NC Lawn Care Timetable help?

[pugnax5]

Hello. I enjoy this newsgroup and wanted to post a question. I live in Durham, NC and have about 1/3 lot on a corner. I am wondering if anyone can help me with a yearly lawn care plan. Very basic. Somthing that can help me add the right things to the lawn at the right times. I do know that I have some weeds that seem to come back every year. But the rest of the lawn has come together pretty well.

Any who, something like:

Feb/early march - add pre-emrgence weed killer and fertilizer June - add weed and feed August - etc. October - etc.

Just needed something I can refer to each year to know what to do and when to do it.

Thanks for any help!

-paul

[Warren]

Get rid of the perennial weeds with tap roots once. Then mow and water properly, and you may never need to use any fertilizers or herbicides.

Or if you want to make your lawn chemically addicted, last I checked Scotts will give you a timetable for your zip code. They'll tell you exactly when to spend more money to feed the addiction. Their "programs" aren't any easier, but they do a great job of separating you from your money.

Or dig out the perennial weeds. If there's just too many to pull, hit them with some Weed-B-Gone (or some Round-Up if you want to kill the grass around them, too.) Dethatch, aerate, add some compost top dressing, and overseed after the summer heat is done, and the fall rains can help you keep your water bill down. Then mow to the proper height, water the established lawn deeply, and infrequently (1-inch of water in a single application per week is typical), and your turf should do a good job of crowding-out the annual weeds. Fertilize only when soil tests, and other indicators show that specific fertilization is needed. Attack any weeds that make it through this process manually. Stop sending regular infusions of money to fertilizer and herbicide companies, and as a bonus, you don't have to worry about what your kids ingest when they play on the lawn, or what's running-off your lawn into the local watershed.

[fran]

My timetable - Winston-Salem, NC:

mid-March - pre-emergence weed & feed, done lightly. Dig out wild onions (scallions), dandelions, thistles. Be sure to get the roots.

April - Mid-sept - mow with mower set to 3", water if needed.

End of Aug/1st week of Sept - de-thatch, kill any undesireable plants like Bermuda Grass, etc. It can take two applications of Round-Up to kill Bermuda grass. It takes a while to show it's really gone. I usually wait two weeks between hits. If after two weeks, no green shows at the base of the plant, it's dead.

Late Sept (or two weeks after last attack on the Bermuda grass) - feed and seed. Water lightly if not getting enough rain. Do not put seed down after mid-October.

Mid-October to mid-March - clean up gardens, dream of spring.

HTH!