Applying Spring Pre-Emergent Fertilizer for Weed Prevention

Mar 01, 2023
Applying Spring Pre-Emergent Fertilizer for Weed Prevention

Even during the bitter cold of winter and early spring, weeds never sleep. Like ninjas in the grass, they are quietly plotting their return to unwelcome, unsightly invasion of your lawn and garden.

As any veteran gardener and landscaper will tell you, it’s never too early to begin the fight against invasive weeds and grass. But when should you? And with what weed eliminator?

One of the most trusted weapons landscapers and gardeners turn to prepare lawns and gardens for a weed-free spring is Pre-Emergent Fertilizer.

Stop weeds before they get a foothold by applying pre-emergent herbicide at the right time.

What Is Pre-Emergent Fertilizer (PEF)?

Its name is deceiving. Pre-Emergent Fertilizer is not a fertilizer but a herbicide that assists in preventing weed seeds from germinating by blocking an essential enzyme. Instead of killing weeds, they stop them from sprouting in the first place. But knowing when exactly to apply PEF is the key to stopping weeds and unwanted plants from appearing this spring.

When Is The Right Time To Apply Pre-Emergent Fertilizer?

Timing is everything. Apply too early and you may keep beneficial seeds from sprouting. Apply too late and PEF won’t have any impact.

Applying pre-emergent fertilizer from early to late April puts your lawn and garden in prime position to repel weeds and unwanted grasses. When soil temperatures top 55 degrees for a week dormant seeds begin to germinate. This prime application window enables pre-emergent herbicides to drastically reduce annual summer weeds like crabgrass, foxtail and sandbur (which germinates in late spring).

“Knowing when to apply a pre-emergent herbicide can mean the difference between having a lush, weed-free lawn or a yard riddled with dandelions and other unwanted plants,” Carlton Fletcher of The Albany (GA) Herald writes.

A Critical & Rewarding Application

A Pre-Emergent Fertilizer applied at the right time this spring can deliver a lawn and garden free of unwanted weeds, plants and grasses come summer. It also allows landscapers to use up to 50% less fertilizer. This is the most critical and most rewarding application of the year. It sets your lawn up for success and head-turning green beauty all spring and summer.

As Fletcher stresses, pre-emergent fertilizer prevents “spring and summer weeds.”

For more information on pre-emergent fertilizer application for your lawn, contact Creekside Turf Management for a free consultation.