zoysia lawns this
month. They are a “warm season” grass. Be patient!
*Spot spray early weeds with Turflon or some form or an Ester based herbicide. These work better
in cooler temperatures.
*DO NOT spray weeds in Zoysia lawns. You will hurt the
Zoysia!
*Rake up Sweet Gum balls and anything else that might get
smashed into ground during mowing.
*Avoid making applications if the ground is saturated
*Spot seed thin areas, but be sure you don’t get pre-emergent
on those areas. Cover them with a blanket before or after applying the Round 1
material with crab grass control!
I’ll invite you looking at the University of Missouri’s
website that Dr. Lee Miller works on. His newsletter is free and should be
subscribed by any lawn enthusiast. http://turfpath.missouri.edu/reports/2016/update03_01_16.cfm
Dr. Miller will educate so you don’t make mistakes when it
comes to making applications to your lawn. It’s the best source of free
information on the web! Trust me!
Happy Spring and remember folks…it’s just grass!
