Hey everybody it's Heath from DoMyOwn.com. Today we're gonna talk about prepping your lawn
and setting your lawn up for success with fall pre-emergent applications. We wanna make
sure that our pre-emergent is down prior to the soil temperature reaching that 70 degree mark.
The big thing is trying to stop winter weeds from coming in like poa annua. Poa annua goes
to seed at 70 degrees. And just keep in mind that the pre-emergent is there to stop weeds
from germinating. So if those weeds have already germinated it's too late. So it's very important
to put that pre-emergent down prior to those weeds coming up in the lawn. So when selecting a
pre-emergent for your fall applications, make sure it's labeled for your turf type first of all. And
second of all, make sure that it's labeled for the weeds you're trying to stop. With that being said,
we're gonna make sure we're applying that product at the proper amount. You want to make sure that
you're calibrating your spreader or sprayer so you're getting the proper amount of product down
over your yard. We've got videos online showing you how to calibrate your sprayer or spreader.
You can click those how-to videos and see those references there. One of the important things
you need to do prior to actually applying your pre-emergent is to make sure that you've removed
all the lawn debris. Make sure you've raked up any leaves or grass or anything like that prior
to putting that pre-emergent down. We want to make sure that the pre-emergent reaches the soil
and isn't trapped in thatch layers and that sort of thing. So when doing your fall pre-emergents,
it's important to do a split application. A split. application is going to give you longer control
over those weeds rather than just doing one single application. Along with that, when you've done
your first application, you want to follow up with your second pre-emergent application in about 4-6
weeks. Read the labels: some of them will tell you at least 6 weeks in between applications,
so it's real important to read those labels to make sure we know what we're doing.
Now if you've got a cool season turf, and you need to do an aeration and overseeding, you do not want
to apply a pre-emergent since the pre-emergents would stop those seeds from germinating.
For the cool season turf, let's say you just need to do a dethatching on your fescue lawn,
youve got a good stand of turf and you don't need to aerate and overseed, but you do want to remove
some of the dead areas out of the lawn. You can do that dethatching prior to actually applying your
first pre-emergent application or do it in between the pre-emergent applications for the fall. Apply
your pre-emergent first, then do your dethatching, then come back with your second pre-emergent
application 4-6 weeks later. But in addition to that, if you have a cool season lawn and don't
need to do an aeration and overseeding for that, the fall is a good time to put that pre-emergent.
And we want to apply that pre-emergent prior to the soil temperatures reaching 70 degrees. Another
factor is if you applied a spring pre-emergent. How long is that pre-emergent lasting? Did you
design it to wear off in August so you could do an aeration and overseeding but this year you don't
need to do an aeration and overseeding because your yard looks good. Well then, August would
be the time that you would wanna put down that pre-emergent to stop those weeds from coming in.
So in the Fall, tha'ts an important time to do a soil analysis. It's important to make sure we have
the proper pH as well as Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium to support the plant. After you've done
your soil analysis and you've gotten your feedback on what you need, you can find fertilizers with
pre-emergent blended into it. So if you have a cool season lawn that needs nitrogen, phosphorus,
and potassium, you can find pre-emergents with that analysis in them. Another good thing is for
warm season turf, if you need potassium... there's a lot of good fertilizers out there like 0-0-7
that is mixed with pre-emergent that you can use at the same time. If you're applying a granular
pre-emergent application, you can water that pre-em in right away. If you're doing a liquid
application, I want you to wait about 24 hours, let that pre-emergent dry on top of the surface
and then water it in the following morning. Make sure you're doing 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of
water to get a soaking and make sure that we've put that pre-emergent the soil. If you like
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Make sure to like this or leave a comment if you have any questions. Thanks again for watching!