While calendar spring is still 6 weeks away, due to unseasonably warm weather this year, it might already be time for action, so we wanted to quickly go over the most important steps to ensure a healthy lawn as it wakes up.
Pre-emergent Herbicide
Pre-emergents need to be applied before the weeds emerge as they inhibit the growth of weed roots, thus killing them. They are generally used in late fall (to control cold-season weeds) and in early spring (to control warm-season weeds), and if properly used significantly reduce the amount of weeds that have to be controlled with post-emergent herbicides. They have to be applied before the weeds emerge as otherwise they will be ineffective (generally before soil temperatures at 4” deep are consistently reaching 55 F).
Replenish Nutrients
Winter rains and lack of fertilization for the last few months likely depleted macro nutrients from your soil, which Bermuda really needs as there is no photosynthesis and it needs to rely on nutrients available to the root system to grow new green blades. We recommend a light coat of balanced, fast release fertilizer (1-1-1 NPK ratio, at 36 lbs / 1,000 sqft) to provide all the major nutrients to the soil, without doing an potentially harmful nitrogen push. If you are using 10-10-10, this translates to 3.6 lbs / 1,000 sqft; if you are using 15-15-15, this translates to 2.4 lbs / 1,000 sqft.
While this might seem like a small step, it really helps your Bermuda to have a great start of the season, and to green up a couple of weeks earlier. We generally recommend this step around the same time as of pre-emergent application.
Spring Scalping
Spring scalping is a critical step if you want a great Bermuda lawn. Coming out of winter, your lawn will be completely brown and covered with dormant Bermuda. If your last mow was at 2”, you now have close to 2” of dormant Bermuda above the ground (it will be a bit less than 2” as these dormant Bermuda leaves are not as “springy” as live green Bermuda so they will bend to be closer to ground). As new Bermuda leaves emerge or as these dormant leaves start to green up at the tips, if you simply keep cutting it at 2” again, you will simply uncover these brown stalks, and after each cut, you will have a mix of green and brown Bermuda for the whole season.
That is why we do a spring scalp at 50% of your intended Bermuda length (if you want 1.5” Bermuda, scalp it down to ¾”). If you are not using a reel mower, take your mower down, or ask your lawn service to make the first cut at the lowest setting the equipment can do (usually 1.5”). It might look ugly for a week, and you will likely get some scalp marks or even barren ground - that is completely fine; some golf courses intentionally cut away top ¼” of soil to ensure a proper scalp. Your Bermuda will be fine as at this point there is no photosynthesis, and all of its energy is coming from the root system.
Scalping is probably the only time you really want to pick up the clippings - they contain no nutrients, they will shade your lawn and absorb the moisture intended for Bermuda, and the first decent rain will turn them into a complete mess (those “tiger stripes” where all of your clippings bunch up into lines perpendicular to the slope of your lawn).
Scalping should generally be done when you see green Bermuda growth across your whole yard, often once daytime highs are consistently reaching 70 F.
You might also want to check out a blog post from our founder regarding his lawn waking up on February 9th (keep in mind his lawn usually wakes up a bit earlier than most): The Horrors of Bermuda Ownership
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