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My preference is certainly a pure pre-emergent, but where does one even find that these days? Went to Lowes, Home Depot, and local hardware store...they all carry basically the same stuff and no pure pre-emergents in store.
To your point though, what specifically about applying fertilizer in the spring leads to "problems come summertime and fungus issues"?
They are readily available just a little hard to find. Definitely have better luck at Home Depot than Lowe's as they carry Lesco products otherwise I would try to find a Lesco retailer locally and go there directly if you have one nearby.
As for fertilizing in the spring it's just puts too much nitrogen and stress on the grass. Something along the organic matter as Milorganite is totally different but any type of synthetic fertilizer should be minimal if any in the springtime. The fall is when nearly all of the nitrogen should be applied to lawns.
The ideal process is to begin lawn rennovation if any needed in mid to late August. Fertilize twice in the fall several weeks apart to establish a deep root system. Best to fertilize after you stop cutting the grass in late fall which will provide for an early spring green up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wellmabt
My preference is certainly a pure pre-emergent, but where does one even find that these days? Went to Lowes, Home Depot, and local hardware store...they all carry basically the same stuff and no pure pre-emergents in store.
To your point though, what specifically about applying fertilizer in the spring leads to "problems come summertime and fungus issues"?
Yes location depending in the mid Atlantic area, save seeding for fall. BTW, what might appear as flourishing can be just top growth with no root development.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerania
That's not necessarily true. It depends upon location, spring temperatures, and rain or watering. I've had winter sown seed flourish the first season.
I've seeded areas just fine in the spring. You will have more competition from weeds but those can be killed later. Fall is ideal time, but certain situations dictate otherwise. And it certainly can be done in spring...if you have hot dry summer, just will have to be more mindful of watering.
Alright Movin, looks like we're back for another season! I am going to try to get mine back to where it was last year before the "incident of stupidity". So far I have done nothing, and it's actually looking pretty good in the front, but the back, oh the back, it's so pitiful. Have lots of work to do...
Not sure exactly where you're located but here in transition zones having cool season grasses I would avoid any spring fertilizer and uses of two-in-one products.
Any areas that washed I would reapply a pure pre-emergent. If fertilizer is needed I would go with early May on a super slow release version. Otherwise you're just looking for problems come summertime and fungus issues.
I had some fungus issues last year, so I'm going to give milorganite a try this year. I had an irrigation specialist out last year to do some sprinkler work, and he told me to use a slow release fertilizer instead of the stuff that I had applied. He also said that I was watering too heavily for pop-up heads, and he re-set all of those. I'm not really sure if the fungus problem was related to the weed and feed that I used or the over-watering, maybe a combo of both.
I must admit that I'm a little bit concerned about the potential smell from the milorganite. From what I've read, the smell dissipates more quickly once it's watered in. I don't want P-U comments from the neighbors . I'm also hoping that the milorganite will help the more shady areas of my lawn. Anyway, I'm going to give it a shot and see what happens. Pkg says to wait until the temps are consistently above 70, so I've got a while before the stinky action takes place.
Ok, well 2018 is just starting for me. Snow is gone, starting to get consistent rain, and temps are creeping up. Still in the 50's as a daytime high, but the full sun for pretty much the entire day has causes parts of my lawn that get the dun to come out of dormancy. New green blades are reaching for the sky.
I fertilized with milorganite and overseeded a few select thin spots 2 weeks ago. A bit early, but my time is limited so I wanted to get it done. As a result, I can already see what's been coming up turning a nice dark shade of green and my daily temps are nowhere near 70 degrees just yet. I'll hold on the preemergent.
If you want to avoid the smell of milorganite, wait until you have some big rain coming and spread it out a day or so beforehand. Yes it smells, but it's not a repulsive smell. I've never heard a neighbor complain about it and doing it before a good rainstorm does help get rid of the smell quickly. Typically I default to the organic fertilizers as it's tough to use some of the chemical ferts and keep the kids off the grass until it's well watered in.
My work the last few years has paid off as now I'm just maintaining. I'll probably do a weed-and-feed in mid May or right before dandelions start to bloom. I got rid of a ton last year, but need to mop up the stragglers. They seem to be the biggest weed in my lawn. Crabgrass has gotten squeezed out due to my aggressive fall overseeding. I really only need to apply preemergent to my front lawn area as the winter road salt tends to kill off some areas in the sidewalk strip and that's really the only spot I seem to get crabgrass. I threw some seed down to try and fill that in, but not going to hold my breath on it sprouting in time before I throw down preemergent.
I am going to plant some trees in the yard this spring, and plan to make a garden area as well.
I also need to plant some grass seed this fall in high traffic areas such as around my kids swingset. The grass is holding, but I can tell it gets pretty beaten up there.
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. I'm also hoping that the milorganite will help the more shady areas of my lawn. Anyway, I'm going to give it a shot and see what happens. Pkg says to wait until the temps are consistently above 70, so I've got a while before the stinky action takes place.
