For Release March 21, 2000

AGRI-VIEWS
by Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent

It’s now officially spring so I guess it’s time to get busy in the yard and garden! Well, yes, there are some lawn and garden tasks that you need to start tending to, but before you get into a big hurry, let’s just review this novel concept of spring. Spring starts when the sun passes over the equator. From now until June 21 the days will be longer than the nights and the days will keep getting longer. That’s about all that spring means.

Our average last spring frost is the 16th of April, based on data the last 50 years. This means that half the time our last spring frost has been earlier than April 16th and half the time it’s been later. Our last spring frost has ranged from as early as March 18th to as late as May 14th. What are the odds that we have had our last spring frost? I’d say pretty slim. The ground is still fairly cool. It may be warmer than normal, but it’s still fairly cool! You are not behind schedule on doing most lawn and garden tasks, you are just beginning the season!

Lawns are really greening up and there are tasks to be done. If you did not fertilize at all last fall, try to apply a fertilizer treatment now. If you get too much later, or you try to apply a lot of fertilizer you’ll simply make a lot more mowing for yourself without really benefiting the grass. If you are using a crabgrass preventer with Barricade or Dimension then that now needs to be applied. If you are using any other crabgrass preventer, then you need to hold off until about the second week of April. A good rule of thumb is treat for crabgrass when the redbud trees start to come into full bloom. Then read your package of crabgrass preventer. Many products require a re-treatment six to eight weeks after the first treatment to obtain season long crabgrass protection.

We recommend treating for dandelions, and other broadleaf weeds, in the fall. Because last fall was so warm and dry, you may not have obtained good control of those weeds. If that’s the case then you can apply a treatment now. Either a granular or liquid treatment will work. Be sure to follow the label precautions regarding wind speed, temperature and buffer zones around sensitive plants. Sensitive plants will include any broadleaf tree, shrub or plant you don’t want to kill, but I also recommend staying away from Blue Spruce trees with broadleaf weed killers. Long term damage to spruce trees can occur from many broadleaf weed control products.

If you want to reseed or overseed you can start that anytime, although I prefer the first week of April. Avoid crabgrass preventers or other weed killers as they will damage grass seedlings. The product Tupersan can be used with new grass seedings to control crabgrass. Don’t plant your grass seed too thick and keep it moist once it starts to germinate.

Gardeners are geared up and ready to go, but to be right honest it may be a little muddy yet to get much garden work done. Take this time to collect soil samples for analysis, and then once it dries down you can till your garden and start planting. Late March is a good time for planting potatoes and peas, radishes, turnips, beets, lettuce, endive, spinach and all the cole crops like cabbage and broccoli. April is the preferred time for collards, chard, carrots and onions. The ever popular vine crops, tomatoes and peppers need to wait for the warmer weather of mid May.

The lack of a real winter probably has everyone’s internal calendar a little messed up. It seems like maybe we should be further along with spring, but we can’t ignore the fact that we could still have winter. Keep telling yourself that it’s only early spring and act accordingly!

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