Thanks for all your feedback! I do have one of the better lawns on
the street thanks to the previous owner of my house. I've been there
2 years and did the Scotts thing last year (Spring, Summer and Fall).
Have not done anything this year. Between the time I moved into this
house and now, I've seen more weeds and a type of thick grass grow all
over the lawn in large patches.

Will what you described be available as a service in most areas? I'm
a first time home owner and don't have a lot of experience with this
type of stuff.

thanks!


"Warren" wrote in message news:wzYXa.73634$Ho3.10785@sccrnsc03...
You're the One wrote:


Warren wrote:

.....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........

You want a HIGH NITROGEN fertilizer at this time. Cool season grass
needs lots of N in October and November to build roots and to store
carbohydrates for the winter.



Typical spring/summer fertilizer would be something like 30-3-4, while a
winterizer fertilizer intended for fall use would be more like 20-5-14.
Lower in nitrogen, but higher in potash, and much higher in potassium. A
"starter" fertilizer would be more like 20-30-5, which is even lower in
nitrogen.

Nitrogen encourages top-growth, which is not what you want when you're
trying to establish a lawn. Before you can work on the top, you need to
work on the bottom. Part of the reason why the nitrogen percentage is
still higher than potash or potassium in all but the "starter" (where it
still is higher than the potassium) is that the nitrogen is more
soluble. You may also find that the nitrogen in these fertilizers is
bonded into time-release particles, so the entire amount of nitrogen is
not really added at the same time.

High nitrogen that isn't time-release will give you a flash of green,
unless it's too high, in which case you'll just burn it all. You don't
need a flash of green in the fall, especially if you've been leaving
your clippings on the lawn. Rather than work towards that flash of green
before the lawn is covered in snow, it is more sound to work on the
roots. High nitrogen is not the right course for fall.

--
Warren H.

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