By Fallas Landscape | Spring 2026 | Serving Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen & the Greater DFW Area
Spring in North Texas arrives fast and doesn’t wait around. One week you’re scraping frost off the windshield, and the next the redbuds are blooming and your Bermuda grass is starting to stir. That narrow window between late winter and full-blown Texas heat is your golden opportunity — the few weeks when the right moves in your yard set the tone for the entire growing season.
At Fallas Landscape, we’ve worked with homeowners across Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, and the greater DFW area for years, and every spring the questions are the same: “Where do I start?” Here’s your answer.
1. Check Your Irrigation System Before You Need It
Nothing is more frustrating than firing up your sprinkler system in May only to discover a cracked head or a zone that stopped working over winter. North Texas freezes — even brief ones — can damage irrigation lines, heads, and backflow preventers. Spring is the time to catch those issues before your lawn is depending on the system daily.
Walk each zone manually. Look for heads that aren’t rotating, spray patterns that are off, or soggy spots that indicate an underground leak. Check that your controller’s schedule is updated for spring watering needs — typically two to three times per week in March and April before summer heat kicks in. If anything looks off, get it serviced now while contractors aren’t yet slammed with summer calls.
2. Apply Pre-Emergent Weed Control — Timing Is Everything
This is arguably the most time-sensitive task on the entire spring list. Pre-emergent herbicide works by creating a barrier in the soil that prevents weed seeds from germinating — but it only works before those seeds sprout. In North Texas, soil temperatures hit the critical 55°F threshold that triggers crabgrass and other warm-season weeds to germinate typically in late February through March.
Miss this window and you’re spending the rest of summer playing whack-a-mole with weeds instead of enjoying your yard. Apply pre-emergent to your lawn and landscape beds in early spring, and follow up with a second application six to eight weeks later for extended coverage. Pair it with a light fertilizer to give your grass the early nutrition boost it needs as it breaks dormancy.
3. Clean Up Beds and Refresh Your Mulch
Winter leaves beds looking tired — dead annuals, ragged perennial stalks, and mulch that’s broken down and thinned out over the cold months. Early spring is the ideal time for a full bed cleanup before new growth makes the job harder.
Pull out spent winter plants, cut back ornamental grasses and perennials to just above the crown, and edge your beds cleanly to give them a defined shape. Then lay fresh mulch — two to three inches is the sweet spot. Mulch does triple duty in spring: it regulates soil temperature as things warm up, holds moisture as temperatures start climbing, and suppresses the very weeds you’re fighting with pre-emergent. Cedar and hardwood are popular choices across the DFW area and give landscaping a clean, finished look that makes the whole yard pop.
4. Assess and Prune — But Know What to Cut and When
One of the most common spring mistakes we see is homeowners pruning too aggressively too early, or cutting back plants that look dead but are actually just dormant. North Texas winters can leave plants looking rough, but patience pays off.
For most shrubs and perennials, wait until you see new growth emerging before you prune — that confirms the plant is alive and tells you exactly where to cut. Crape myrtles, a DFW staple, should be pruned only to shape and remove crossing branches, not topped (a practice known as “crape murder” that weakens the tree long-term). Spring-blooming plants like azaleas and encore azaleas should be pruned right after they finish blooming, not before, or you’ll cut off this season’s flowers.
If a plant still shows no signs of life by mid-April, that’s a signal it likely didn’t survive winter and needs to be replaced.
5. Plan Your Color — And Plant at the Right Time
Spring color in North Texas is glorious but brief. The window between “too cold” and “too blazing hot” for cool-season annuals like pansies and snapdragons closes quickly, while warm-season performers like lantana, salvia, and vincas need to wait until after the last frost (typically mid-March in the DFW area) before going in the ground.
For maximum impact, layer your plantings: put in a round of early-spring color now, then follow up in late April with heat-tolerant summer performers that will carry you through to fall. Knock Out roses, purple fountain grass, and Black-eyed Susans are all proven DFW workhorses that provide season-long interest with minimal fuss.
Don’t forget your front entry, mailbox beds, and any containers — these high-visibility spots deliver the biggest curb appeal return per plant dollar spent.
Ready to Get Your Yard Spring-Ready?
Spring moves fast in North Texas. The homeowners whose yards look best in June are almost always the ones who took action in March and April. Whether you want a helping hand with one task or a full seasonal refresh from mulch to new plantings, the team at Fallas Landscape is ready to help.
We’ve been transforming DFW landscapes for years across Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Little Elm, The Colony, and beyond. Give us a call at 972.517.LAWN (5296) or reach out at info@fallaslandscape.com to schedule your free estimate. Let’s wake up your yard together.
