It never fails, May and June comes, the nice weather arrives and our landscape clients start calling. They are outsides in their landscapes and they are hoping to renovate their lawns. Not only that, everyone in my area of New Milford seems to have spent last weekend seeding there lawns. The problem is, all their hard work will be paid off with less than desirable results. I can confidently say that even before the seed germinates. How you may ask? From past experience, of course. It’s unfortunate that so many think renovating a lawn in May and June is a good idea. The fact is, crabgrass also enjoys the warm weather. Once crabgrass starts germinating, seeding a lawn becomes futile. Crabgrass germinates faster than most turf grasses and grows quicker, quickly outcompeting any turf seed that germinates. Fall seems to be such a better time for lawn seeding than the spring. Crabgrass isn’t germinating, broadleaf weeds aren’t germinating, temperatures are more consisent and there usually aren’t those deluges that come with spring. Although we prefer fall renovations, we often renovate lawns in the spring because people don’t want to go through another summer with a thin lawn. The key to a successful spring lawn renovation is to get out there early. The perfect time is long before people start thinking about their landscapes. We remind our clients about fall renovations often though they never seem to listen to me. Because of that, we have seeded many lawns in Connecticut in early march with good results. So if you are waiting for the lilacs to bloom before doing your lawn renovations, it’s already too late.
