Answers from over 20 years of working Kansas soil.
A good time is after you mow your grass for the first time, around the middle of March. The key is getting it down before soil temperatures warm enough for crabgrass to germinate. Protected areas on the south side of brick buildings may need treatment earlier since soil temps are warmer there.
Barricade is a longer lasting pre-emergent — it only prevents germination. Dimension prevents germination but also kills very small crabgrass that has already sprouted. If you're late getting preventer down, Dimension is the better choice.
Spring is a poor time to overseed because crabgrass preventer stops all grass seed from germinating — not just weeds. If you overseed, your lawn can't be treated for crabgrass for 6 to 8 weeks. Fall is the best time for overseeding. Let us know before we apply preventer if you have areas that need seeding.
Both cause brown patches, but the test is simple: pull up on the grass. If it comes up like sod with dirt attached to the roots, that's grub damage. If the grass is firmly rooted but the blades are eaten down to the crown, that's armyworms. Armyworms do damage fast but usually don't kill the grass if treated quickly. At Windy Ridge, we use the best grub preventer on the market — one that also prevents armyworms. We haven't had armyworm damage on any of our lawns in over 10 years.
This is often a sign of soil pH imbalance rather than a lack of fertilizer. Kansas soils tend to run high pH, which prevents your lawn from efficiently using the nutrients we apply. We use Solu-Cal to correct pH over time. Core aeration speeds up the process.
Not necessarily. Last year's vegetation and leaves actually protect tender new shoots from late freezes. Knockout roses pruned too early can freeze back significantly if we get a hard late frost. We recommend patience — a week or two of waiting can save your plants real damage.
We serve the Wichita, Kansas area and surrounding counties including Sedgwick, Harvey, Reno, McPherson, and Marion counties.