What is pre-emergent and why should I consider it for my lawn?
Why is it important to have a landscape company apply my pre-emergent application?
Pre-emergent herbicides need a proper mixing and application ratio to ensure that your lawn is covered. Pre-emergent is water activated. It is important to make sure that after application, your irrigation is in check to water your lawn correctly.
When is the prime time to apply pre-emergent?
The window for application is a short window and dependent upon soil temperatures (typically between the last week of September and the first weeks of October & then again in the Spring).
Click HERE to sign up your lawn for a pre-emergent application.
Winter annual weeds begin to emerge when warm-season turfgrass begins to enter dormancy in the fall. Once the soil temperature drops below 70 degrees, tough cool-season weeds such as Poa Annua will germinate in our lawns. To protect your lawn, we recommend applying a quality granular pre-emergent herbicide to help prevent Poa Annua and many other cool-season turf weeds.
Annual winter weeds grow slowly throughout the winter and begin rapid growth when temperatures rise in the late winter. Winter weeds are unsightly and heavy infestations can be extremely damaging to warm-season turfgrasses during spring green-up. Weeds compete for sunlight, soil moisture, and plant nutrients during this time period. When winter weeds die, the warm-season turf grasses can be severely stunted or have large bare spots that can easily be infested by summer annual weeds such as crabgrass. That is why it is important to protect against these weeds using pre-emergent before weeds become a problem.
Why is it called pre-emergent?
Pre-emergent is targeted towards weeds that have not yet emerged from the soil, yet. For best results, weeds should not be visible above ground at the time of application which is why we encourage our customers to apply pre-emergent whether they see weeds or not.
Why should I apply pre-emergent and not just spray weed killer if weeds emerge?
Pre-emergents break the cycle of constant regrowth of new weeds. Many weed seeds remain viable for years after they are originally seen: pre-emergent is designed to kill the weed permanently.
Because the seed is allowed to germinate, and the young tender sprout is killed. The Pre-Emergent is activated in the top layer of soil, where the weed seeds sprout, and by design it stops the plant from growing. This is one key advantage over just putting down new soil or mulch to bury the seeds. Weed seeds remain viable many years, waiting for a chance to pop up.
