TIGER BLUE, Inc. Missouri Natural Lawn ◊ (636) 352-1116 ◊ green@tigerblue.net ◊
www.MOnaturalLawn.com
SPRING LAWN CARE TIPS
Clean Up winter's leftovers-leaves that fell late, trash that blew in, sticks
and limbs that succumbed to winter’s harsh elements, and debris from
beneath bird feeders. Rid planting beds of any dead foliage. Also don't
forget to remove sand and salt from pavement areas.
Aerate if your lawn shows signs of severe compaction. Aerating is
recommended at least 1-2 times per year.
Apply a pre-emergent herbicide. The best way to deal with crabgrass
and many other annual weeds is to “nip it in the bud” with a pre-
emergent. Missouri Natural Lawn offers corn gluten meal as an organic
alternative to chemical crabgrass preventers. As their name suggests,
pre-emergent herbicides address weed control before their seedlings can
even emerge. Pre-emergent herbicides accomplish this by forming
something of a "shield" that inhibits seed germination. Do not undertake
the aeration task discussed in point 2 above after applying pre-emergent
herbicides: to do so would “puncture” this shield and reduce its
effectiveness. Pre-emergents should be applied once in early spring and
once in mid August
Take your mower in for service. Make sure you include blade
sharpening. Also inspect other lawn-care tools. Clean, service, repair or
replace them before the rush.
Prune tree branches, roses, brambles and non-spring blooming shrubs. Do
not prune or trim blooming shrubs such as azalea, spirea, lilac or
rhododendron. If you do they will not have flowers this season. Prune or
trim after they have flowered.
Cut back ornamental grasses before new growth begins. Cut to a height of
6 inches
Mow at the proper height for your grass. Except for the first and
last cut of the year, cool season grasses such as fescue and bluegrass
should be cut to a length no shorter than 2½ inches, especially in summer.
But your first (and last) cut should be fairly short. Also do not cut more
than ⅓ of the grass height at one time. A good rule of thumb is to mow
your lawn when it reaches 3⅔ inches in height. Set your mower height to
leave your grass length long enough. Warm season grasses, such as
Bermuda and zoysia can be cut shorter.
Spring lawn care tips ◊ 3/16/2008