TIMOTHY DALY: Preparing your lawn for the growing season

We are coming to the end of winter with springtime around the corner. Now is the time to prepare your lawn for the growing season. Its condition during this critical period will impact its quality throughout the rest of the year. The grass will be healthy and attractive throughout the season by taking several simple steps.

Warm-season lawns that include bermuda, zoysia, centipede and St. Augustine grasses will be brown until April when the warmer weather will cause them to start greening up. The process can take two to six weeks, depending on the weather conditions and cultivars of turfgrasses. Now is a good time to apply pre-emergent herbicides according to label directions to reduce summer weeds. Many brands, such as Scotts Halts and Hi-Yield Crabgrass Preventer, come in a granular form and are applied with a broadcast spreader. Most need to have an application of water to activate the herbicide. Do not apply weed-and-feed type fertilizers. Using the pre-emergent on warm-season grasses in the spring is not the time to put out fertilizer. The nitrogen content can cause the grass to come pre-maturely out of dormancy and be more susceptible to late-season freeze damage. Fertilize in late April or May after the grass has become green. Consider having your soil tested and applying fertilizer in the amounts recommended by the test results.