Weed 'N Feed

Hey all,

Can someone recommend a good spring fertilizer/weed and feed product for my lawn. I have a hilly yard and get a lot of erosion which causes a lot of bare spots. I am going to get some grass seed and top soil on Saturday and figure I'd treat the entire lawn with a weed filler and fertilize at the same time.

Thanks
Franklin

Little early for the weed & feed but you can if your trying to get a jump on the dandelions. I use the Scotts Turfbuilder products but read the label on whatever you buy. Weed & Feed doesn't always go well with new seedlings. This early around here I would go with a straight fert or starter fert with the seed and do your weed & feed in mid-June.

Supposed to wait a year or so with fresh grass, otherwise the weed and feed has a good chance of killing it. A reg 16-16-16 blend would be best.

I do the weed and feed every year or two though. It's pricey stuff. Last time I spread some it was about $200 to do my yard.

Look for an active ingredient called Siduran, sold under the name Tuperspan and others. Its safe for seeding. Other than just put down some starter fertilizer. What you don't want is a pre-emergent herbicide like a crabgrass preventer. It will kill your grass for sure. Weed-n-feed typically needs contact with broad leaf weeds. It still kills your grass where it touches so don't use it indiscriminately. It will also stress it out so I chose to use it very rarely. I've cut my fertilizer application back from a 4-pack a day habit to 1/2 the recommended dosage 3 times a year vs 4. I don't treat grubs unless I see the problem, other than its every 2-3 years to break the cycle. I bought a backpack sprayer and will spray weeds where needed (next to the front door) and where you can't see them I let nature fight it out.

After a decade of trying for the nicest lawn on the planet I'm starting to appreciate the meadow look.

dandilions are already in full bloom here
and if you weed and feed you should not plant grass
the weed and feed kills the weed seed along wiht the grass seed

There's a great product called "weed, feed, mow, sweat,can't go fishing or do anything because I have to mow, sweat, can't do anything". Why bother? And if you have erosion, all the worse - chemicals and fertilizer into the watershed, drinking water, hope your kids don't grow spikes. Tongue in cheek, of course. Have a fun summer.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I will definitely look into them all. Now i have a better idea how to deal with it. I already have dandelions in full bloom, i mowed the yard last Saturday and it looks a lot better.

Grannular herbicides dont work worth a darn IMO. The weeds must be wet for the product to stick to them, and even when it does stick, it's nothing like a liquid weed killer. Do yourself a favor....go to Tractor Supply and get a bottle of Trimec. Its made by Gordons. Its around $30. Read the label twiceMix ratio is around 2oz to a gallon of water if memory serves me correctly. That stuff kills about all your weeds. Dandelions will be withered the next day. It wacks thistles.....yes, those annoying things that nothing else seems to kill. Clover turns brown in 2 days. Try that with anything else! And whatever you do, do NOT use ANY fertilizer with ANY of the middle or last #'s. The P and K will feed the weeds, not kill them. Use a starter fertilizer ONLY on your bare spots. Use a Nitrogen only fert on the rest of the lawn.

This is why I have used corn gluten meal. But timing is everything. Must be applied before the broadleaf weeds germinate. Due to the unusual warm March weather I missed the window! Added bonus is that when it does break down it provides a good nitrogen feed to the soil. Very easy to tell any areas that I didn't use it come May.

Most people put the pre-emergent down too late for some weeds, too early for others. For years and years I thought I was fighting crabgrass, when I found out it was actually quackgrass. Difference is quackgrass spreads through rhizomes as well as seeds, so you actually have to rip it out of the turf to get rid of it because only the top dies in the frost. And nothing kills it. A way to tell is if you've got crabgrass before it realy gets warm, you really have quackgrass.

Beware the quackgrass. BEWARE

+1

It's even sold in the box stores, look for Preen.

Make sure it's the extended control version. Don't want no pesky weeds bringing you home early!

Look for Preen that says Organic or Vegetable Garden. The reg stuff is Trifluralin not corn gluten, and the containers look very similar.

For the OP's situation though, he shouldn't be putting down any kind of pre-emergent herbicide or a weed & feed. Pre-emergent will keep all that new seed from germinating & weed & feed will kill it while it's small & tender.
He's overseeding & filling in bare spots= Topsoil, seed, gentle fertilizer (compost top-dressing...), water, water, water & wait. Worry about weeds later. You need to get your grass healthy or you'll never keep the weeds out anyway.

Franklin. You likely have erosion because you have barespots on the hills & not vice-versa. Grass will grow on slopes no prob if it has light, food &, water.

Thank you for all of your suggestions. I will concentrate on getting it healthy then worring about the grass. It is still pretty manageable so Ill put my efforts into getting rid of the bare spots.

Couple other threads here about grass:

http://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/let-there-be-grass.72246/

http://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/...nswer-see-pics-in-last-post-here.69935/page-2

http://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/...-good-soil-help-see-answer.71598/#post-903335

Kill everything with Roundup, plant a landscapers mix. All the fall and spring weeds are going to start growing, let 'em. Spray Round ujp again mid summer, water and get any weed seeds growing, kill'em again. Plant new grass seed in early fall, it will be weed free and the best lawn in the neighborhood. Just like mine!

Although Preen is a pre-emergent, it is NOT corn gluten. Corn gluten is completely organic.

As mentioned, don't use any pre-emergent while trying to germintae your grass or any seed. But, come next early spring after your grass is established this year consider the cgm. You can often get it in it's purest form at feed stores/mills and it's been my experience do be cheaper$$ that way. There are organic brand names out there of pre-emergents that contain cgm.

Maybe I'm hallucinating 'cause I'm pretty sure I gots a bag of corn gluten out in the shed that says Preen on it.

I don't know brand names but corn gluten is a pre-emergent so should not be used when over-seeding.

Before herbicide was outlawed here, I used to spray with a CIL product that worked like Trimec. I mixed it to half the prescribed strength and walked around spot spraying the weeds.

A good defense against weeds is to feed the turf so that it grows thick and crowds out the weeds. I also plug aerate the soil, top dress problem areas, and over-seed. Mind you, after all that it then needs to be cut twice a week.

And mow higher! Everyone likes that fairway look but few realize exactly how much labor goes into keeping it weed/disease free. Mow height depends heavily on climate and species but for KatWill, 'round here most home lawns do pretty well being cut somewhere between 2.75"-3" with minimal watering. If you can water during the hot/dry summer then 2.5" is fine.

Can't agree more. The wife likes the "putting green" look but I keep it much higher. I had to make modifications to the mower deck to be able to use it at higher settings. In addition to less watering, the higher settings keep moisture at the base to help the thatch rot.

I mulch mow and only bag along the walkways cuz the wife doesn't like getting grass clippings on her shoes. If I get any clumping, I will run over the area with my sweeper but I wait for it to dry and carry the brushes high so that it disperses more than it picks up.