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A Brown Lawn Is Not Always a Bad Thing

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One of our Field Service Professionals, Brandon Ward, from the Opelika, AL area likes to send me pictures of great lawns and landscapes as well as those that could afford some improvements.  He recently sent me an e-mail with a picture attached and wrote, “I call this a pre-emergent success. It's one of the biggest residential properties we have, and it is spotless at the moment.” I was at a loss for why he would consider this lawn a success since the entire thing was brown.  Then I remembered that he was talking about a warm-season turf grass lawn in January, and that this location in the US should still be dormant. The reason he is so proud of the lawn is that it does not have any winter weeds, which would be green and very noticeable, detracting from the overall consistency of the lawn.  The turf variety in this lawn is Zoysia and it will probably begin coming out of dormancy in the next couple of weeks. The best part is that the turf will not have any competition from weeds as it starts greening up. good/bad lawn This does not mean that weeds cannot grow in this lawn. Weeds are opportunistic and will germinate wherever they can. Generally in a lawn as nice as this, the only place that weeds will most likely germinate is along the edges, next to driveways, sidewalks and landscape beds. There is less competition from the densely growing zoysia at those edges then in the middle of the lawn. If you live in the north and have cool-season grasses growing in your lawn, then the best time to apply a pre-emergent barrier for crabgrass and many other annual weeds is in early spring to early summer, depending on the soil temperature. In southern areas crabgrass has already begun to germinate at this time of year, so applying a pre-emergent barrier has to be completed in the late fall and winter. Winter annual weeds, or weeds that germinate in the cooler weather and die when it gets hot, are also active at this time of year. The grass may not be growing, but there are plenty of other plants, especially the unwanted weeds, that are taking advantage of the weather and looking for a place to grow. I hope you understand why Brandon is so proud of this lawn.  I am sure that as the weather warms up and the grass starts to green up, this lawn will be one of his best lawns.  Good job, Brandon. Are you unsure about the condition of your lawn? Let us know by either commenting below or asking your local Spring-Green.