Spring has sprung!: The peepers (a type of frog) are peeping and the flowers are blooming – cherry trees, daffodils, crocus, hellebores and many more are visible on your spring lawn! And of course, the pollen count is off the charts for allergy sufferers. But, we’ll take it, as long as winter is finally over!
Be aware: there still may be a little cold weather to come, so don’t plant summer annuals or tender vegetable plants outside until after May 7th in most parts of Montgomery County and surrounding areas.
For plants that were damaged in winter, give them a chance to recover before you make any decisions to remove them. It makes sense to wait until mid or late-May to check for recovery and regrowth.
Weeds and more weeds: In early spring, lawn weeds such as bittercress, chickweed, henbit, and many other winter-annual weeds are in bloom from Germantown and Gaithersburg to Bethesda and Washington DC, and they are making seeds for next fall and spring. To reduce next year’s crop, try to stop those weeds from going to seed, if you can.
Crabgrass and Japanese stiltgrass have not germinated yet, so there’s still time to apply your pre-emergent to help control these invasive annual grasses, but do it soon.
If you are planning to use Corn Gluten as a “natural” pre-emergent, you should know that is has a very short residual of only a couple of weeks and is not considered an effective pre-emergent. But even more importantly, corn gluten contains up to 10% nitrogen fertilizer and if applied at rates of 20 to 30 pounds per 1,000 square feet, it violates the State of Maryland’s Fertilizer Laws.
Remember, mowing high, at 3” to 3.5” is one of the best ways to control weeds and crabgrass naturally.
Most of all, get outside and enjoy the spring weather!