Hey everyone!
It’s the time of year where we are tired of dealing with snow and eagerly checking the forecast to see if we have any warmer weather coming. Some of the weirder folk out there, such as myself, will be sticking thermometers in the ground checking soil temperatures. Why do we do this? Well, to put it simply, when soil temperatures rise to a certain level, that’s the “alarm clock” for grass and vegetation to wake up. This is important information because if we can monitor and predict when things start growing, we can safely put down our pre-emergents to prevent any pesky weeds from germinating which will create problems 3-4-5 months down the road.
Typically spring pre-emergents will be put down a little before weeds start germinating. We know most weeds will start that germination process when your soil is around 55 degrees Fahrenheit, so dropping down your pre-emergents in that 45-55 degree soil temperature is ideal. It’s important to note that pre-emergents do nothing for you in the short run; you’re in it for the long haul. So your spring/late winter pre-emergents will help you out that Fall, and your Fall pre-emergents will help you that spring. Anything showing up in the meantime can be spot sprayed.
Types: Liquid vs Granular
To keep things simple, I recommend a liquid. A granular has a tendency to sit on top of grass and you really have to work it to water it in whereas a liquid will be much easier to water in. If someone were to tell me they’ve only ever used a granular and it’s always produced great results, more power to you (I actually prefer a granular fertilizer for a couple reasons that I’ll touch on in another post). I’m a big fan of, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, so even though I may prefer a liquid, you should always go with what’s working. My preferred pre-emergent comes as a granular, but get’s mixed in my sprayer and turns into a liquid so you can get some interesting products out there if you look around.
What’s best for me?
So here’s where things can get tricky. There are many different types of grass and pre-emergents so I”ll just focus on St. Louis specifically. We are in what’s called a transition zone for our grass types, meaning we get a lot of cold and a lot of heat. So what we need to have is a hardier grass that can handle these varying types of conditions. The two best grasses for this region are your Fescue’s and Kentucky Bluegrass. This means we want to be using a pre-emergent that won’t harm these grass types. I highly recommend you learn your lawn and do some grass identification before purchasing anything. For example, I have a Tall Fescue lawn and I know the particular weeds I battle in my own yard are primarily Silver Dollar with a bit of crabgrass and clover, so I will be using Prodiamine. This is safe for my grass type, works well with my particular weeds, and comes in a granular form which then is turned into a liquid for easy application.
Summary
The best thing you can do is learn your lawn. If you don’t know what grass/weeds you have, maybe skip the pre-emergents this Spring and simply apply it in the Fall when you have a better understanding of what’s going on in your lawn. Good looking lawns don’t happen overnight so don’t be worried about not knowing everything from the beginning; just be prepared to put in the effort to make mistakes and learn.
As always, you can reach me on one of our social media pages, email, or through our phone.
All the best,
The Grove Lawn Care