What We’re Noticing:

  • Yet another very mild winter.
    • There was a decent frost line this year though which should hopefully help control the Beetle Grub population.
    • The lack of winter moisture doesn’t translate much to lawns as snow moisture typically runs off frozen ground anyway.
    • The lack of snow cover could make for more winter kill (grass is beyond dormant and actually dead from freezing) but also means there’s likely no snow mold or vole damage over the winter.
  • With the weirdly warm February and March the air temperature count (GDD) indicates we’re quite advanced on lawn growth.
    • Soil temperatures have not indicated as advanced growth schedule.
    • The actual lawns (how the grass is coming out of dormancy) has not indicated as advanced growth schedule either.

What We’re Doing:

  • Today is our go day! We’re starting our first round of service which included crabgrass preventer, fertilizer to help bring turf out of dormancy, and broadleaf weed control to ensure our lawns are dandelion free. We typically take about 6 weeks to complete this first round. It’s our trickiest one as we’re continually skipping lawns that are too wet or leaf covered from last fall. Please let us know if yours is ready!
  • Coincidently today is our first Monthly Installment charge. Unless you prepay for service we charge six equal monthly payments (April-September). Lawn growth and needs are irregular and we may provide multiple services in one month or no services at all. To avoid irregular and confusing billing; we do six equal monthly payments totaling your total package cost. No invoice surprises for you and guaranteed results on your lawn.

What you can be doing:

  • Helping your lawn out of dormancy
    • Light raking to fluff up the grass and remove dead grass debris is preferred.
    • Many will dethatch this time of year for a cleaner appearance quicker. This is tough on your lawn this time of year and unnecessary as far as thatch layer goes. Your lawn will likely grow through it no problem with spring flush growth and good fertilizer.
    • Watering is generally unnecessary until the end of May. Spring moisture is typically plenty to utilize the fertilizer and support growth. You can water your lawn from frost to frost every year. Be care to not “spoil” you lawn with over-watering that won’t allow roots to grow deeply.
  • What if some areas don’t appear to be coming back or are bare?
    • In early spring your lawn always looks the thinnest – there hasn’t been any top growth since October! Be patient on “thin” areas.
    • If there’s grass that looks “dead” do know that we have many different types of grasses here in the West Metro and they all come out of dormancy at different times. Kentucky Bluegrass is the “warmest” cool season grass and typically comes out of dormancy latest (but will then look the best!). It is the most common type of grass here in MN.
    • If you think you’ll need seeding, let us know. We’ve switched to a pre-emergent that does not damage good grass seed; however, if you’ve seeded or want to seed, our broadleaf weed control and fertilizer can interfere with your seeding success if not timed correctly. Grass seed (especially that Kentucky Bluegrass) needs a lot of soil temperature to germinate and we’re nowhere near that now. Any grass seed put down now is just bird/chipmunk food. We typically seed between the middle or end of May.