Get Your Pre-Emergent Down Early

For a pre-emergent on your lawn to be effective, you have to get it down BEFORE the weeds start to germinate. Timing this can be tricky. It can change each year depending on the soil temperature. Weeds don’t operate on a calendar. They start growing when the soil temperatures reach a certain point. For instance, crabgrass germinates in late winter or early spring each year when the soil temperature is between 55 and 65 degrees at a depth of 1 inch.

I think the most effective way to apply a pre-emergent is to split the application. This is when you apply half the rate early and the other half late. This protects your lawn for a longer period of time, giving you more bang for your buck. This also let’s you put down more product than you could with a single application. By splitting applications, we can protect your lawn protect from January through September, whereas with one application, your pre-emergent would most likely leach out by July or August. Keep in mind that the weather can have a significant impact on how quickly the pre-emergent leaches out.

When you put down all your pre-emergent in a single application, you also have to time it right. Too early and it will leach out too quickly. Too late and the weeds will germinate before you apply the pre-emergent , meaning you wasted your time and money. There are some products out there that both kill and prevent weeds, but timing is crucial to their effectiveness and they can get pretty expensive. The other option is tank mixing a weed killer in with the pre-emergent, but again these applications need to be applied at the right time and adding products, adds to the cost.

The biggest downside to splitting the application of pre-emergent is the extra time it takes. I certainly understand how valuable time is. That’s why we’re here to help. Give us a call at 901-476-8188 or simply CLICK HERE to get a free estimate. Let us help by taking one thing off your to-do list. I promise you won’t regret it.