The path to a well maintained, healthy lawn requires a year-round focus. Hall | Stewart Lawn + Landscape is a local, professional company that provides responsible lawn care programs tailored to the specific needs of clients.
Winter
Apply a Pre-emergent - For the best lawn this summer it is critical you put a pre-emergent herbicide on your lawn before soil temperatures reach 55 degrees, which typically occurs in early March in central Oklahoma. Preventing weeds is much easier than controlling them later. Once summer weeds take residence in your lawn, harsher herbicides that often cause turf damage will be required to have a weed-free lawn.
Test Your Soil - If your lawn did not respond as well as expected last summer to fertilizer, you may have a soil problem. It is a good idea to have your soil tested every three years to ensure the soil will continue to give you the lawn you desire. Gather about two cups of soil from random areas around the lawn, place it in a plastic zip-lock bag, and take it to your local Oklahoma County Extension Center for analysis.
Spring
Start Mowing - As soon as the weather starts to warm, but before the lawn greens up, cut your lawn for the first time. You don’t have to cut it so low that you can see the dirt, but you do need to cut it low enough to remove all the dormant leaf blades from the winter. My rule of thumb is to cut it a little lower than I will start mowing once the lawn starts growing.
Apply a Second Pre-emergent – Six to eight weeks after putting your first pre-emergent on the lawn apply a second one for season lawn prevention of summer annual weeds. Routine activity, such as mowing and playing, heavy rains, all break down the barrier created with the first pre-emergent. The second pre-emergent is a key step in providing your lawn a season-long barrier to annual weeds.
Summer
Watering – Develop the practice of watering based only on need. Anytime we go a week without receiving 1” of rainfall, water. When you walk on the lawn, if the grass doesn’t spring back, your lawn needs water. Deep soakings are always better than short, frequent watering. Shallow, frequent watering results in lawns with fewer roots and more dependent on water.
Aeration – The best thing you can do for your lawn! Aeration reduces soil compaction, promotes root development, and thickens the turf. For Bermuda lawns, early summer is the best time to aerate. For fescue, wait until the fall.
Fall
Apply Pre-emergent Herbicides Twice – The goal is to prevent weeds that will be a nuisance all winter. Annual bluegrass, which germinates in the fall, has become tougher and tougher to prevent. The best way to have a clean lawn through the fall and winter is to apply a pre-emergent between late August and the end of September, followed by a second application in October or November.
Overseed – If you have fescue, or if you have areas of your lawn that have become too shady to support thick Bermuda, September through October is the best time to seed fescue. The key is selecting a good fescue blend for our area, achieving good seed to soil contact by aerating or raking, and keeping the seeded area tacky moist until the seed germinates, usually 10-14 days.
If you would like to learn more about Hall | Stewart or have questions about your lawn, visit HallStewart.com or call (405)367-3873.