Most gardeners are being faced this month – like it or not – with a hard choice regarding winter weeds in the lawn. No matter your preferred approach – weed-free, wildflowery or a bit of both in different areas – your lawn is changing weekly, and it is time to decide which direction it will go and manage it accordingly.

Hands down, lawn care is the garden maintenance chore that takes the most time, effort, equipment and money – even if all you do is mow or pay someone else to mow. What for centuries was simply a mow-what-grows approach has, within my lifetime, become an obsession with the advent of effective chemical weed killers and fertilizers, fueled by horticultural, social and marketing blitzes.

That approach is still desired by many people and is sometimes even mandated by homeowners association rules. There is nothing wrong with wanting satisfaction in a job well done, but while golf-course perfection is attainable, it comes with nonstop costs.

To have the best shot at a clean, uniform, weed-free lawn, three important things must be done first: mow at the right height for your type of grass (high for St. Augustine and centipede, all the time); water at least once a month during prolonged summer and fall droughts (never more than once a week – and yes, I know what I am writing); and fertilize lightly no earlier than April and no later than early September.

These three practices are the keys to thick, healthy lawns, which means less need for herbicides – a distant fourth in weed-control effectiveness. Make plans this year to do these three things.

And by the way, weed-and-feed combinations are not recommended by lawn researchers because on Southern lawns it is either too early for the fertilizer or too late for the weeds. Really.

If you do all that and still have weeds, it helps to understand how herbicides work. First, most do not control all types of lawn weeds; what kills grassy weeds may not control broadleaf weeds, and vice versa. Second, herbicides are often specific to certain lawn types and can damage others. Know what kind of grass and weeds you have, and always read the label before buying or applying herbicides.

As for what to use, there are two approaches. Pre-emergence herbicides must be applied before weed seeds sprout – September or October for winter and spring weeds, and March or April for summer weeds. They have no effect on perennial weeds such as dandelions, oxalis and wild onions.

To control perennial weeds, apply a post-emergence spray, which works best on small, actively growing weeds – not full-blown, flowering plants later in the season. Spray early, before weeds mature. Keep in mind this is essentially a form of chemotherapy, which works best early and with two or more applications a week or two apart, rather than one large dose that can damage the lawn.

So, if you prefer a weed-free lawn, focus first on having a healthy one, then carefully use appropriate herbicides. For this spring’s weeds, use your sprayer sometime in the next few weeks. Then plan to mow properly, fertilize – no earlier than April; yes, I am very sure – and water every few weeks in summer, never more than one good, deep watering per week.

No matter your approach – golf-course perfection or mow-what-grows – lawn care practices are important to understand. But like bailing a leaky boat, it takes regular attention. Get to it.

Felder Rushing is a Mississippi author, columnist and host of “The Gestalt Gardener” on MPB Think Radio. Email gardening questions to [email protected].

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