Do you plan on putting seed down in the spring?

Have you put seed down in the past with no results?

Pre-emergent weed control and grass seed do not mix! If you didn’t get any results from your attempt to grass more grass there is a good chance that pre-emergent weed control stopped the grass seed from being able to germinate.

If you’d like more information on pre-emergent weed control and grass seed, keep reading!

commercial spreader fertilizing lawn

Tell Your Lawn Care Service Your Plan Sow Grass Seed

If you have a lawn care company applying weed control and fertilizer, then you may be wasting your money attempting to put down grass seed.

Here is why: During the first round, lawn applicators apply a pre-emergent weed control (crabgrass preventive). A crabgrass preventive is used to create a barrier in the soil to help prevent crabgrass. But along with preventing crabgrass it also prevents other grass from maturing. Also, sometimes weed control products don’t mix well with seeding times and young baby grass. The weed control product can prevent grass seed from establishing.

It is best to contact your lawn care company anytime you plan on planting your own grass no matter the time of the year.

So, what do you do about pre-emergent weed control and grass seed? You need to decide!

Option 1: Let your lawn care company know that you plan on putting down seed and inform them NOT to put down crabgrass preventive. The downfall to this option is you will most likely have crabgrass come summertime.

Option 2: Wait to put down seed until the fall. Let your lawn care company put down the crabgrass preventive and wait until the fall to put down the seed. Fall is the best time to sow seed. The soil is warmer, and your germination rate percentage will increase as compared to a spring seeding probably.

You can read more about seeding and pairing it with a core aeration here.

If you have questions about crabgrass preventer or grass seed and when to do it, please don’t hesitate to call Jim with Premier Lawn Services at 315-559-0727.