4 Steps to a Great Lawn

  

The Flower Bin Lawn Care program is built on the idea that regular fertilization, along with aeration and good mowing and watering practices, is key to maintaining a strong, healthy lawn. A healthy lawn is more likely to have fewer weeds and disease problems. The ferti•lome® brand of lawn and garden products is the mainstay of our program and includes four steps designed to keep your lawn healthy throughout the growing season.  

  

When you purchase all four bags of The Flower Bin Lawn Care program at once, you will save 20% of the cost of the program and you will continue to save 20% on every ferti•lome® product you purchase throughout the year, including a wide selection of garden fertilizers, insect and weed controls. Additionally, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you are applying the right product at the right time of the season, when it will benefit your lawn the most.  

  

The program begins with Step 1, ferti•lome’s® For All Seasons II fertilizer and weed preventer. One of the most effective ways to control weeds in your lawn is to prevent them from showing up in the first place and this product works to keep crabgrass and other weed seeds from germinating. Step 1 is applied between mid-March and mid-April.  

  

Step 2: ferti•lome’s® Weed-Out Plus Lawn Fertilizer. This product works to control weeds you can see. It’s called a post-emergent. This is the product to apply for dandelions, mallow, and other weeds you can see in your lawn. Weed-Out Plus also feeds your lawn and is applied mid-May to early June.   

  

Step 3: ferti•lome’s® Lawn Food Plus Iron. Applied in early August, right when your lawn needs nitrogen and iron the most.  

  

Step 4: ferti•lome’s® Winterizer. Applied in October, when your grass is storing up energy for the winter season ahead.  With ferti-lome Winterizer your lawn will green up faster the following spring.   

  

As a Flower Bin Lawn Care member, you can borrow one of our fertilizer spreaders at no charge. 

  

In-store lawn and garden diagnostics are also available at no charge. Stop by and let our Lawn Experts discuss how to make your lawn thicker, healthier and more weed and disease resistant this season.    

   

  

  

  

 

 

Now’s the Time to control Crabgrass

 

Crabgrass is a warm season annual weed. It appears in late spring and disappears after the first frost. It grows from seed deposited the previous season. These seeds will germinate once the soil temperatures reach 55°F to 60°F. Crabgrass and other weeds such as foxtails, cheat grass and annual bluegrass typically sprout in the spring, grow quickly, set seed and die out after the first fall frost. The seed lies dormant in your lawn and landscape until the next spring, then germinates when the soil is warm enough. Because they grow from seed, they can be controlled by applying a product called a pre-emergent. A pre-emergent works by suppressing seed germination.

A pre-emergent will not control established weeds such as quackgrass, field bindweed, spurge, tall fescue and others. It will control the seeds produced by these rooted weeds, but not the plant itself. To control rooted weeds, you need a post emergent product.  

 

Note. Do not apply a pre-emergent if you plan to seed or overseed your lawn this spring. Pre-emergents will prevent the grass seed from germinating. 

If you plan to aerate this spring, aerate first, apply then apply a pre-emergent. Once applied, the less you disturb a pre-emergent, the more effective it is. 

  

More on crabgrass. Crabgrass tends to grow flat (prostrate) to the ground. Crabgrass has a light, apple green color. Crabgrass appears in the spring and disappears after the first hard frost. 

If the weedy grass was there all winter, it's a perennial (probably Tall Fescue). There is no selective control for Tall Fescue. You can dig it out or use a non-selective herbicide, such as horticultural vinegar. Just be sure you target the weed and minimize contact with the adjacent grass. 

   

 

Pre-emergents are available in ferti•lome For All Seasons II. This product feeds your lawn and acts against any seed that may have wintered over in your grass.  

  

Organic-based pre-emergents are also available, in the form of corn gluten. Corn gluten products are very effective pre-emergents, controlling seeds before they have time to root. Corn gluten also supplies 9% Nitrogen to feed your lawn.  

 

Pre-emergents are also available without fertilizer. Examples of these products include Hi-Yield Turf & Ornamental Weed and Grass Stopper, which can be used on established cool and warm season lawns.  Hi-Yield Herbicide Granules, which is rated for flower gardens and around trees and shrubs.  

 

 

To work effectively, pre-emergents must be applied before the soil gets warm enough for seeds to start sprouting. Normally, that’s between late-March and mid-April. It’s also important to water the area after applying a pre-emergent product. This can be accomplished with a house or with natural moisture, such as a snowstorm.  

 

 

It’s also important to note that coarse fescue and other perennial broad leaf grasses are often mistakenly identified as crabgrass. Pre-emergents will not work on perennial grasses. If you’re uncertain, bring us a sample. We’ll identify it and help you determine the best solution to control it.