Time for spring maintenance chores. Here’s your checklist for North Texas landscapes

Have you ever taken a strong-willed dog out on a walk? It almost pulls you over as you hang onto the leash. That’s the way it is with gardeners going into the spring. We’re all anxious to show off our lawnkeeping skills, and it’s tough to slow down the enthusiasm until times are right.

Well, those times are right now. Air and soil temperatures have warmed. Grass is starting to green and grow on its own. It’s time to take advantage of the great weather ahead and get on with our spring maintenance chores.

Let’s begin with the weeds. If your lawn is plagued with clover, dandelions, dichondra, and other non-grassy invaders, spray them with a “broadleafed” weedkiller. Many contain 2,4-D as one of three ingredients. Some contain only 2,4-D. These are hormone-type herbicides that will cause distorted leaf and stem growth as the weeds die. They’re safe on any type of lawngrass but read and follow label directions carefully to avoid damage to nearby shrubs, trees and groundcovers.

Grassy weeds in the spring lawn are probably going to be primarily rescuegrass, annual ryegrass, or annual bluegrass (Poa annua). There is no post-emergent product to kill these without harming existing desirable turf. Your best bet is to put up with them until the heat kills them in a few weeks. Mow the lawn regularly to lessen the seed crop. Then apply pre-emergent herbicide granules the first week of September to prevent germination of next year’s crop.

Know the recommended mowing height for the type of grass that you have, then cut at that height all season long. Common bermudagrass should be maintained at 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inch. St. Augustine needs to be cut at 2-1/2 inches. Most fescues should be cut at 3 inches and buffalograss at 3-1/2 to 4 inches.

Alternate the direction in which you mow. That will prevent formation of a “grain” to the turf so it will stand upright as it’s being cut. You can even cut it on the diagonal. It gives a great look and it’s not much extra work. Bag the clippings and use them in the compost pile.

It’s finally time to fertilize your lawn. Hopefully you’ve had the soil tested by a reputable lab such as the one at Texas A&M. That will be the best way to monitor shifts in nitrogen (leaf and stem growth), phosphorus (roots, flowers, and fruit), and potassium (summer and winter hardiness).

Be warned, however, that there’s a curve ball brought on by our Texas clay soils. Phosphorus is notoriously slow to dissolve, and because of their microscopic particle sizes, clays tend to hold the phosphorus tightly. Excessive phosphorus affects the solubility of some of the critical trace elements, so things can go off track badly if you keep adding phosphorus. For that reason, the best fertilizers contain no phosphorus.

Ideally, 30% to 40% of a fertilizer’s nitrogen will be in encapsulated or coated, slow-release form for sustained feeding. Most will also contain a “trace elements package” to ensure that iron, sulfur, and other minerals needed by plants in very small amounts will be present.

It’s easiest to apply fertilizer granules with a rotary spreader. Put out half going east and west and the other half going north and south. That way you’ll cover the entire lawn twice, minimizing the chance of stripes from missed areas.

Fertilize St. Augustine and bermuda in early April, then again in early June. Bermuda should be fed again in early August and early October (four feedings per year). St. Augustine should not be fed during the hot summer months, so the third and final feeding should come in mid-September. That’s to avoid a summer disease known as gray leaf spot, a fungus that is exacerbated by applications of nitrogen when temperatures are high.

One other precaution for April involves a comparatively recent disease that has moved into our area. It’s known as take all root rot (TARR), and it attacks both St. Augustine and the various zoysias. The grass fails to green up uniformly as temperatures start to warm in mid-spring. You’ll see irregular sweeps or “washes” of yellowed grass within otherwise healthy, green turf. On closer inspection you’ll notice that the yellowed turf pulls loose easily from the soil. Its roots will be shortened and black (mostly dead), killed by the fungus.

For the first 20 years that we knew this disease was around, Texas A&M research plant pathologists recommended spreading a 1-inch layer of sphagnum peat moss over the infected area. The fungus is repressed by the acidic layer at the soil’s surface.

More recently, however, the fungicide Azoxystrobin has been shown to be effective at killing the patch funguses such as take all root rot, gray leaf spot, and even brown patch (also called large patch). TARR is a cool-season disease that will be less of a problem as temperatures climb by late May.

Finally, if you’re planning on starting new grass this year, you’re just about at that time. Sod trucks are pulling in daily. Try always to buy Texas-grown sod, and demand that your vendor sell you only grass that can be guaranteed to be free of nutsedge. Lay it out carefully on well-prepared, smooth soil and water it immediately after planting.

Common bermuda can be planted from seed, but wait until soils are warmer still, preferably May or early June. Many nurseries offer St. Augustine and zoysia in plugs in trays. Those can be planted now.

This story was originally published April 4, 2025 at 6:00 AM.