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Turf Tips by Chris Karcher

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March Turf Tips

In an effort to promote a better lawn, homeowners have several things that should be accomplished during the month of March to set the tone for an entire season of either pleasant lawn care or a disastrous one.  Most of these things can be done even though the weather may be cool and the turf isn't actively growing.

  1. Complete Mower Maintenance:
    • Full engine tune up (by an authorized shop is best)
    • Oil change
    • Blade sharpening - purchase of 2nd blade recommended for ease of changing dull mower blades after 10 hours of use.
    • Cleaning of residual clipping materials left stuck underneath the mower deck.  Power clean with hose, let dry and spray with WD-40 (or similar) to help reduce accumulations.
  2. Light raking of the lawn to remove various tree debris; twigs, leaves, nuts etc.
  3. If turf was left too long over winter, lower your mower deck to 2" and bag the grass the first time to remove dead foliage and other debris.  This may also help remove some of the debris instead of raking.  Mowing slightly lower for the first time during the season will encourage a faster green-up by allowing more sunlight to the soil.  Make sure to raise your mower deck to 3 - 3.5" for cool season turf (2 - 2.75" for warm season turf) after this cutting.  Failure to do this will encourage more weed invasions from annual grassy weeds like crabgrass and actually stimulate turf to grow faster.  [Never remove more than 1/3 of the grass plant during NORMAL mowing.]
  4. Assess damage areas from the previous season, and consider if spring seeding will be needed to restore them.  Small areas (ie. Dinner plate size) should be left to fill in naturally during the growing season.  Large bare areas should be seeded now to establish germination properly.  NOTE: fall is the best time to seed your lawn, determine if you can wait until then for better results!  Seeded areas should receive an application of a starter type fertilizer to help aid in results.
  5. Apply a pre-emergent crabgrass fertilizer between March 1st and April 21st.  Determine if your lawn had problems with this annual weed last year and apply according to recommended label rates.  Shady lawns typically do not receive much competition from crabgrass so the need for that product may be unwarranted.  Crabgrass germination occurs when the soil temperatures reach 55 degrees for several consecutive days (soil temps not air temps).  Irrigate according to label recommendations to promote barrier formation.
  6. Apply dicot weed controls to infested areas once the air temperatures are consistently in the 50's and the weeds are beginning to grow, however slow that may be!  Avoid irrigation within 24 hours of your application for dicot weeds.
  7. Avoid power raking or "de-thatching" your lawn if it's in average condition.  This cultural treatment produces stress on the turf and is best left until fall for cool season lawns.

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Chris Karcher is a local franchise owner of NaturaLawn of America - the leader in organic-based lawn care and the only national service provider to promote Environmentally Responsible lawn care.  "Doing the right thing has never been this easy!"

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