Early Spring Tips for Lawn Care

* It's a great idea to take stock of your lawn in early spring. During the winter, chemical changes may have altered your soil's pH, physical changes may have led to soil compaction, or biological compaction thus setting the stage for an invasion of weeds.  A casual stroll through the yard will help you identify these changes and deal with them in the weeks to come.
* Even if you can't see weeds in the early spring, they're in your lawn.  The seeds or young sprouts are just waiting for optimum condition to begin growth.  Keep in mind that both organic and synthetic herbicides used early in the season aim to prevent weed seeds from germinating in the first place, not destroy already up-and-growing weeds.  As a result, the timing of the application is critical.  You must apply pre-emergent herbicides before weeds appear, which is why early inspection is so important.  If the optimum application window is missed, you'll have to wait until later in the year (about midsummer) to apply a post emergent herbicide (which will destroy existing weeds) or wait until fall to apply the pre-emergent herbicide, which will destroy the seeds of the current year's weeds.