[Breakthecycle2]

we just bought a house and moved in this pas October. Well over the past month - month and half, that's all I've been doing. We just had about 10 bushes removed front and back. I fertilized it and overseeded twice. I had many spots that looked liked what you posted. I seeded way too early, so what I did was, cut the grass and rented a thatcher. Thatched (as best I could) and raked everything up. Afterwards, I over seeded using a sun/shade mix and also Scotts EZ seed in other spots. This past Sunday grass started sprouting up. Some of the spots even started greening up and regrowing on their own. Now that it seems to have started regrowing, is there and fertilizer I can use that won't hinder the seed regrowth?

 

[hortman]

fertilizer and weed killer question

Hey, Breakthecycle2. Ken here with The Home Depot in the Chicago area.
I’m glad to hear that after all that work you have grass coming up. Here’s
what you need to fertilize with right now. It is a starter fertilizer. Both Scotts
and Vigoro make this type. Normally you would work this into the soil and then
put the seed down. In your case just broadcast over the area and water in. It won’t
burn and it will really help the grass to get a good start.

Good luck and take care.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

Hey, Breakthecycle2. Ken here with The Home Depot in the Chicago area.
I’m glad to hear that after all that work you have grass coming up. Here’s
what you need to fertilize with right now. It is a starter fertilizer. Both Scotts
and Vigoro make this type. Normally you would work this into the soil and then
put the seed down. In your case just broadcast over the area and water in. It won’t
burn and it will really help the grass to get a good start.

Good luck and take care.

Does it contain and weed killer? I have some weed's Id like to get rid of.

 

[hortman]

Hey, Breakthecycle2. Ken here again. The answer to your question is no.
These do not contain a weed killer. If you are going to kill the weeds before
you seed the lawn, you will have to wait 1 month before you can put down
seed. The weed killer has an effect on seed germination.
So, spray now and wait a month to seed or seed now and wait until the grass
has come up and you have mowed it 4 times before you spray the weeds.
You could also use Weed and Feed at that time if it has been at least
6 weeks since you last fertilized. I hope this helps.
Take care.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

Yeah that does help. Thanks. The grass is a few inches where it has started to grow. Other spots it hasn't begun yet,

 

[user1007]

Look. I want you to think about the classic strength in numbers argument. If you feed your turfgrasses which, when you think about it, outnumber broadleaf and even crawling crab grass weeds by how many? And you mow tall? You will squeeze out the broadleaf weeds. To a point. Once your turfgrass is healthier and fed, then apply a POST emergent broadleaf or crabgrass killer.

Water early in the day. Feed regularly. Mow tall. Simple? Ask any turfgrass manager. This is the core of it all for a beautiful lawn.

And buy fertilizer wisely, and paste your own picture of a pretty lawn on the the bag if it looks brown kraft and generic. You can buy 80 pounds of good stuff, the same in fact, as the retail stuff at your local feed, landscape or ag supply store for less than a gorgeously packaged bag at a box store. Gather your neighbors and share. Instead of outdoing each other for the greenest lawn? What if you had the most healthy turfgrass in your entire city or county.

The NPK ratio (Nitrogen-Phosphorous-Potassium) has to be on any bag of fertilizer sold in the US. That tells you the total amount of plant nutrients in the sack. So, for example, a 100 pound bag with 20-10-10 has 40 pounds of actual helpful fertilizer. There is probably another 20 or so in there to keep the fertilizer granulated. Under current inert ingredient laws, the other 40 pounds can be absolutely anything. Ground up heavy metals like chrome and cobalt for example. Warehouses full of high tech waste have to be emptied somehow.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

How often should you fertilize?

 

[user1007]

How often should you fertilize?

Great question. It depends on how the actual nutrients in the fertilizer are formulated and encapsulated and how fast they can leach through the soil. And how capable your soil is of picking up the nutrients in the first place.

For new lawns and turf projects over which I had charged I used to like using fertilizers with near immediate release of their nutrients. And in managing turfgrasses we were taught to seek one pound of available nitrogen per one thousand square feet, per month. Farmers were taught the same or worse. And we have all contributed to killing anything downstream from us including Carribbean corral and shrimp that feed around them because of fertilizer run off and algae blooms. In the Gulf of Mexico in my case.

Newer fertilizers for the homeowner are timed release and fine for the most part. The costly part of them is not the nitrogen but the phosphorous and potassum. Think about it. As you water, all nutrients are carried down and leached at more or less the same rate. Actually potassium and phosphorous are heavy than anything bearing nitrogen so their excess just disappear faster. So for something like a lawn that needs lots of nitrogen, why would you pay for the other components that the plants cannot use and will just be flushed away?

This is why, if you look at lawn fertilizers, you will see high end nitrogen in the NPK ratio. 30-10-5 etc.

You should own a Ph kit also. Nothing you use for fertilizer will help if the soil cannot take it.