What's The First Thing You Put On A Lawn In The Spring

[@alandickson1629]

Brian is one of the smartest on the Lawn Web. He know his stuff. I've followed him for a long while and he is dead on on his info. Keep it going Brian.

[@chrisswenson8927]

Don’t put down pre-emergent down if you plan on planting grass seed. It will prevent your seed from germinating. Not sure why he wouldn’t mention that.

[@melvinmelgar4569]

Tenacity will not affect the seed to germinate. I don’t know why you didn’t know that.😂😂

[@ZupE891]

I split my per-emergent into two applications in the spring. I put first one down at 50degree soil temp (because some of my weeds germinate at lower temperatures than crabgrass at 55degrees) then I add the second application 2 months later so it goes into the beginning of summer a bit (in case its not a super hot start to the summer)

[@TurfMechanic]

an excellent plan for the committed lawn care enthusiast :D Hope you have a great year and let me know how things are going this spring

[@CodyM2012]

Cranking out the content the last few days, love it!

[@TurfMechanic]

So glad to hear that, two small videos a day has been an interesting experiment this week. I figured this series could be helpful for the newest viewers to lawn care this spring. Glad a lot of experienced lawn care hobbyists are enjoying them too!

[@ahastar1141]

I live in MN and this weird warm winter has definitely thrown off my timing for when to put things down. I put down a pre emergent in the fall to try to cover myself going into winter incase the spring was funky and I missed my window. As of right now I am glad I have something down, but weather wise it still looks like we are weeks away from needing to get the main pre emergent app down. I will say this, we really havent gotten much rain either, and I am taking that as a sign that its too early for anything despite the unseasonably warm temps. If I see some rain in the forecast, I might put down some biochar, but until then I am just hanging tight knowing I got something down last fall that should have me covered for another month or 2

[@TurfMechanic]

you are doing better than almost everybody having gotten PE down in the fall. You can't fight the weather after all. If you do go for biochar, consider aerating prior, same/day so a s much of the biochar gets into the holes as possible. No a deal breaker but it maximizes the application. Good luck Northern friend! :D

[@ahastar1141]

@@TurfMechanic I probably wouldn’t aerate since I don’t want to break my pre emergent barrier until I have a chance to get something else down. I may just wait until the lawn is firing before putting anything down. I did a healthy dose of carbon pro g down last fall as well, so really the lawn should be in good shape. Just waiting on my soil test to start working on my spoon feeding plan for the rest of the season. Really trying to dial things in this season so I can put down as little as possible and minimize my workload

[@cottydry]

It's my opinion that PH adjustments are a "must do" and can have the greatest impact. If you throw on fertilizer without getting PH in the "sweet spot" it'll have minimal impact. However if the get PH in the proper range than you'll find the turf will utilize the fertilizer more efficiently. From now on I'll perform a PH test annually and in my case apply lime. Here in the PNW it's a constant battle keeping PH above 6. (the error I've been making in the past is indiscriminately applying fertilizer while ignoring PH.)

[@BigWesLawns]

Biochar increases Ph. Did you know plants adjust the Ph in the rhysosphere, and lime is a waste of money? You just create a crusty layer if the biology isnt breaking it down. Try Korean Natural Farming Fertilisers. My Ph balances itself, garden, lawn composters, all sitting around 6.7 I may apply gypsum in spring, but its a Sulfur product so it lowers Ph for a bit.

[@dannymartinez8522]

That's what I been thinking lately. If I'm not getting the most of my fertilizer so I'll be wasting money. I never changed the ph in yard and I'm hoping this making a big impact this year when I add sulfer. I don't have money to be throwing so I hope this works!

[@paulbaratta1566]

Totally agree - lime early to get it absorbed in for a proper PH level, especially with road and sidewalk salt and chemicals

[@mikemason746]

I live in the PNW, and my lawn is green already, but it is mostly moss not grass. Mossiest winter I can remember.

[@louf7178]

Thanks for the 55'F tip.

[@TurfMechanic]

you're welcome, good luck this season!

[@kennethrobinson5151]

Never used a pre-emergent,i have a 100 percent weed-free lawn. Hand picking and once in awhile spot spraying if any crab grass catches me off-guard

[@BrandonTran]

Same. I have my technique extra trim. No time for extra. I enjoy listening to different techniques though 😂

[@louf7178]

Tried it. Too many encroaching and blowing weeds.

[@scottleppard288]

So, I'm in northern New Hampshire. We have 4 seasons. Winter, winter is coming, winter is here, and 4 weeks of Fall. Can apply a 10-10-10 fertilizer when it gets to 65 degrees during the day and low temp around 30 degrees at night?

[@TurfMechanic]

Ohh man, I can't imagine living in that climate with the crazy short growing season. Short answer to your question is yes you can...but you probably should try to use something that is higher in nitrogen and lower in phosphorus. Anything around 20-5-10 is the sweet spot.

[@scottleppard288]

@@TurfMechanic You're the best thank you, brother!

[@justinwilliams3604]

Carbon G is the soil amendment I used.

[@delia5588]

I don’t know why figuring out how to care for my lawn is feeling so overwhelming. 😅 Im in Northern NJ. Looks like tomorrow will be a good day to put down my preemergent. So bought 3 (50lbs each) bags of Lesco 19-0-7. I’m sitting on a 1acre lot. I’d imagine 50-60% of it is grass. I do have a large mulched perimeter and a decent sized driveway. My yard is a strange shape, so I don’t even know how to go about measuring it. :( Wondering if I bought too much?? Do you find that liquid pre emergents and liquid fertilizers are more effective than the granules? Seems more cost effective going the liquid route.

[@louf7178]

What to do now that we have large temperature cycles/swings? In Ohio, we've been getting week-lasting substantial above-normal temperatures (50s-60s) and then week-lasting low temperatures (30s-40s). Currently the grass has greened, and trees are budding. I don't want to waste anything if it's going to just get washed out.

[@TurfMechanic]

just start mowing regularly, can't ever go wrong with that. When you feel like your Pre-emergent date is coming up then do that on the smartest day you can make work. The timing of everything will almost never be perfect in the real world so just use your intuition on applications.

[@gregoryc5989]

Thanks for the easy breakdown. love the content....

[@TurfMechanic]

Glad you like the simplicity. I'ts easy to make it all long-winded and complicated so I thought this week having a simple series up for the masses was a worthwhile project 😀

[@maggarlion]

I am going to have to skip preemergence this spring. I did a comprehensive spring seeding yesterday. I added mesotrione though. I will deal with the consequences.

[@TurfMechanic]

you'll be fine; two months of meso and then a possible late May herbicide, then possibly a late july quinclorac app (if you have crabgrass) and your Fall lawn will be stunning. :)

[@maggarlion]

@@TurfMechanic Thank you . I just couldn’t stand the sight of so many large patches of bare dirt in my yard. It’s the worst I have seen it. I called the extension service and they said it’s snow mold primarily caused by the fact that I didn’t add no fungicide in the fall. I had added last spring and didn’t think I needed to add more in the fall.

[@maggarlion]

@@TurfMechanic I am going to be incorporating mycorrhizae later this month when the seeds starts to germinate

[@houtexgirl]

New to the channel, looking to get rid of clover and other clumping weeds in St. Augustine.

[@TurfMechanic]

atrazine is a well known and frequently used weed killing in st augustine. It will kill clover and a variety of other weeds too. I can't buy this product as I'm in Cali but in some states where St Aug is frequently grown you can: shrsl.com/4g83w Love having new viewers here. Hopefully I can give you value this season even though I don't have St Aug in my lawn. :)

[@houtexgirl]

@@TurfMechanic thank you so much for the link. I am enjoying your content, you explain things well.

[@TurfMechanic]

thats the best feedback I can get; appreciate it!

[@DB1_2]

just moved into new development in central FL. I'm super lucky they put down Bahia everywhere! /s i hate it!!

[@TurfMechanic]

at least its drought tolerant 😜

[@Dan4052]

Another great video. I am learning a ton from you and finding the products you suggest to be very helpful; Cytogro, Fiesta, and Dr. Earth especially. I do have a question about pre-emergents; will they harm the microbial life in my soil that I am working so hard to build?. For this reason, my lawn is completely organic. Your thoughts? Thank you from zone 6 in Ohio.

[@TurfMechanic]

they won't substantially harm them but in the long run you'll find that pre-emergents become less and less necessary in years 3, 4, and 5 of an actively managed lawn. In my last lawn I didn't use them in the last year because I didn't have enough weed pressure. Most long time lawn care people only use them occasionally once they get their lawns really close to autopilot. In the beginning though a pre-emergent is better for the biology in your soil than blanket apps of weed killers.

[@Dan4052]

Thank you! Keep up the great work!

[@robertswift6101]

first thing i use in the northeast is lime

[@johnjrkean7008]

So wild ur making this video I was looking last night trying to research if theres a good product to actually apply law microbes .....I thought to myself I apply dirt boosters of all kinds but how do I know how many miceobes are in my soil would it help to add actual lawn microbes to breed n multiply?? Just a thought I had

[@TurfMechanic]

IMO if you are not applying chemicals very often or fungicides very often and you aren't letting your lawn get insanely dry then you probably have a ton of microbes in your lawn already. I've applied stuff like this before (4 years ago) but have long since decided it isn't necessary. What I did do last spring however was inoculate my front lawn with new strains of micchorizae. That IMO is a good option to improve the diversity of biology in your lawn. You can see the video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zne4YnZ4i69_sNk&t

[@johnjrkean7008]

@@TurfMechanic yes I saw tje product supercharge it's called it's a powder it introduces many different types of microbes I think I may buy it and apply ...cant hurt to apply it along with some chicken feed crumbles!

[@brianchristman5808]

Humid 12 , and Air 8

[@TurfMechanic]

Great options for soil building for sure

[@BigWesLawns]

I had temps just around 53°-54°f on friday in Belleville Ontario Canada. I finally took the leap on schedule to apply Mesotrione to my newly overseeded (last fall) Kentucky bluegrass lawn. It had a good sunny day and 4 solid hrs to set in before temps dropped to around 49°f. I know I pushed my luck, but my biology is awake & should uptake it. It rained all day yesterday and washed away the blue, and hopefully didn't mess up the application. Your thoughts?

[@TurfMechanic]

that's still pretty cold, I've never applied meso at that level and I know you got colder this weekend. Looks like you're back into mid 50's by Wed and then cold again with rain this coming week. My gut tells me it's still too cold for that app to have done much of anything but I could be mistaken; never researched mesotrione at that temp before. If it is working give it three weeks, around end of march and then consult your weather forecast, should be warmer by then. At least it shouldn't do anything bad to your grass,

[@territraynor6085]

Pre emergent

[@shangrilaladeda]

I can’t, I use penncross creeping bentgrass and most weed killers will kill my grass

[@TurfMechanic]

Yup, for nearly everyone this should be #1, not everyone but most

[@TurfMechanic]

There are a few options available to you, most likely option is dithiopyr per this KSU document. I've never cared for bentgrass but I do trust university publications like this blogs.k-state.edu/turf/preemergence-weed-control-in-bentgrass-putting-greens/

[@shangrilaladeda]

@@TurfMechanic thank you, I’m going to be pulling the weeds soon

[@TurfMechanic]

that of course is the best option for minor problems LOL

[@BenjaminT.Minkler]

sun

[@TurfMechanic]

Welcome Spring and longer days