[jmuamy]

Hi,

I used a spreader and laid Lesco crabgrass pre-emergent fertilizer. The prior owner of house said he used two bags. Based on some digging online, it looks like I really should have used two bags. But due to the setting I dialed on my spreader (didn't know at the time which setting to select), I only went through one bag. I basically used half as much as I should have. Will this have any effect at all on preventing crabgrass and fertilizing my lawn or should I really go over it again? Please say one is enough!!! Or the truth would be acceptable too

We have sent our soil for testing and plan to lay lime if necessary. We also plan to lay fertilizer in early April to prevent dandelions.

If I use proper amounts of our remaining fertilizers, will I be ok? Thanks a lot.

Home ownership is for the birds!

 

[downunder]

FYI- When the conversation is landscaping, where you are is almost always helpful or even necessary.

I presume that you bought two bags and only applied one. Approx what area are you working with? By the way, most products will give spreader settings for popular brands of spreaders. But I am inclined to admonish you gently that if someone already told you you need to use two bags, you should have realized somewhere along the way that you were using too much or too little.

Ok, back to your question. Any is better than none. I strongly encourage everyone to use pre-m's so I commend you for doing this, even if you did boo-boo a little. If you reduce your weeds by 50%, then you will have half as much spraying/pulling to do later. If you are not aware of this, pre-emergents should be watered in or incorporated into the top inch or so of soil. Obviously, the former is appropriate for existing lawns.

We also plan to lay fertilizer in early April to prevent dandelions.

Fertilizer does not prevent dandelions. That is one of the uses of the pre-m.

Home ownership is for the birds!

Say it ain't so!

 

[jmuamy]

Thanks for your response. I live outside Philadelphia. While I did notice the fertilizer was not being used up at the rate I would have thought, I didn't think I would be left with an entire bag. Plus, it was the first time I was walking over every square foot of the property, so I wouldn't have known when I was half done, anyway. Also, I was more concerned with fertilizer burn than under-fertilizing. I did look all over the bag and did not find anything that indicated which setting I should set my spreader to. It is my understanding that there are fertilizers with anti weed stuff for dandelions just like there is for crabgrass and that it is to be laid in early April.

 

[downunder]

It is my understanding that there are fertilizers with anti weed stuff for dandelions just like there is for crabgrass and that it is to be laid in early April.

I realize and/or presume you are beginning to learn these different products. To that end:
There are fertilizers
There are weedkillers
There are weed preventers
There are mixtures of the above.

If you apply a pre-emergent, you do not want to come back a month later and apply a fertilizer/weed preventer combo.

I do not use the fertilizer/weed killer products. Read a bag of fertilizer and it says to apply to a dry lawn and water in. Read a bag of weed killer and it says to apply to a wet lawn and do not water (i.e. wash it off). Apply both products at the same time and what's a person to do? Wet or dry? Water or don't water? See my point?

However, fertilizer with weed preventer (pre-emergent) is an entirely different story. Both should be watered in with at least 1/2 inch of irrigation/rain.

I always use weed killers in a liquid spray formula. You get much better coverage and efficacy when you wet the entire leaf surface as opposed to getting a couple of crumbs (granules) on some of the leaves.

It is hard to get fertilizer burn with a slightly higher rate. You would have to apply 3 or 4 times as much as recommended or just plain spill a pile on the lawn.

If you want to briefly calibrate your spreader, measure off a known area- say 1000 ft/sq. Most products will give application rates in 100, 1000 ft or per acre. Then measure out a pound or whatever is appropriate and see how much you apply in that given area.

For instance: 5 lbs per 1000 ft/sq.
More or less there is an old saying that a pint is a pound, so 1 cup is 8 oz, a pint is 16 oz, so a regular household two cup measuring cup is about a pound. You can use sand for this but you need to use something that is about the same size as the fertilizer granules, grass seed, or whatever you are applying. You could spend $3 for a bag of play sand that you know is say, #20 and go from there and not worry about fert burn or anything. Measure off 1000 ft. Say 10 x 100, 20 x 50, etc. Not that hard to do on most yards. Then just start applying the sand. See how long before you run out or how much you have left over and adjust up or down accordingly.