12 Spring Lawn Care Tips for Dallas

In Dallas, preparing your lawn in spring to survive the blazing Texas summer is a challenge. However, following our 12-point spring lawn care checklist will help you grow a thriving lawn. 

What do you need to get started? Get a soil test, check your lawn mower, clean up your yard, and fertilize your grass. We’ve also included expert tips on getting your lawn mower ready for mowing season, which often starts around mid-February.  

1. Test Your Soil

You should test your lawn’s soil every 2 to 3 years in winter or spring to ensure your soil is ready to support robust root growth.

Dallas yards commonly have Blackland Prairie soils, an alkaline soil high in clay. By learning your soil’s properties and nutrient levels, you will be able to determine what soil amendments you need. 

You can have your soil tested by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. You just have to provide a soil sample from your yard and pay a fee.

See Related: 
— How to Use a Soil Test Kit
— How to Prepare a Soil Sample (4 Easy Steps)
— 9 Reasons Why Soil Testing is Important for the Lawn

2. Check Your Mowing Equipment

Here’s how to prep your lawn mower before the mowing season starts:

• Inspect mowing equipment. Check the mowing deck for rust or winter damage.
• Sharpen mower blades. Learn how in our guide on how to sharpen your mower blades.
• Clean your mower. Remember to clean the mowing deck.
• Install new spark plugs if you removed them for the winter. Replace the spark plugs with new ones if they are damaged or old.
• Replace or clean the air filter. Foam air filters can be cleaned with water. Paper air filters need to be cleaned or replaced.

If you do nothing else, make sure your blades are sharp before the season starts.

“The most important aspect of mower maintenance is sharpening the blades,” says Jay Caddel, extension agent for Tarrant County at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. “Dull blades crush the grass blades rather than cutting them, which slows the recovery time for the grass.  This also increases the susceptibility to disease and pests.”

“We usually suggest that a homeowner has two sets of mower blades, one to use and the other sharpened to be switched out in the future,” he says.

Pro Tip: Mower maintenance can take valuable time out of your weekend, so consider having your mower serviced by a company or small engine repair shop instead. But make your appointment early; spots fill up quickly in spring.

See Related: 
— How Often Should You Sharpen Lawn Mower Blades?
— DIY Lawn Mower Maintenance Guide

3. Inspect Your Irrigation System

During the cold winter months — yes, it does get cold in Dallas — freezing temperatures can cause broken lines or leaks in your pipes, so inspect your sprinkler system for winter damage before the grass starts growing. 

Don’t forget to test the output rate of your sprinkler system to ensure it isn’t underwatering or overwatering your lawn.

See Related:
— 10 Signs You’re Overwatering Your Lawn  

4. Clean Up Your Yard

Spring cleaning isn’t just for inside your house; it’s good for the outdoors, too. To start the spring lawn care season off right, clear your yard of debris, including:

• Branches
• Dead plants
• Leaves
• Pine needles
• Rocks
• Twigs
• Pet waste

5. Control Weeds

Most pre-emergent herbicides should be applied when the soil temperature reaches 50 to 55 degrees, usually between mid-February and early March, before you see weeds in your yard.

Use pre-emergents in spring to prevent these common Dallas weeds:

• Grassy weeds (such as crabgrass and dallisgrass)
• Warm-season broadleaf weeds (such as dandelions or spurge)
• Sedges (such as nutsedge)

Established weeds can be removed with post-emergent herbicides or hand-pulling. Post-emergent herbicides should be applied for weeds that have already sprouted in your yard in the spring.

See Related:
— How to Apply Pre-Emergent Herbicides
— How to Apply Post-Emergent Herbicides to Your Lawn

6. Water Your Grass

Once your grass begins to green and grow again, it should receive 1 inch of water a week to keep it healthy and to encourage deep root growth.

The best time to water is in the early morning hours between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. (Starting on April 1, Dallas’s watering restrictions prohibit watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.) To conserve water and prevent runoff on clay soils, use the cycle and soak method to irrigate your lawn.

Don’t irrigate when your grass is still dormant in the first weeks of spring. Wait until your grass starts actively growing. Otherwise, you risk overwatering, which can cause lawn diseases such as large patch or take-all root rot.

See Related: 
— 7 Lawn Watering Tips for Dallas
— 8 Signs Your Lawn Needs Watering

7. Begin Mowing

Mow every other week once the growing season starts in March or April after your grass emerges from dormancy. After about 2 mows, start mowing weekly.

Specific start dates for the mowing season vary depending on the weather and the type of turfgrass, so the rule of thumb is to start mowing after your lawn has greened up and shows obvious growth.

Type of Grass	Mowing Height	When to Start Mowing
Bermuda	1 to 2 inches	March: Mow once every other week. April: Mow weekly.
Centipede	1 to 2 inches	The primary mowing season starts in late April to May.
St. Augustine	2.5 to 3 inches	March: Mow once every other week.  April: Start mowing weekly, depending on the amount of rainfall.
Zoysia	1 to 2.5 inches	March: Mow once every other week. Mow low for the first mow of the season.  April: Mow weekly.

Follow the one-third mowing rule: Never trim off more than a third of your grass’s total height. This prevents scalping and protects the health of your grass.

Don’t have time to mow your lawn? Hire a LawnStarter Dallas lawn care pro for professional mowing services.

8. Overseed Your Lawn

Spring’s milder temperatures and frequent rainfall create good conditions for new grass to grow. Overseeding your Dallas lawn with warm-season grasses fills in bare spots and helps grass out-compete weed growth.

Overseed warm-season grasses in late spring once soil temperatures have reached 65 to 70 degrees once your lawn has greened up. 

Late spring is the best time to overseed, but the timing and method vary depending on the type of grass:

Type of Grass	When to Overseed
Bermuda	March to May
Centipede	March
Zoysia	May to June

If you want to install sod instead of planting seed, the best time to plant sod in Dallas is April or early May.

See Related:
— When to Overseed in Spring

9. Dethatch Your Yard

Thatch is the layer of organic matter between the soil and the base of grass blades. If the thatch layer in your yard is 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick or more, it’s time to dethatch your lawn. This helps prepare it for the summer heat by allowing better grass growth and improving temperature regulation, since thatch buildup can increase soil temperatures and stress the grass.

Type of Grass	When to Dethatch
Bermuda	April or May
Centipede	April
St. Augustine	April or May
Zoysia	May

St. Augustinegrass and Bermudagrass are Dallas grass types that grow well in North Texas, but they are prone to developing thatch quickly. You may need to dethatch your yard more than once a year if you have these grass types, especially if you fertilize often.

See Related:
— 5 Signs Your Lawn Has Too Much Thatch
— When to Dethatch Your Lawn

10. Aerate Your Lawn

Aerate your lawn to alleviate compacted soil. This allows soil to access nutrients, air, and water that nurture plant growth. The best time to aerate in Dallas is between mid-April and mid-May.

Clay soil, a common soil type in Dallas, is especially prone to compaction. For a healthy yard, it’s best to aerate once or twice a year, especially if you have clay or Blackland Prairie soils.

See Related:
— When to Aerate Lawns in Texas
— Why You Should Aerate Your Lawn

11. Manage Pests

Chinch bugs are most commonly found in St. Augustinegrass. They also infest Bermudagrass and Zoysiagrass. To deal effectively with this lawn pest, treat chinch bugs with insecticide as soon as you have confirmed they are the source of lawn damage. Dethatching is another good way to manage small populations and prevent chinch bugs in the future.

Fire ants begin to forage in the spring when temperatures rise, so spring is a good time to start fire ant control. The best way to treat ants is with the Texas two-step method:

1. Broadcast granular fire ant bait.
2. Treat individual ant mounds directly.

Keep an eye out for these other common Dallas pests that you may need to treat in the spring:

• Armyworms
• Caterpillars
• Grasshoppers
• Mosquitoes

If you’re unsure what pest you are dealing with, get help identifying your pests at the Dallas County and surrounding area Extension offices.

See Related: 
— 11 Lawn Pests and How to Get Rid of Them
— How to Get Rid of Armyworms on the Lawn

12. Fertilize Your Lawn

Fertilizer for Dallas warm-season lawns should be applied about 3 weeks after the grass turns green. You should have mowed your lawn 2 or 3 times before you fertilize. 

The recommended date for a nitrogen application in Dallas is May 1, preferably when local temperatures consistently reach 80 degrees. 

Nitrogen bolsters the health of your grass and prepares it for the summer months. Apply 1 or 2 nitrogen applications during the spring growing season, and make sure to space applications apart by 4-8 weeks. Apply only 0.5 to 1 pound of nitrogen fertilizer per 1,000 square feet at a time.

Do not fertilize centipedegrass with nitrogen in the spring. Centipedegrass typically needs iron supplements, so if it looks yellow, fertilize it with iron instead.

See Related:
— When to Fertilize Lawns in Texas
— 6 Different Nitrogen Sources for the Lawn

Make Lawn Care Easy: Hire a Dallas Lawn Care Pro

Start your Dallas lawn off on the right foot this growing season with timely mowing, watering, fertilizing, and other good lawn care practices. 

That takes time – which you may not have. If you are tired of caring for your warm-season grass, our Dallas-area lawn care pros can handle all your mowing and lawn care chores, from leaf removal to lawn fertilization. 

LawnStarter’s Dallas lawn care services are also available across the DFW area, including Irving, Arlington, Richardson, and Plano. With our app, booking LawnStarter’s lawn care and landscaping services is only a few taps away. 

Read Next:
— How to Ensure Your Dallas Lawn Survives the Summer Heat
— Guide to Fall Lawn Care in Dallas
— Winter Lawn Care Guide for Dallas

Main Image: Lawn mowed by a LawnStarter pro in Dallas, Texas. Photo Illustration by Amy Stenglein / LawnStarter

Editor’s Note: Writer Danielle Gorski lives in Denton, Texas, which is just north of Dallas in DFW. Editor Jeff Herman has lived in Dallas near Love Field for nearly 10 years.

Editorial Contributors

• 

  Danielle Gorski

  Author

  Danielle Gorski combines her love of plants with her love of writing to create informative articles on lawn care. Her favorite part about her yard is decorating it for the holiday season.

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• 

  Jeff Herman

  Editor

  Jeff Herman, editor-in-chief of LawnStarter, mowed lawns as a teen, and his uncle owned the biggest sod business in St. Louis. Previously, Herman worked at The New York Times, CreditCards.com, and most recently at AllAboutVision.com. Now Herman is All About Lawn Care.

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