January and February Lawn Care in Arlington TX: What to Do in Winter

January and February feel like a dead zone for lawn care. The bermuda is brown, the St. Augustine looks crispy, and nothing seems to be happening. That impression is wrong — and the homeowners who act on it are the same ones calling us in June wondering why their lawn is overrun with crabgrass and winter weeds. In Arlington and across the DFW Metroplex, winter is the most underutilized season in the entire lawn care calendar, and what you do (and don’t do) during these two months has a direct impact on how your lawn performs from April through October. Here’s what weed control and fertilizer looks like in the heart of a North Texas winter.

The Lawn Isn’t Dead — It’s Dormant

Bermuda grass and St. Augustine both go dormant when soil temperatures drop below about 55°F consistently. Dormancy is a survival mechanism — the plant pulls energy into the root system and stops investing in top growth. The roots are alive, the crown is alive, and the grass will green back up when temperatures warm. Understanding dormancy matters because it changes how you treat the lawn in winter: some things are essential, and some things are actively harmful.

• Do not fertilize dormant turf. Nitrogen applied to a dormant lawn has nowhere to go. The grass can’t use it, it leaches through the soil profile, it feeds any winter weeds present, and it can contribute to salt buildup in DFW’s clay soils. Save fertilizer for green-up in April.
• Minimize foot traffic on frost-covered grass. When water inside grass cells freezes, the cell walls become brittle. Walking on frosted turf crushes those cells and can leave brown footprint damage that lingers for weeks. Stay off the lawn on frosty mornings until mid-morning when the frost has melted.
• Do not water heavily. Dormant turf needs very little water. In Arlington’s clay soils, overwatering in winter creates saturated conditions that can suffocate roots and encourage fungal issues. A light watering every 3 to 4 weeks during extended dry periods is usually sufficient to prevent desiccation.

Soil Testing: The Single Best Use of January

If you do one thing in January, get a soil test done. There is no better time. University extension labs are at their slowest, so turnaround times are fast. You have two to three months before the first fertilizer application is needed, giving you time to act on the results. And the soil data you get in winter reflects the baseline condition of your lawn without being skewed by recent fertilizer applications.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension runs a soil testing program through the state, and several private labs also serve DFW homeowners. Collect 4 to 6 cores from different areas of the lawn at a depth of 3 to 4 inches, mix them into a single composite sample, and submit it. You’ll receive a report showing soil pH, phosphorus, potassium, organic matter, and often secondary and micronutrient levels. The DFW Blackland Prairie target pH range for warm-season grasses is 6.0 to 6.5. Many lawns here run slightly alkaline due to the calcium-heavy clay, which can tie up iron and other micronutrients and produce yellowing that looks like a nitrogen deficiency but won’t respond to nitrogen at all.

Winter Annual Weeds Are Already Growing

While your grass is dormant, winter annual weeds are in their prime. Poa annua (annual bluegrass), henbit, chickweed, and hairy bittercress germinate in fall and spend winter actively growing and, by late winter, setting seed. A brown dormant lawn is actually a perfect backdrop for spotting these green intruders.

• Poa annua looks like a bright green, bunch-type grass with distinctive boat-shaped leaf tips. It produces seed heads from late winter onward and dies out when heat arrives in spring — but not before dropping thousands of seeds for next fall’s crop.
• Henbit is a purple-flowering broadleaf weed in the mint family. It’s highly visible in February when it blooms and spreads aggressively in disturbed or thin turf areas.
• Common chickweed forms dense mats of small-leaved, star-flowering growth. It thrives in moist, shaded areas — exactly the conditions DFW clay holds in winter.
• Post-emergent winter weed options: Broadleaf herbicides containing 2,4-D, MCPP, and dicamba work well on henbit, chickweed, and other broadleaf weeds in winter when temperatures are above 45°F and below 80°F. For poa annua, options are more limited — treatments exist but timing and product selection require care to avoid injuring dormant bermuda or St. Augustine crowns.

Planning Your Pre-Emergent Program

January and February are the time to plan — not necessarily apply — your spring pre-emergent program for crabgrass and other summer annual weeds. The trigger for application is soil temperature, not the calendar date. In the Arlington area, soil temperature at a 2-inch depth typically reaches the critical 55°F germination threshold somewhere between late February and mid-March, depending on the year. You cannot count on a fixed calendar date.

• Monitor soil temperatures. The Texas Mesonet and several weather apps report ground temperature data. When the 2-inch depth forecast trends toward 50°F, your pre-emergent window is 2 to 3 weeks out.
• Order product now. Prodiamine (Barricade) and dithiopyr (Dimension) are the most commonly used pre-emergent active ingredients for North Texas lawns. Prodiamine is widely available in granular and liquid formulations. Having product on hand prevents scrambling when the weather window opens suddenly.
• Confirm irrigation system function. Pre-emergent must be watered in within 48 hours of application — ideally with three-quarters of an inch on DFW clay. If your irrigation system has been winterized, schedule a startup inspection for late February so the system is ready when you need it.
• Plan split applications. For the most complete coverage across both crabgrass and goosegrass germination windows, a split application strategy — first application in early-to-mid March, second application 8 to 10 weeks later — outperforms a single full-rate treatment in most Arlington lawns.

Mowing Height in Winter

Many homeowners drop mowing height in winter as growth slows. That’s the opposite of what the turf needs. Raising your mowing height by half an inch to one inch going into dormancy provides the crown and root zone extra insulation during hard freezes. For bermuda, this might mean 2 to 2.5 inches instead of 1.5. For St. Augustine, staying at 3.5 to 4 inches instead of 3 provides meaningful protection. Scalping in winter removes insulating mass and can expose the crown to cold injury during sudden temperature drops — and DFW is notorious for those.

What Hamann Does in January and February

Our winter visits focus on documentation and spot treatment. We walk properties to map where winter weeds have established, treat actively growing broadleaf weeds with targeted post-emergent applications, and complete any soil testing that clients haven’t already scheduled. We also review the prior year’s program to identify any areas that had pre-emergent gaps or weed pressure and adjust the spring program accordingly. Read more in our North Texas lawn care calendar for a full month-by-month breakdown of how all twelve months fit together.