# Do you guys think we will be off to an early start this spring due to warm weather?



## john5246 (Jul 21, 2019)

We've had some unusually warm weather. I think soil temps are going to be higher much sooner than normal. I expect 60-70 days in March. That's the way things are looking.

I'm already tired of this mild winter so looking forward to spring already.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

I once did the first mow on the last day of Feb. It could be even earlier this year. Of course, I didn't have to mow again for like 3 weeks after that.


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## john5246 (Jul 21, 2019)

Green said:


> I once did the first mow on the last day of Feb. It could be even earlier this year. Of course, I didn't have to mow again for like 3 weeks after that.


What year was that? Was that just a low mow to get all the dead stuff out of there? or was there growth?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

My lawn woke up after Christmas. It got warm enough to grow and green up.

But it got cold again. It is still early in the winter season and we can still get a polar vortex.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

Weather Channel was predicting a trough passing through the center of the country this week, with corresponding drop in temps. Also, my area is predicted to see the same trend and then temps bounce back this weekend. Feb is predicted to normalize with temps generally slightly below normal, and March/April has basically the same predictions, but a little warm up for early Feb, according to Accuweather. We're not out of the woods yet. Avg coldest temps are traditionally right about now (for my area).


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

john5246 said:


> Green said:
> 
> 
> > I once did the first mow on the last day of Feb. It could be even earlier this year. Of course, I didn't have to mow again for like 3 weeks after that.
> ...


A little of both (I almost always do a clean-up mow in late Winter/early Spring). I don't believe I lowered the height everywhere I cut that time, but did chop off mostly dead stuff everywhere I cut. I think it may have been 2017. If I have the opportunity again this year, and don't think it's going to get too cold in the week after, I'll do it again this year. But it needs to be dry first. Most likely, that initial mow in the front will be sometime between the last week in Feb. and third week in March, though. Also, it depends on when I can get the mower out from storage in the back yard. Even if it gets really cold, and is in the low 20s for highs for a couple of weeks in Feb., the warm-up following that will likely be faster (in terms of when soil temps consistently hit about 45 and stay there or rise) this year since it's been moderate for much longer than usual...consistently.


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## john5246 (Jul 21, 2019)

I hope this doesn't mean I have to put down prodaimine early


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

john5246 said:


> I hope this doesn't mean I have to put down prodaimine early


If you did, it would probably only be by a max of 2 weeks earlier than average. Keep an eye on the Forsythia in late March and early April. If you want to be early, get it down at the first sign of yellow. If you're only concerned about crabgrass, you can wait until full bloom.


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

I am predicting first mow in my area to be April 25th...


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Stuofsci02 said:


> I am predicting first mow in my area to be April 25th...


How does that compare to the average for your area? Mine was 4/11 last year, which was late. We had a delayed Spring.


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## Stuofsci02 (Sep 9, 2018)

Green said:


> Stuofsci02 said:
> 
> 
> > I am predicting first mow in my area to be April 25th...
> ...


Last year the first real mow was around the same time. I did mow about 10 days earlier on the dormant turf to cut off what had grown after my last mow in the fall, and I also finds this helps wake the grass up and give me an earlier greenup compared to my neighbors. Maybe it lets the sun down to the soil to warm up the ground faster, or maybe it is from the fall fert apps, but I find I am about 7-10 days faster to greenup then other houses on my street.


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## Vtx531 (Jul 1, 2019)

I hope so but it is still early. We can easily get a cold snap in Feb where the temp doesn't get out of the teens for two weeks straight. So far we have had high temps above freezing almost every day.


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## FuzzeWuzze (Aug 25, 2017)

Its been so warm here(usually is) that our lawns never really go yellow or dormant. Most really old lawns do, but you can tell the ones with more recent cultivars.

I already ran over my KBG reno with the manual reel mower.

We only saw one day of snow and it was barely a sprinkle, by far one of the warmest winter's we've had here in Oregon as well. That said its still very very wet.


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## davegravy (Jul 25, 2019)

If it continues to stay warm how does this affect me if I'm wanting to do a dormant overseed of a thin area?

I had read a study saying mid Feb gave the best results but I think that was under the context of normal weather.


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## Vtx531 (Jul 1, 2019)

Check this out: Timely article that just came into my inbox on Friday:

_Is our spring influenced by how much ice is on the Great Lakes in winter? Does the lack of ice this year point toward early flowers and green grass? Let's take a look._

https://www.mlive.com/weather/2020/01/will-flowers-bloom-grass-need-mowing-early-since-great-lakes-ice-cover-is-low.html?utm_source=am-newsletter&utm_medium=headline-link&utm_campaign=test&utm_content=headline


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## StarRaider (Jun 29, 2019)

First mow was yesterday for me.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

StarRaider said:


> First mow was yesterday for me.


That means about a month to go for me. You guys in TN are pretty consistently a month off from us.


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## Gilley11 (Nov 3, 2019)

It's February 4 and here in Charlotte it's going to be almost 70° today. Spraying down pre-m this weekend.


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## Captquin (Aug 22, 2019)

Same here in southeast Virginia. hi of 70 today with a low of 57. I would expect highs to consistently be in the mid 50s and lows in the low 40s going forward. Plan to put down prodiamine after work


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## StarRaider (Jun 29, 2019)

Seeing some forthysia blooming... Punxsutawney Phil may have this weather thing figured out.


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## estcstm3 (Sep 3, 2019)

FuzzeWuzze said:


> Its been so warm here(usually is) that our lawns never really go yellow or dormant. Most really old lawns do, but you can tell the ones with more recent cultivars.
> 
> I already ran over my KBG reno with the manual reel mower.
> 
> We only saw one day of snow and it was barely a sprinkle, by far one of the warmest winter's we've had here in Oregon as well. That said its still very very wet.


@FuzzeWuzze 
Why do old established lawns even if well mainted yellow out? But the newer yards cultivers seem to stay green longer through winter? My yard was driving me crazy


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## Creppin (Aug 28, 2018)

Tru green did half my neighborhood today... Western PA. Curious what they put down already...


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## john5246 (Jul 21, 2019)

I already noticed some of the grass is tarting to green up, something strange this year...


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Creppin said:


> Tru green did half my neighborhood today... Western PA. Curious what they put down already...


Pre-emergent and possibly fertilizer.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

estcstm3 said:


> FuzzeWuzze said:
> 
> 
> > Its been so warm here(usually is) that our lawns never really go yellow or dormant. Most really old lawns do, but you can tell the ones with more recent cultivars.
> ...


I've noticed the same thing. I believe this has to do with the young fall seedlings method of survival.
1. They are heavy feeders and continuously searching for food to metabolize it to survive (kind of like our new 6 mo. old kitten who inhales all of his food and shoves his head in the two older cats dishes to vacuum up their food).
2. Also, some of the newer cultivars may retain color better than older cultivars (but I think #1 is the primary reason).
I don't have scientific evidence to back this up, but always keep my eyes open for that opportunity.


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## Creppin (Aug 28, 2018)

Green said:


> Creppin said:
> 
> 
> > Tru green did half my neighborhood today... Western PA. Curious what they put down already...
> ...


I guess I was thinking it was too soon for the Pre-emergent. However, I guess earlier is better than later. I'll have to watch to see when the soil temperatures warm up. Last year that seemed to work well for me. I'll have to see what soil temperature that was... it's in the forums somewhere!


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## cldrunner (May 14, 2019)

This is what they put down.. Another post from thread today. Prodiamine + Fert.



jeffjunstrom said:


> Moved into a planned community last January, thought our one year complimentary Trugreen service was over by now. Came home today to find this. What is the effect at this temp? What are my options? My plan was to hit the lawn with prodiamine for a full 6 month app in about six weeks, so this feels super early to me.
> 
> [/quote


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Chris LI said:


> I've noticed the same thing. I believe this has to do with the young fall seedlings method of survival.
> 1. They are heavy feeders and continuously searching for food to metabolize it to survive (kind of like our new 6 mo. old kitten who inhales all of his food and shoves his head in the two older cats dishes to vacuum up their food).


They're definitely more Summer active and demanding of water and fertilizer than more established lawns, so it makes sense that's also the case in Winter. I've also read that one cold season is required for semi-maturity, so that must be the reason. As for the biological reasons, I have no idea.


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## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

The CPC sure is painting alot of red on the maps for above average temps this month.


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## jayteebee (Mar 26, 2019)

Pete1313 said:


> The CPC sure is painting alot of red on the maps for above average temps this month.


This is great news! I just checked the forecast and starting this Sunday, we don't drop below 60 for as far as I can see. Woo!


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## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

Saw plenty of buds on a row of Forsythia outside my office this morning.... we are getting close.


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