Our 2024 College Station and Houston Lawn Care Schedule

Maintaining a green, healthy lawn in Texas requires some TLC throughout the year. From choosing the right type of grass to lawn care tips for each season, here’s our 2024 lawn care schedule for homeowners in College Station, Bryan, and NW Houston.  

Choosing the Best Type of Grass for Your Texas Lawn

In Texas, warm-season grasses like Bermuda, Zoysia, and St. Augustine grass are top choices. These grass types thrive in the Texas climate. The right lawn maintenance at the right time of year can result in a beautiful lawn and landscape. Warm-season grasses go through their peak growing season during summer into early fall before going into dormancy during the cool season. They do best in lawns with more sunlight areas and need proper mowing and watering to stay healthy and green throughout the summer.  

Spring Lawn Care

As spring blooms, it’s time to focus on preparing your lawn for the growing season. Start with lawn fertilization to give your grass the nutrients it needs. Weed control is equally important during this season to prevent unwanted pesky weeds. Additionally, aeration helps maintain a healthy, lush lawn throughout the rest of the year. 

Lawn Fertilization

In early spring, lawns will be waking up from winter dormancy. Applying spring fertilizer will help encourage healthy, even green-up in your lawn through spring.  

Weed Control

One of the most important parts of spring lawn care is weed control and weed prevention with pre-emergents. A pre-emergent herbicide is designed to prevent seasonal weeds from sprouting in the first place. Applying spring weed prevention will help control difficult summer weeds like crabgrass. Any lingering winter annual weeds like poa annua or dandelion can be targeted with a post-emergent weed killer. 

Aeration

Once the lawn has transitioned out of dormancy, it’s time for core aeration. This can be done once the lawn is actively growing, from late spring to early summer months. Core aeration pulls plugs of soil from the lawn, creating new space for the root systems to expand. Aeration is crucial to give your lawn a breath of fresh air before the summer growing season. It helps break down thatch build-up, alleviates compacted soil, and improves your lawn’s ability to absorb water, air, and important nutrients from lawn fertilization. 

Summer Lawn Care

The heat of Texas summers demands extra care for your lawn. Fertilization and weed control should continue to ensure your grass remains healthy and vibrant. Pest control measures are vital, alongside regular mowing and proper watering to prevent heat or drought stress on your grass. 

Watering

Summer lawn watering in Texas is crucial. Hot, dry days of summer can cause drought stress on your lawn and rainfall likely doesn’t provide enough hydration for your grass. Most types of grass need at least one inch of water per week during summer, minimum. If you notice footprints in your lawn when you walk through it, it’s thirsty and you’ll need to increase your watering schedule. Make sure to water early in the morning vs later in the day or evening. Midday watering results in evaporation from the sun before the grass can drink it in. Evening watering can encourage fungal issues from leaving the lawn moist overnight. Aggieland Green offers a “Stress Helper” lawn care service that will help improve your lawn’s resiliency during drought periods in Texas.  

Lawn Fertilization and Weed Control

Fertilizer and weed control are a continued effort during summer. Some common grassy weeds like nutsedge can’t be prevented with spring pre-emergents. Post-emergent weed killer during summer is the best way to keep weeds under control. Make sure to always water your grass after lawn fertilization to help work it into the soil and avoid heat stress on especially hot days.  

Mowing 

Proper mowing is a core building block to a healthy lawn and turf density. Follow a regular mowing schedule at the recommended height for your type of grass through summer. Depending on the growth rate of your lawn, you may need to mow as often as once a week during the peak growing season. Always follow the One-Third Rule to avoid stress on the grass blades. This rule of thumb is to never remove more than one-third of the grass blade in one cutting.  

Pest Control

Summer is when Texas lawns are thriving… and so are lawn pests! Keep an eye out for areas of concern that may be common lawn pests, such as chinch bugs or lawn grubs. Chinch bugs inject toxins into the grass blades causing brown patches and areas of seemingly dead grass. Grubs can be treated with a preventative insecticide in the late spring to early summer months to prevent larvae from hatching. Once hatched, they can be treated with a curative insecticide treatment.  

Fall Lawn Care

As the temperatures cool down, it’s time for another round of lawn fertilization and pre-emergents. Disease control and pest control are also crucial during this period to protect your lawn from potential harm. Fall is an important time of year for lawn maintenance to prepare your grass for the cool season!  

Lawn Fertilization

Fall fertilizer after a long, hot summer in Texas is like having a protein shake after a workout. It restores depleted nutrients in your lawn and also prepares the grass for winter dormancy. Fall fertilizers should include potassium to improve winter hardiness, protecting your grass during cold weather.  

Disease Control

During the fall, common lawn diseases may spike, especially for St. Augustine grass. Take-All-Root-Rot (TARR) and Large Patch/Brown Patch Fungus are common fungal diseases that can cause brown patches of grass to appear in your lawn. These can be treated with a fungicide to stop the spreading and your grass will naturally repair itself with time.  

Pest Control

Grubs become active in Texas lawns during the late summer and early fall months. White grubs are thick, c-shaped larvae that live just below the lawn’s surface, feeding on vital root systems. You can check for grub damage in your lawn by pulling up an affected area of grass. If the grass pulls up easily like a rug or carpet, grubs are hard at work! They can be eliminated with an insecticide if not prevented in spring. The fall armyworm is another issue that may pop up in early fall. They should be treated as soon as damage is noticed because they work fast. 

Weed Control

Just like in early spring, it’s time for another seasonal pre-emergent. Fall weed prevention is crucial to stopping bright green weeds from invading a dormant lawn during winter and spring. It’s the best way to stay ahead of weeds and maintain a healthy lawn throughout each season.  

Winter Lawn Care

Winter Dormancy

By late fall, lawns will start turning brown which is completely normal for warm-season grasses. This is just the grass transitioning into dormancy, which is like winter hibernation, so the grass is protected from harsh, cold temperatures. Sometimes, areas of your lawn will transition sooner than others, causing a strange pattern of stripes, squiggly lines, or a leopard pattern in your lawn. This is known as Unsynchronized Dormancy or “Jack Frost Trails” and it’s a common phenomenon, but no cause for concern! 

Soil Testing

Winter is also a great time of year to assess the health of your lawn’s soil. Soil testing is easy and can give you some insight into the pH level of your soil, as well as any nutrient deficiencies that you can address next year. Limestone can also be used during winter months to balance the soil’s pH. Healthy soil is the foundation for maintaining a healthy lawn. Send a soil sample to your local extension office for soil testing. Results normally take around 4-6 weeks.  

Winter Lawn Mower Maintenance

Before you store your lawn mower for the season, take some time to give it a little TLC, too. You can replace or sharpen mower blades, change spark plugs, and check oil levels. Your future self will thank you next year when the busy spring growing season begins!  

Trusted Lawn Care Services in College Station and NW Houston

For Texas homeowners in need of reliable, local lawn care, Aggieland Green is the team for the job! We have years of experience offering lawn care services in College Station, Bryan, and NW Houston, TX. Our services also include tree and shrub care, aeration, mosquito control, lawn pest control, and more. Aggieland Green is a local company with a passion for personalized customer service and we know what it takes for Texas lawns to stay happy and healthy year-round! Contact us today for a free quote.