What's your north Texas Spring grass prep schedule look like. It looks like the spring warm weather/rain is on it's way and hopefully no more frost/freezing.



https://neilsperry.com/2023/02/pre-emergent-time-is-here-or-near/

Neil Sperry's newsletter from today says

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Timing is here to apply pre-emergent weedkiller granules in South Texas. Central and North Central Texas will come in a week or so, and North Texas a week or two after that. See related story this issue.

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Timing of the applications

This is the critical factor, and it's the most common place where gardeners mess us. You must have the timing right or you'll miss your chance.
Determine the average date of the last killing freeze for your area! You simply must have that date readily at hand.
Your first application of pre-emergent granules must be made 1-2 weeks prior to the average date of the last killing freeze for your county. Google that date and figure back two weeks and you'll have it.
Your second application (that "booster shot") must be made 90 days after the first treatment. So, if granules went down March 10 (as example), another round should go down on or near June 10.

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A hard freeze through the end of March or even early April is not uncommon, I have lost landscaping more than once over the years thinking they were over too early.

Coates said:

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I've tried forever, followed every 'expert' around.

Outsourcing this was the way to go. Yard looks awesome, no physical/mental investment, and the price isn't much more than DYI.

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Who do you use?

For starters - anything in your yard that's green right now is a weed. Kill it. For grassy weeds, use and Grass and Weed killer. Leafy weeds like henbit react best with a standard 2,4-D..

I like to scalp my yard around this time of year and will probably do it this weekend.

Pre-emergent goes down on on the dates he mentioned above.

Fertilizer should NOT go down until grass is actively growing. Otherwise, it gets washed right down the drain. Since I have St. Augustine, this is often not until end of April.

Type of fertilizer you need is dependent on type of soil and type of grass. Get testing done if needed. I use a 3-1-2 for my clay soil here in Tarrant County.

No way I outsource my yard. It's simple if you listen to someone knowledgeable like Neil Sperry.

I use GroGreen, 8 or 9 treatments a year.

I put pre emergent down this week. I do it twice a year. I have done this for a few years, and now all I have to do is some very minor hand picking of what does pop up.

Did pre emergent yesterday. What other time do you do it?

I must have missed the window because we had pre-emergent done last week and I have green all over the place. Oh well.

You do it in September for winter weeds. All the green weeds you see popping up right now germinated back then.

What you are doing pre-emergent for now is spring/summer stuff like dandelions that will pop up in the next month or two.

I did a good scalp mow yesterday as recommended. This cut down the winter weeds that have been popping up over the last few weeks. This should give the St. Augustine an equal chance when it starts coming back which is hopefully soon with the constant 60s/70s high over the next 2 weeks.

agchino said:

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You do it in September for winter weeds. All the green weeds you see popping up right now germinated back then.

What you are doing pre-emergent for now is spring/summer stuff like dandelions that will pop up in the next month or two.

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True and I didn't do pre-emergent back then.

I always forget in the fall. Last fall I straight just gave up because of the heat. My yard got wrecked last year

For winter weeds, you put that pre-emergent down the last week of August or very beginning of September. Neil recommends Gallery for that one

I'd be more than happy to answer any grass questions here. I make a living growing grass and killing weeds for quite a few people, businesses, golf courses, etc.

put down weed killer this weekend. when should i fertilize? this is for bermuda..

Fertilizer goes down when the lawn is visibly actively growing. I'd guess with how warm it's been, bermuda will be around MArch 20 - April 1.

My St. Augustine likely won't be until May 1.

You can put down fertilizer too early, but not really too late. Too early, it just gets washed down the drain.

The mix of fertilizer is going to be dependent on your soil. If you do not have the soil tested, use a complete fertilizer with a 3-1-2 ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (Examples: 15-5-10, 21-7-14,

Hincemm said:

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put down weed killer this weekend. when should i fertilize? this is for bermuda..

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What did you use for weed killer? I'm out here pulling by hand and pissed off

mAgnoliAg said:

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Hincemm said:

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put down weed killer this weekend. when should i fertilize? this is for bermuda..

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What did you use for weed killer? I'm out here pulling by hand and pissed off

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There are grassy and leafy weeds.

For leafy weeds - I always just spray a 2-4D weed killer. Of course, I've been spraying it all winter. This is henbit, cabbage weeds, dandelions, etc.

For grassy weeds, the preemergent should have gone down a couple of weeks ago. If you missed it, it's almost too late and not worth the expense now.

fc2112 said:

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mAgnoliAg said:

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Hincemm said:

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put down weed killer this weekend. when should i fertilize? this is for bermuda..

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What did you use for weed killer? I'm out here pulling by hand and pissed off

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There are grassy and leafy weeds.

For leafy weeds - I always just spray a 2-4D weed killer. Of course, I've been spraying it all winter. This is henbit, cabbage weeds, dandelions, etc.

For grassy weeds, the preemergent should have gone down a couple of weeks ago. If you missed it, it's almost too late and not worth the expense now.

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Missed it and I have all of them (leafy, grassy, you name it). Any of the companies (trugreen, etc) any good?

I use trugreen and it's about $500 per year on almost an acre. I would probably try one of the local outfits if I had it to over again.

Let me qualify that I have no idea what I'm doing.

Clover and dandelion are worst in my yard so I used the Ortho product tailored to those weeds that you connect to your hose.

Over the years of following Sperry's schedule I've eliminated all broadleafs and crabgrass from the st augustine. Poa annua still kicks my ass though.

mAgnoliAg said:

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fc2112 said:

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mAgnoliAg said:

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Hincemm said:

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put down weed killer this weekend. when should i fertilize? this is for bermuda..

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What did you use for weed killer? I'm out here pulling by hand and pissed off

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There are grassy and leafy weeds.

For leafy weeds - I always just spray a 2-4D weed killer. Of course, I've been spraying it all winter. This is henbit, cabbage weeds, dandelions, etc.

For grassy weeds, the preemergent should have gone down a couple of weeks ago. If you missed it, it's almost too late and not worth the expense now.

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Missed it and I have all of them (leafy, grassy, you name it). Any of the companies (trugreen, etc) any good?

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Try GroGreen, prices went up was $350 last year now $425 for 8 treatments. Pricey, but still compared to buying your own and the time you save its cheaper. And zero weeds, zero messing with yard, zero headaches. No brainer for me.

hoosier-daddy said:

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Over the years of following Sperry's schedule I've eliminated all broadleafs and crabgrass from the st augustine. Poa annua still kicks my ass though.

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This is me. Good, thick healthy St. Augustine will choke out all the weeds.

The preemergent supposedly kills the poa annua but I still have it creep in in the spring. Of course, it dies as soon as it gets hot.

I'll still get a few clumps of crabgrass sneak in to the area between my sidewalk and the street.

This is my first Spring with Bermuda. Anything different I need to do from St Augustine?

I've been a big Neil lawncare follower for 20 years and have had both bermuda and St Aug lawns. The only difference was the fertlizer schedule for St Aug - he has April 1/June 1/ Sept 1 for SA, whereas bermuda is April 1/June 1/Aug 1/Oct 1. Bermuda tends to be more heat and cold tolerant than SA, which I think is why he's a little more aggressive about fertilizing bermuda thru the peak of summer and not stopping as early in the fall.

For weedkiller, it is the same pre-emergents on the same timing. I only spot treat existing weeds, and TBH, I've never really had to treat weeds once I had his program going for a couple of years at the houses we owned. A healthy lawn and solid pre-emergent program keeps them out

What do you use for spot treatment?

Depends on the type of weed - broadleaf or grassy. Browdleaf is easier and something with 2,4-D hanfles it. Weed b Gon has been fine for me.

Grassy weeds are more trouble because the stuff that kills it best also kills your grass. I've honestly found that the healthy lawn approach is best for grassy weeds (fertilize, water, pre-emerge), and as needed, I'll just dig out spots. And with grassy, it depends on the type of grassy - for stuff like dallisgrass or Johnson grass that comes back from its roots, either digging it out or choking it out with a good lawn has always been best. I have also brushed (or carefully spot spray) RoundUp on it being careful not to damage the lawn around it much. You kill it, end up with a brown spot that may kill a little grass too, but the healthy lawn surrounding it takes over eventually

As a followup on grassy post-emergent weedkiller, my experience is that the stuff works sort of like chemo. It attempts to kill the weed, but in doing so, it's also going to take your grass to the brink of death. Then your hope is the weed dies while your lawn rebounds. But my experience is that ultimately both rebound. Hence just going straight to digging out or careful spot nuking with Roundup. But most importantly, fertilizing, pre-emergent, watering, and mowing regularly to grow a lush lawn that chokes that crap out and/or covers the spots you dug/RoundUp'd out.

My St. Augustine (and most neighbor's) is still not coming in full yet. There are still dormant patches across the yard. I'm hoping the warm weather this week will bring that out. Therefore, I think this weekend would be a good time for the 1st spring fertilizer?

Same here, most noticeable in areas that are getting shade. Grass in the wide open just popped these past 3 days. Yes put out your fertilizer. We have a good warm up coming after this "cool" front.

Scalp
Spray for broadleaf weeds

The rule is that your SA needs to be actively growing. I just have a little bit of patchy growth right now so I'm holding off a few weeks. There have been years past I've waited until May 1.