North Texas lawns are a different animal than what you might be used to from other parts of the country. The combination of Blackland Prairie clay (Vertisols), extreme heat, unpredictable rainfall, and Bermuda grass that grows like it has something to prove creates a specific set of challenges and a specific calendar for dealing with them.
Here’s the McKinney yard care timeline that keeps your lawn alive through August.
Know Your Grass
Most McKinney lawns are either Bermuda or St. Augustine, and they have very different needs. Bermuda is drought-tolerant, grows aggressively, and goes dormant (turns brown) in winter. St. Augustine stays greener longer but needs more water and shade tolerance. The care calendar below covers both, with notes where they diverge.
February: Pre-Emergent (Critical)
Apply pre-emergent herbicide when soil temperatures consistently hit 55°F — usually late February in McKinney. This prevents crabgrass and other summer weeds from germinating. Miss this window and you’re playing catch-up all season. One application in late February and a second in early April gives you solid coverage.
Do NOT apply pre-emergent if you plan to overseed or sod within 60 days. It prevents all germination, including the seed you want.
March: First Mow and Cleanup
The first mow should happen when grass starts greening up and growing — typically mid-to-late March. Set your mower to the right height: Bermuda at 1–1.5 inches, St. Augustine at 3–3.5 inches. Cutting too short weakens the root system right when it needs to establish.
Dethatch Bermuda lawns if the thatch layer is thicker than half an inch. Skip this step for St. Augustine — it doesn’t develop problematic thatch the same way.
April: Fertilize
Apply your first fertilizer once grass is actively growing and you’ve mowed at least twice. Use a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer. For Bermuda, 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. For St. Augustine, 0.5–1 pound. Don’t over-fertilize — it causes excessive growth that’s harder to maintain and more susceptible to disease.
This is also the time to treat any visible weeds with post-emergent herbicide. Spot-treat rather than broadcast — it’s easier on the lawn and the environment.
May: Irrigation Adjustment
Switch to deep, infrequent watering — 1 inch per week, applied in one or two sessions rather than daily sprinkling. Deep watering encourages roots to grow down, which is critical for surviving July and August. Shallow daily watering creates shallow roots that can’t handle heat stress.
McKinney’s watering rules: April 1 – October 31: no watering between 10am and 6pm. Outdoor watering allowed on your trash day and three days later Water in multiple short cycles rather than one long cycle. City asks customers to reduce landscape watering by 2 minutes per zone.
June–August: Survival Mode
Mow regularly but don’t cut more than one-third of the blade height at once. Raise mowing height by half an inch during peak heat. Keep mower blades sharp — ragged cuts stress grass and invite disease.
Water consistently. Brown patches during peak summer are usually drought stress, not disease. Before you reach for fungicide, try watering deeper. If brown patches appear in well-watered areas with a circular pattern, then it might be brown patch fungus — but that’s more common in fall.
Fertilize Bermuda again in June. Skip additional fertilizer for St. Augustine until September.
Fall Recovery
September brings cooler temperatures and the second growth flush. This is when St. Augustine recovers and when both grass types benefit from a fall fertilizer application. Apply pre-emergent again in September to prevent winter weeds (henbit, chickweed, annual bluegrass).
Overseed bare patches in Bermuda lawns. For St. Augustine, lay sod for bare areas — it doesn’t reseed well.
The Soil Factor
McKinney’s Blackland Prairie clay (Vertisols) is both a blessing and a curse. It holds nutrients well but compacts easily, restricts root growth, and has extreme shrink-swell cycles that stress turf. Core aeration once a year (spring for Bermuda, fall for St. Augustine) opens up compacted soil and dramatically improves water penetration and root health.
Top-dressing with a thin layer of compost after aeration accelerates improvement. It’s the single best thing you can do for clay soil lawns over time.