Better to put it down early than late. No harm done if it goes down a little early. If Forsythia is blooming it's a good sign pre-emergent needs to be applied.

If any crabgrass germinated frost will kill it. Very unlikely that it did though.

Forsythia appears to be blooming around town, about a month early i'm told. Low to mid 40s all next week though. If I put it down this early, it may not get me through crabgrass season. Last year the barrier only lasted about 2 months.

Applying pre-emergent is definitely a short window each year, and with strange weather it can be even more difficult. We actually wrote a little bit on this last year at https://www.heritagelawnskc.com/blog/timing-your-lawn-weed-control-pre-emergent-applications/, and you are on the right track with taking the soil temperature. GreenCast is also a good source if you go to their website, hope this helps and have a great upcoming Spring!

j4c11, I"ve looked into Prodiamine but have no desire to use my spot sprayer to do 8,000 sq ft, did that once with Tenacity and wasn't worth the time and neck ache. I'm using straight Halts and that lasted about 2 months last year. The bag says 5,000 sq ft, yet, at the recommended spreader setting I use 1 bag for my 8,000 sq ft, so it may be going down a little light. Still working on a solution for a boom type sprayer I can pull with my daughters wagon, haha.

Heritage, thanks for the info. Didn't know that about the lilac which is perfect since my neighbor has one. That website is also a great tool. Thanks!

Yeah you can't do that with a spot sprayer. You would want to consider investing in a battery operated pump sprayer with a lawn that size. I bought the 4 gallon Chapin (https://www.amazon.com/Chapin-63985-4-Gallon-Battery-Backpack/dp/B00Q03MMDO) last year and it's been one of the best thing I ever bought, just slighly behind the SodaStream adapter for large CO2 tanks haha. It can do about 4,000 sq ft on one full tank with the largest nozzle at a brisk walking pace in about 10 minutes. I also use it to spray fungicides, PGR, FAS etc.

depends what region your in as well but your facts are correct. I live in lower ny area, but if your in doubt just apply an application early. then you can go ahead and apply one 3 weeks or so later it might be considered too soon for a double application but it has worked wonders for me. usually I do that to lawns that have a high rate of crabgrass potential. full sun, a lot of bedrock etc.. also keep in mind you cannot seed if applied, I'm pretty sure your aware of this. hope this helps.

I bought this tank last May, tore my achilles 2 days later so that project never got started.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KS6A02E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Had planned to rig this boom to it but was working on the math.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006Y850A2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That's awesome, might get one of those sprayers as well to pull behind the tractor, they're dirt cheap. Should work great with the boom.

I was actually considering buying that boom for my backpack sprayer but forgot all about it, thanks for posting it.

New to this forum. I also may have crabgrass issues. Zone 6 and have Trugreen service 7 times a year. Asked the guy applying if what I showed him was crabgrass and he didn't know and said he will ask the boss llol that never happened so I will post a couple pictures here. Much of the lawn is in very good shape - green and growing a bit already this year.

some areas have large patches of brown but it will soon green up and somewhat blend with the rest of the yard.

i need to get rid of it this year. I have just under 1 acre

@jfaul10

Welcome to the forum!

Hard to say for sure from a distance but that looks like Bermuda to me. If so, pre-emergent isn't going to help.

It's always best to start a new thread so that you don't end up hijacking someone else's.

J4c11

thanks for your reply

I believe you may be correct on the Bermuda suggestion after some google research on it. This would explain why the current lawn maintenance has not removed it. I will start a new thread if any more questions come up.