I agree 100% I might add that after a few years of doing this, not
only is your lawn better looking, but it takes less time and money to keep
it that way.

--
Joseph E. Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math


"Warren" wrote in message
news:4BWXa.72800$Ho3.10499@sccrnsc03...
Sunday4 wrote:
Hi,

I purchased a bag of Scott's lawn fertlizer (and weedkill) this
spring. Due to the heavy rains this season in Northern Virginia
combined with my laziness, I never got around to applying it. Is it
too late to use it now?

Scott's recommends a cycle approach where they want you to buy
different fertilizers for different seasons. Wondering if using the
"Spring" version now (early August) will adversely affect the lawn.

There's quite a bit of weed growth and the wife keeps blaming it on my
not applying fertilizer.


Scott's program is designed to sell fertilizer. It's not even close the
best thing for your lawn.

I'm assuming that what you bought is Weed 'n Feed. Do you really think
spreading poison all over your lawn is a good idea? This certainly isn't
a product you want to use if you have kids, pets, or anyone ever walks
on your lawn. Part of that poison is also going to wash into the storm
sewers, and that's certainly not good for the watershed. If everyone
used Weed 'n Feed, you'd probably have to start importing your drinking
water.

The herbicide in your Weed 'n Feed is not going to do anything good for
your lawn now. The fertilizer part of the mix will help both the grass
and the weeds grow.

A truly healthy lawn eventually chokes out most of the weeds. The few
weeds that exist in a healthy lawn are best dealt with by pulling them,
but in the alternative, if you just have to use chemicals, you would
treat each of the weeds rather than broadcast a herbicide all over the
place.

If you've been following the Scotts program, and you've been using Weed
'n Feed every year, your lawn may be the equivalent of a heroin junky.
Getting off the chemicals will not be an easy path to follow, but in the
long run you'll have a healthier lawn, and you'll spend far less money.
Your dealer, Scotts, will most certainly disagree with me, but you know
they're biased. I'm not trying to sell you anything. I have no vested
interest in whether or not you follow my suggestions as I'm 3000 miles
away, and I'm not in your watershed.

For practical purposes, the life-cycle of a lawn begins in fall. Get out
as many weeds as possible by then. If you have a lot of thatch built-up,
dethatch. After the summer heat has gone, and just prior to the start of
the fall rains, use a core aerator on your lawn. That's not tennis shoes
with spikes. It's a big, heavy machine that pulls out cores of sod/soil
down to about 4-6". Right after you're done it looks like your yard is
filled with dog turds. If your yard is in really bad shape, this would
be the time to top dress it with organic material. Some of it can work
it's way into the holes you've left.

After aerating, over-seed with an appropriate mix of grass seed. Don't
put all your eggs in one basket. Get a blend. Ask at the local garden
center, or check with your county extension office about what the best
mix is for sun, shade or part sun and shade for your area. Don't trust
that the blends you'll find in the national retailers are the right ones
for your area. Read the labels. They just might have the right blend at
a good price -- or maybe not.

At this time you want to fertilize with a "winterizer"-type fertilizer.
Scotts is fine. Relatively expensive, but fine. You want a low nitrogen
fertilizer at this time. Your goal is to build healthy roots, not
necessarily a lot of green on top. Don't let the leaves smother your
lawn. Don't mow it for a few weeks, and when you do mow it, leave the
clippings on the lawn, and leave it taller than a putting green.
(Putting green length is not a realistic goal for a residential lawn
unless you have time and money, or lots of groundskeepers and even more
money.)

If your lawn has been in really bad shape, mid-Spring it may be
beneficial to repeat the aeration, over-seeding, and fertilizing. This
time use a normal lawn fertilizer, not a Weed 'n Feed. If you have moss
problems, a fertilizer with iron will take care of that.

Now all next spring and summer, leave your clippings on the lawn.
Ideally mow when it's dry. Shoot for a little taller than the golf
course, and never mow more than 1/3 the height of what's there. If
you're leaving clumps of clippings, get your blade sharpened. If your
mower isn't a "mulching" mower, think about getting a replacement. And
try your best to avoid mowing when wet. But it'll still be better to mow
when wet than to let it grow so long that cutting 1/3 off won't be
enough. You can always break apart the clumps of grass if you have to.

When Mother Nature stops watering enough, your sprinkling should be
infrequent, but deep. Depending on the type of grass, you'll want to put
at least an inch, but maybe up to 1-3/4 inches a week in as few
applications as possible. Stop watering before you have run-off, but if
you can get the whole allotment in at once, that is the best. Shallow,
frequent watering encourages shallow roots, which results in dead grass,
and lots of weeds. (If you run a lawn service, try this on your
customers. They'll have to pay you even more to fix the problems, and
they'll never guess you caused them because frequent watering seems like
something that should work, doesn't it?)

Pull weeds before they flower. Get the roots if you can. If you have
some that are rooted so well that you can't get them up even with a
root-puller, then apply a little Round-up to the weed. Keep in mind that
it may kill some of the grass immediately around it, leaving you with a
spot that's ripe for new weeds.

Repeat this for two or three years. As the lawn gets healthier, you can
eliminate the spring aeration, over-seeding and fertilizing. A truly
healthy lawn appreciates some winterizer-type fertilizer and aeration in
the fall, and it wants, you to leave the clippings. It works best with
deep, infrequent summer watering, and will look especially lush when
left taller than many people think when they think of a lawn. In the
long run you'll save the money you spend on fertilizers, you'll use less
water, and you'll spend less time pulling weeds. And you'll have the
best lawn on the block to boot.

Just like kicking drugs, kicking the fertilizer company habit won't be
easy in the beginning, but it will pay off big in the end if you have
the willpower to stick to it.

Or you could just rip it all up, and lay new sod each spring.

Now I've gone way off the point of your original question: No. Don't use
the Weed 'n Feed on your lawn now. Don't use any fertilizer on your lawn
at this time of the year.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
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