Many people ask, when is the best time to start a lawn care treatment program.

My first response is “now” or “immediately” as it is better to be on a treatment program than to not have a program at all.

Regardless of whether you are a do-it-yourselfer or you are using a professional lawn care service I recommend using a proven program.

Many people continue to probe and ask “yes but when is the ideal time” to start. When pushed my answer is during the fall season.

Of all the fertilizers we apply one of the most important applications is the fall fertilizer.

In addition to fertilizer, fall is also my favorite time to start weed control applications. By definition a weed is anything in your lawn or garden you don’t want.

So technically a flower is a weed if you don’t want it in your garden or lawn. As your lawn goes dormant in the fall you will notice green patches this is typically a grassy weed of some sort.

These weeds are harder to see in the summer as they blend in nicely.

Fescue is a good example of this. The key to removing grassy weeds is to properly identify them so you can use the appropriate product to control it.

Grassy weeds although not as alarming as some of your broadleaf weeds use the same moisture and nutrient source as your grass.

Therefore, it is an enemy to your lawn. If these weeds are properly identified and removed it helps your lawn stay healthy during the hot Texas heat when water and nutrients are scarce.

People usually don’ t notice a problem with their lawn until it is too late. As a professional lawn care company we must stay at least 3-4 months ahead of the weeds. Once you see a weed in many cases it is too late.

This typically happens in the spring or summer when people are outside more often and notice the unsightly weeds.

The solution is to use a harsher chemical that also affects your grass. Herbicides don’t kill grass (unless you use the wrong product on a certain grass type). However, it does set it back.

Herbicides kill weeds but they also set grass back. They typically don’t kill grass but herbicides do affect it.

Applying herbicide in the fall when your grass is going dormant the less you need to use in the spring when your grass is starving for nutrients and trying to come out of dormancy.

Remember thick healthy grass is my best ally in weed control. We are forced to apply the above process because people want their weeds gone NOW!

If you start your lawn program in the fall it also helps control weeds when your grass is going dormant, thus using less chemical in the spring, which allows the grass to come out of dormancy faster and healthier as it we don’t need to use stronger chemicals.

The results are fewer weeds for it to combat for food and moisture. We started this blog with how important the fall fertilizer is, always remember this; no fertilizer is better than too much fertilizer.

I’m not suggesting you don’t apply a fertilizer, as the right type of fertilizer applied in the correct amount is fantastic for your lawns health. However, too much fertilizer is bad and does more damage than no fertilizer at all.

Purple Care has the experienced team to help in dealing with all types of seasonal situations when it comes to your lawn care.