March in South Jersey means one thing for homeowners — it’s time to start thinking about your lawn again. The grass may still look rough after a New Jersey winter, but the steps you take right now will determine how your lawn looks all the way through summer.
Here’s exactly what to do, and when to do it, to set your Burlington County lawn up for a strong season.
Step 1: Walk Your Property and Assess Winter Damage
Before you do anything else, take a walk around your yard. New Jersey winters are hard on lawns. After months of cold, snow, and fluctuating temperatures, here’s what you’re looking for:
- Bare or thin spots — caused by heavy foot traffic, snow plow salt, or ice sitting on the lawn
- Matted grass — areas where snow has packed the grass down flat, trapping moisture underneath
- Debris and lingering leaves — leftover branches, sticks, and leaves that didn’t get cleaned up in the fall
That matted grass is more of a problem than it looks. It’s been holding moisture all winter, which creates conditions for mold and disease. Getting it cleaned up and allowing the lawn to breathe is one of the most important first steps of spring.
A professional spring cleanup — clearing debris, removing matted leaves, and tidying landscape beds — is the right first step before any treatments go down or mowing begins.
Step 2: Don’t Panic About the Purple Flowers in Your Lawn
If you’re seeing small plants with purple flowers scattered through your lawn right now, you’re not alone. We get calls about this every March.
That’s purple deadnettle — a common winter weed that becomes very visible in early spring when it flowers. It looks alarming, especially when it’s spread across a large area of your lawn.
Here’s the good news: it can’t survive mowing. Once lawn service starts in early April and that first cut goes down, purple deadnettle gets knocked back immediately. It’s a low-growing weed that simply can’t hold up to a regular mowing schedule. Within the first few cuts of the season it’s essentially gone.
So if you’re looking at your lawn right now thinking something is seriously wrong — it’s not. Mowing season is right around the corner and it will clear up quickly.
Step 3: Get Pre-Emergent Weed Control Down in March
This is the most time-sensitive step of the entire spring lawn care season — and the one most homeowners either skip or get wrong.
Pre-emergent weed control creates a chemical barrier in the soil that prevents crabgrass seeds from germinating. But it has to go down before soil temperatures reach 55 degrees. After that, crabgrass seeds have already begun germinating and the treatment won’t stop them.
Here’s where homeowners get tripped up: soil temperature warms much more slowly than air temperature. If South Jersey gets a rare 70-degree day in mid-March, that doesn’t mean your soil has crossed the 55-degree threshold — the ground takes significantly longer to warm than the air above it. So don’t panic if you get a stretch of warm days early in the season. You typically have until mid-April before the window closes.
March is the ideal time. Mid-April is the deadline. But waiting until you actually see crabgrass is too late.
Why does this matter so much? Because crabgrass is nearly impossible to kill once it’s established. It is far easier to prevent than to treat. And without pre-emergent protection, every lawn in South Jersey — particularly in sunny areas — will get crabgrass. Every single season, without fail.
At Morgan Landscape, our spring pre-emergent application goes down in March. The product we use also contains nitrogen fertilizer, so the lawn gets its first feeding at the same time. That spring application builds a protective barrier that lasts approximately 90 days. A follow-up pre-emergent treatment before summer extends the barrier through the rest of the growing season — giving you season-long crabgrass protection when done consistently.
Step 4: Start Mowing Earlier Than You Think
Most homeowners wait until the lawn looks fully green and actively growing before scheduling that first cut. That’s the wrong approach.
At Morgan Landscape, mowing starts the first week of April — and sometimes the last week of March if temperatures allow. Even if parts of the lawn are still brown and dormant, getting that first cut done early is always better than waiting.
Here’s why: mowing activates growth. Think of it like cutting dead ends off your hair — removing the old, weathered tips encourages fresh growth from below. That first mow also helps the lawn dry out after a wet, matted winter, improving airflow and reducing the conditions that lead to lawn disease.
It’s completely normal for a South Jersey lawn in early spring to look uneven — clusters of bright green where the grass has fully woken up, and patches that are still brown and dormant. That evens out over the following weeks with consistent mowing and warming temperatures. Don’t be discouraged by it.
The takeaway: schedule your first cut earlier than feels necessary. Starting a week early does far more good than starting a week late.
Step 5: Feed the Lawn to Jump-Start Spring Growth
Nitrogen is the key nutrient that drives green, healthy grass growth. After a dormant winter, your lawn is depleted and ready to respond to a proper feeding.
As mentioned above, our spring pre-emergent treatment includes a nitrogen fertilizer component — so your lawn gets weed prevention and its first feeding in a single application. From there, a structured fertilization program carries the lawn through the rest of the season, with each application timed to what the lawn needs at that specific point in the year.
A 6-step fertilization program through the growing season is the most effective way to maintain a consistently healthy lawn in Burlington County. Each step builds on the last, keeping nutrients balanced, weeds controlled, and grass dense enough to crowd out new weed growth on its own.
Ready to Get Your Lawn on a Program This Spring?
Morgan Landscape serves homeowners throughout Burlington County — including Lumberton, Mount Laurel, Moorestown, Hainesport, Westampton, Mount Holly, Medford, Marlton, and surrounding South Jersey communities.
Spring fills up fast. If you want your pre-emergent down at the right time and your lawn on a consistent mowing and fertilization program, now is the time to get scheduled.
Contact us today for a free estimate — no pressure, just honest advice from a local lawn care company that’s been doing this since 2013.