Lawn Care

[mcdrier]

So I need to do the following things to my lawn this (early) spring:

Fertilize with crabgrass preventer
Spray for creeping charlie
Aerate/de-thatch

Does it matter which order I do these things in?

If I had to guess, I would fertilize with / crabgrass preventer, and then aerate/de-thatch, and then spray for creeping charlie.

I have no idea....I think this thread is OK, and it will not be deleted by some un-named moderator.

 

[ISUAgronomist]

Aerate/de-thatch
Fertilize/Crabgrass preventer
Spray for creeping charlie

^^^This is the correct order

Fertilizer and herbicide would be removed/disturbed with the aerating/dethatching processes and reduce their efficacy. Creeping charlie needs to be actively growing to get adequate control so that's why it's last on the list.

 

[mcdrier]

Holy Cow, answered by an ISU Agronomist! Thanks so much....Do I need to wait between steps? Or can I do everything in one weekend? I have a small yard,it is not going to take very long to do each thing. I have a feeling I will be spraying for creeping charlie many time this season, so I can prolly guess that can be done later this spring. But can I aerate/de-thatch followed by fertilizing right away?

 

[ISUAgronomist]

Yeah no reason to wait between the first two. Just in that order.

Like you said, stay after the creeping charlie if you want to knock it out. Just keep beating it to death.

 

[ISUAlum2002]

Good stuff. Also, when is the best time to de-thatch? I've read that you should wait until the grass is doing well and is thick so that you don't pull out a bunch of good grass blades while scraping out the thatch, but if you wait for the lawn to green up, you've already wasted a bunch of time in getting fertilizer down.

 

[CyCrazy]

Spray for creeping charlie, lol

Stop lying Aggie

 

[ripvdub]

Does ground temp matter for 1st fertilization?

 

[ISUAgronomist]

The grass should be growing to have good recovery. I tend to use my mowing/fertilizer practices to avoid dethatching so am not the most experienced. Honestly, I'd focus on aeration, fertilizer and PRE herbicide and then dethatch when the grass is growing like crazy in the early fall. There's a good publication from Iowa State on thatch control. Google Search: Dethatch Iowa PM1756

 

[ISUAgronomist]

Spray for creeping charlie, lol

Stop lying Aggie

Just because you suck at it doesn't mean it cannot be done. :wink:

That's the purpose of repeat applications.

 

[cyclonebillski]

A little aeration never hurts. I don't need to but usually like to in he spring or fall and chuck a little seed down for good measure. Good luck on the reeling Charlie. Don't get lazy on it. Repeat apps are the key.

 

[CyArob]

What's the best Creeping Charlie killer? Thinking about spraying over the neighbor's fence....