ST. LOUIS – Business is blooming at G.R. Robinson Seed, where their customers have been picking up product in preparation for the season.

Experts say step one is mowing the grass or giving it a good raking to clean any debris that was collected over the winter.

“That’ll kind of mow off any desiccation on the top of your lawn and just kind of even things out before you would then consider a fertilizer with a pre-emergent,” said Ben Kraemer, a turf grass specialist at G.R. Robinson Seed.

The soil temperature is critical as to when to get that pre-emergent applied. Once it’s sustained at about 55 degrees for five days, crabgrass will germinate. Kraemer says the soil temp currently is still a few degrees below the benchmark, but it can change quickly.

“We’re pretty much in the window now. Every year is different with our area. You know the weather can fluctuate wildly, but this is essentially the time to start thinking about it. At least gather your supplies and plot out a plan,” he said.

There are two different options. One is strictly a pre-emergent while the other gives you a buffer because it will control very small crabgrass.

“If you’re early, you’d want to go with the prodiamine product. And if you’re later, the dimension or dithiopyr will give you a little bit of post-emergent control.

Seeding in the fall is best, but if you choose to do that this spring, you can’t apply any pre-emergent. 

Spring seeding isn’t a bad idea if you have bare spots or a renovation situation.

“It’s going to probably look good in two to three weeks. But it’ll just be a juvenile when we get the high heat and humidity of June, July and August. Ideally, we’d like to see you get to a spot where you’re only seeding in the fall and your lawn is just thick enough in the spring that you don’t need any seed,” Kraemer said.

And finally, get your mower ready. Sharpen the blade and remember to mow high.

“Probably the number one mistake homeowners make in our area is mowing too low. The higher we mow, the deeper our roots will be and when you have deep roots a lot of good things happen,” he said.