At the End of the Rainbow, the Grass is always Green. . . well at least you hope it is!
Outside, the frozen dew shimmers white across the lawn. The lights on the building struggle against the brightening sky, gradually giving up to the light of day. Now, the sun slowly peaks over the mountain warming the frozen dew to reveal the speckles of green, a lawn yearning for spring. Slowly the days become longer, gradually becoming warmer. We see the light at the end of the tunnel called winter. Spring is almost here!
We look out the window at what once was our thriving green lawn to see a mere shadow of what once was, now panic sets in. What do I do? Will it come back? The answer is YES!
Even though it is still cold outside, spring is right around the corner and one should begin thinking about the upcoming season, and how their lawn is to be managed. The most asked question is “When will my lawn be green again, and what do I need to do to get it there?”
Your lawn is in a state of dormancy over the winter, feeding off the carbohydrate reserves in the roots from the prior year’s lawn program. Even a healthy lawn still needs a spring pick-me-up. The area you live in and the types of grass species you have in your lawn will determine how quickly it will green up. Patience will be needed.
Spring fertilization and pre-emergent crabgrass control are a must in order to kick start your lawn’s grass growth and prevent any unwanted grassy weeds from germinating. Eichenlaub’s lawn care program’s first application consists of a fertilizer and crabgrass control done in a single application. A low dose of nitrogen fertilizer will be used to jump-start growth, but not too much growth that it makes the lawn susceptible to disease and insects. The second part of the first application is a pre-emergent crabgrass control. Why is a pre-emergent crabgrass application needed? It stops the crabgrass plant seeds from germinating. Crabgrass is a grass that will typically germinate by mid to late spring and likes to grow in voids, alongside walks edges, and anywhere you don’t have a good stand of grass growing. The only way to avoid this is a preventative treatment of crabgrass control.
In summary, to give your lawn the best start for the season, apply a pre-emergent crabgrass control to prevent unwanted grassy weed growth in weak areas of your lawn. Coupling that with a fertilizer application to encourage a faster green-up and growth to fill in the weak areas, you’ll be sure to start your lawn off in the right direction!