This email will be full of tips from Indiana to Dallas, and a few updates as well, plenty to keep you busy at home so you can at least get out into the lawn and avoid cabin fever!

The first thing I want to do is run a couple of scenarios for you on the pre-emergent window as more and more of the country is starting to wake up.

Even if you are like my buddy Luke up in NW Indiana where he got snow just 4 days ago…

… I texted him today and he said it’s all gone and things are on the upward trend. So let’s just run the scenario there and see how things are looking for my friends in The Region.

Remember, you want to get your first application of prodiamine down as soil temps cross 50F heading to 55F. This way you are ahead of the crabgrass. (the majority of it)

See the current temp there at 56?

Some of you would think he is late - but he isn’t.

I just took this screenshot here at 3 PM so it’s going to be the peak heat of the day.

And this is one thing I want to clarify - we look at the 24-hour average soil temp to determine our target - not the “current.”

You can see his average for the last 24 hours is 47.2F which tells me he is def getting close to time to throw down but they that 5-day is still pretty low.

See how you can use those 3 data points to see a trend?

Now what we want to do is find the time when historically Crown Point crosses 50F headed to 55F.

So as history shows us sometime around mid-April is when we would normally want to get down our first app of prodiamine in Crown Point. If he ordered his prodiamine today, it would be to him by early next week and he could throw down.

Remember, it’s ok to throw down 10-12 days prior to your historical window opening.

In other words, those of you who live in NW Indiana, Chicagoland and across much of Michigan - it’s time to order, we are still shipping orders out daily via UPS. Get your prodiamine here.

What about Texas where we are already warm, too late?
I get this question a lot too. We are always adding new Lawn Care Nuts to the community and many of them get here just a little late and want to know “is it too late?”

Well, let’s look at an area pretty far south, Dallas, TX and see what those folks can or should be doing.

As you will remember, we do split applications for our pre-emergents. If you have not picked up my free pre-emergent guide, make sure you get it right here.

We do “split” applications of pre-emergent in spring which are designed to give us protection from crabgrass from spring into summer.

Crabgrass seeds are eligible to start germinating as soil temps are over 55F and they continue until soil temps get over 80F. That is the window.

We apply our first application as soil temps cross 50F heading to 55F and our second, about 45 days later as soil temps cross 65F heading to 70F.

Keep in mind, crabgrass seeds: they don’t ALL germinate at the opening of the window.

Some start early, others late. Some are buried shallow, others deeper. This is why we do 2 applications - one early and one a little later - like 2 coats of paint being better than just one.

So if you live in Dallas, and you did your first application, it’s time for you to start thinking about your second one any day now.

If you have NOT applied at all, it is NOT too late. All you have to do is order your prodiamine right now and apply the full rate in one single application.

So instead of 2 apps at 3 lbs/1,000 sq ft you get your prodiamine now and lay that down at 6 lbs/1,000 sq ft one time and water it all in.

Give it a good ½” of water.

You are a little late yes, but think about this: preventing 50% of the crabgrass invasion is better than preventing 0% of it.

In lawn care, there are no absolutes because we are at the mercy of the weather an that is always changing. Our job as DIYers in charge of a lawn is to follow best practices and from there, hope for the best.

If you live in Dallas or anywhere across that longitude, get your prodiamine and apply it at the full spring rate of 6 lbs/1,000 sq ft and get it watered in, and from there, hope for the best!

"Spraying and Praying"

I use that term often and I think people get confused by it sometimes. What I mean is that as a new DIY lawn care nut, you sometimes feel a sense of worry or concern after you apply something to the lawn. Will it work? Did I apply too much? Will it burn?

Don’t Miss This Video

And that is why we hope for the best after every application. But there is a fun way to spray that is foolproof and fun and works great for those of you with smaller lawns. I did a video on it this past weekend here:

I got a lot of questions after that and plan to do a followup video this coming weekend - so make sure you look for it.

Either way, it’s lots of fun to spray that way but it’s also got a bit of a learning curve just getting the thing to work. But its worth it, especially if you have a small lawn - you can spray and pray all day and your lawn will light up!

Bonus for Bottom Readers
Ha ha, I just called you a “Bottom Reader” but that is actually a compliment. I have great appreciation for those of you who read these emails from front to back and I always try to deliver value.

That said, here is an early bonus for you, I have created an app. Get it on Android or iOS.

It gives you real-time soil temp down to the level of your actual neighborhood, not just city and also has a useful journal function to track what you've thrown down!

Much much more coming - this is an early beta for your eyes only -- my team is already adding much more functionality that will be released over the coming weeks (stay tuned).

We also have some basic alerts in there to tell you what’s coming up… check it out:

Have a great rest of the week and I'll see you in the lawn!
-AL