[jackiec522]

hey guys, so it's winter here in NY and not much to do as far as lawn stuff, so I have been looking into a plan going in to the spring so that I don't forget everything and don't get confused lol. I just got started with lawn care this past fall so it's still new to me and I get stuck on what/when to start things.

I came across this link
https://www.turftrust.com/lawn-program-for-weeds.html

and they have annual lawn programs to follow. My front yard has about 40% weeds and my back yard has about 60% I figure March in NY is still too cold yet to start doing anything, so it might have to be pushed up a bit. Right? So just wanted your opinions if this sounds like a pretty good plan. Thanks in advance!!

 

[jessehurlburt]

Hey Jackie-

Welcome! This place is awesome with a ton of knowledge. G-man has put together an awesome thread that will help get started.

http://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1595

If you're willing to do everything in that plan I'd say you're aiming for at least a Tier 2 Lawn.
With that presumption, start with a soil test in the spring to figure out where you're at ph wise. Magi-cal has two variants- one for acidic and one for alkaline soils. The ph test will tell you what you need. You can also use limestone if you have acidic soil.

Definitely a pre-emergent in the spring, timed right to control most of your weeds. Any weeds left you can go after more aggressively in prep for an overseed in the fall.

Check out gman's thread above.

Jesse

 

[bernstem]

That is a reasonable plan, though it looks a bit heavy on the weed control. Depending on your weed pressure and what weeds you are dealing with, you may not need that many applications. They also space them out at one month intervals. Many herbicides have better control at two week application intervals (though you should always read the label as there are a lot of different formulations).

As for fertilizer, I would weight it a bit more towards the fall. I like the organics in the spring/summer, but would limit synthetics to one application in the spring.

As a final parting thought, there is a lot of information to absorb. You might be better served breaking the lawn care down into its separate parts. Watering and mowing is one. Proper fertilization is two. Weed control (pre and post emergent) is three. Disease prevention and control is four. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, is management of the soil. If you look at each aspect separately, it may be easier to get an overall feel for what you need to do. My last piece of advice would be to not follow a strict schedule. When you start it helps to have a schedule, but ultimately you will need to look at the lawn and respond to what it needs when it needs it.