Lawn Care in March

For those lawn nuts out there - what do you think you should be doing now in Virginia to have that green, lush lawn? Lucky for you - depending on the type of grass you have - there's not much!

If you have cool season grass, such as fescues, ryegrass, or kentucky bluegrass, the only thing you have to do now is put down pre-emergent weed preventer. When you see the Forsythias bloom, get to work. Corn gluten is a nice, organic alternative to traditional weed prevention, but it doesn't last that long, unfortunately. If you put corn gluten down too much, it will over-nitrogenize your lawn and possibly cause damage when the weather gets hot and dry. So, for longer lasting weed prevention, you can use the weed prevention chemicals you find at home and garden stores, BUT be smart about your application. Follow the directions explicitly and make sure to brush or blow granules back onto your lawn to prevent run-off into our water supply. Determine your lawn square footage by using good ol' geometry! Wait until fall to fertilize your lawn.

If you have warm season grass, such as zoysia or bermuda grass, you don't need to anything for another month or so, when the weather is warm and your grass starts to green-up. Late spring is a good time to fertilize warm season grasses.

As far as liming, make sure you need to lime first! I recommend that everyone get a soil test from their agricultural extension office every 3 - 4 years. A pH test will be performed to determine whether or not you even need lime. (Lime will make your soil more neutral if you have a highly acidic soil). If you do need lime, you can do it any time of the year. Your local garden center will have the pelletized lime you need (and the appropriate spreader).

In the fall, I will talk more about what else needs to be done for cool season grasses - its everything else - seeding, fertilizing, broad-leaf weed control, etc.

Good luck and happy gardening,

Holly