Why is a fall pre-emergent for your turf important for the health of your turf now and in the spring?

Why is a fall pre-emergent for your turf important for the health of your turf now and in the spring?

Getting your lawn in tip-top shape for Spring is best accomplished in the Fall. Temperature and precipitation levels in the Fall are ideal for bringing your lawn back to its full potential, including reestablishing full grass cover, revitalizing the soil, and increasing the lawn’s resistance to wear.

The top three lawn care treatments are:

● Fertilization Late in the Season
● Aeration
● Pre-Emergent Weed Control

The quality of your lawn in the Springtime can be much improved by your efforts to manage weeds in the Fall. If you employ pre-emergent weed control on your lawn before the Winter, you’ll get a far better result.

Importance of Pre-emergent weed control and Turf health
One of the best things for your lawn is to apply a pre-emergent treatment in the Fall. Your grass needs to be replenished between the Summer’s extreme heat and the Fall’s cooler temperatures so that it can survive the Winter and thrive in the Spring. Pre-emergent herbicides are a highly efficient, preventative technique of weed management, that keep pesky weeds from ever sprouting. These preventive measures help to stop the spread of invasive weeds like crabgrass.

Pre-emergent weed killers work by laying down a chemical barrier that kills only newly emerging weeds and leaves the established plants alone. Pre-emergents need to be applied early in the season to be effective because the protective barrier breaks down in six to eight weeks.

Once weed seeds have germinated, they can be challenging to eradicate. Preventing the germination of weeds in the Fall with a pre-emergent herbicide treatment can save you time and money in the Spring and throughout the rest of the year. Applying a pre-emergent herbicide is a good idea if you know you’ll be dealing with the same weeds in your yard every Spring.

Fall Fertilization
Fall fertilization allows the turf to produce significant levels of carbohydrates that they will need when photosynthesis slows during the Winter months. This store of carbs helps the plant in more ways than one. Early Spring nitrogen application boosts shoot growth but slows root development because it reduces the plant’s glucose supply. Nitrogen applied late in the season does not stunt root development as early treatments do and promotes growth between the middle of Winter and early Spring. A healthier, more stress-tolerant turfgrass is the result of improved carbohydrate storage and enhanced root growth which set the lawn up for success as Spring green up arrives. Your turf will have what it needs to put out new growth as the temperatures warm which means that your commercial property will look greener and more established quicker than neighboring properties.
Aeration
Aeration is performed manually or mechanically by extracting 2- to 3-inch long plugs of dirt at 3-inch intervals. By aerating the soil, you open up spaces for water, nutrients, and air to reach the roots of your plants. Typically, the plugs are left where they were pulled from the ground. Roots have more freedom to spread out and more access to nutrients when the soil’s volume is increased, resulting in robust growth that helps drown out most weeds naturally.

In summary, Fall pre-emergent, Fall fertilization, and aeration give your turfgrass what it needs to recover from the heat and drought of summer in order to survive the cold temperature of Winter and be ready to perform when the Spring green-up arrives. The landscape professionals at LMC are here to make sure your commercial landscaping looks good year-round with our turfgrass management programs.

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