Thursday, September 11, 2014

Pre-emergent Update

At this time of year you should raise your mowing height to between 2-2 1/2 inches to prepare your lawn for winter dormancy. Allowing your lawn to go dormant at a higher height will protect roots and crowns from freezes, frosts, and will chill. Scalping the grass or keeping it at a low height over the winter will expose the roots to the colder weather. This will increase the possibility of winter damage. 
We are currently applying pre-emergent to Bermuda and Zoysia lawns. Pre- emergent weed control is designed to stop the germination of many winter annual weeds. We use a liquid pre-emergent because this is the most effective way to establish a solid protective barrier on your lawn to prevent the winter weeds. We do this process twice in the fall to your Bermuda and Zoysia lawn.
There are several things that will prevent the pre-emergent from lasting to its optimum capability. A few of these are thin areas of grass, heavily compacted soil, excessive surface moisture, and turf mowed very low over the winter will cause the pre-emergent to break down much faster. So if any of these conditions
exist in your lawn, expect to see some weed activity over the winter. We can control the weeds that come through
the pre-emergent barrier, but it is always better to prevent them. 
There are several common weeds you may see over the next few months , and these are some of the many weeds we will be targeting. Poa Annua, chickweed, 
bittercress, henbit, and wild onion. Remember, a thicker and healthier lawn has a lower probability of having a high population of weed activity.




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