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lawn and feed and seed
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Posted: Feb/26/2008 12:14 PM PST
 Ok, I am a fairly new homeowner and want to know if I mow before I apply feed and seed to my lawn. I have a lot of burrs and weeds now the weather has warmed up some and need to get it under control. Thanks for the help. |
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Posted: Feb/26/2008 1:53 PM PST
Doesn't matter when you mow. It does matter when you put out your fertifiler and grass seed. Fertilizer doesn't do any good until the grass has begun to grow and I wonder about putting seed down and then fertilizing. It might burn the seed. Is this a new yard? |
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Posted: Feb/26/2008 3:29 PM PST
 Thank you for your reply. I may have not asked my question clearly. I am not seeding yet I just want to put something on the lawn to kill all the weeds and prep the yard for seeding and such. The yard is in such poor shape I may need to kill everything and start over. I do have three plum trees that I want to keep and don't want anything to happen to them. Thanks for any help you may have to offer. 
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Posted: Feb/26/2008 4:07 PM PST
Put the weed and feed down now, then wait *at least* one month before seeding. The "weed" part of the weed and feed prevents weed seeds--and all seeds--from germinating. I would also recommend (this is what I'm going to do this year) putting straw over the seed, if you're having to seed large bare areas. Let the grass grow through it and mulch it in when you have to start mowing. Otherwise, the new grass won't stand a chance against the blazing hot sun. A good time to weed and feed is after a rain, when you know it won't rain again for another 24 hours. This gives it a chance to really stick to and kill any broadleaf weeds. You won't need to use starter ferilizer if you weed and feed it a month before seeding. Well... those are my thoughts.
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Posted: Mar/01/2008 6:03 PM PST
Quote: Originally posted by yardgranny6 Doesn't matter when you mow. It does matter when you put out your fertifiler and grass seed.Fertilizer doesn't do any good until the grass has begun to grow and I wonder about putting seed down and then fertilizing. It might burn the seed. Is this a new yard? A starter fertilizer is very important when you seed or overseed. This would be one high in phosophorus and relatively low in nitrogen and potassium. So look for a high middle number on the fertilizer formulation. Or just look for a product labeled "starter" fertilizer. If it's still too cold for grass seed to germinate, you can put the seed down anytime, but hold off on applying the fertilizer until the weather is consistently warm enough for the seed to germinate -- about 65 degrees F. |
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Posted: Mar/01/2008 6:17 PM PST
Quote: Originally posted by newguy Thank you for your reply. I may have not asked my question clearly. I am not seeding yet I just want to put something on the lawn to kill all the weeds and prep the yard for seeding and such. The yard is in such poor shape I may need to kill everything and start over. I do have three plum trees that I want to keep and don't want anything to happen to them. Thanks for any help you may have to offer. Ah, okay, I should have read ahead. Herbicides will only work if the weeds are actively growing, so if winter is over in your area, you can treat now. Select an herbicide carefully and apply it even more carefully. I'm assuming you want to kill existing weeds, so you'll want a post-emergent herbicide. There are many products, so make sure to choose one for lawn weeds, and look on the label to see which weeds it kills. If you want to kill clover AND crabgrass AND dandelions AND other broadleaf weeds, you may not find one product that will tackle all of those -- and some of the newer, broad spectrum lawn-weed killers can cost as much as $200/gallon. Post-emergent herbicides won't hurt seed, believe it or not, because they work by moving through the foliage into the roots to kill the plant. Seeds have no foliage and aren't actively growing, so they're not affected, and by the time your grass seedlings are up, the herbicide has broken down anyway. Still, most people aren't brave enough to spray and seed at the same time, so go ahead and wait 10-14 days before seeding if you want. If you decide you need to do a whole lawn renovation, google that term to see what is involved. That is best done in the fall, not spring. |
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Posted: Mar/01/2008 6:25 PM PST
Quote: Originally posted by CarolineC Put the weed and feed down now, then wait *at least* one month before seeding. The "weed" part of the weed and feed prevents weed seeds--and all seeds--from germinating. I would also recommend (this is what I'm going to do this year) putting straw over the seed, if you're having to seed large bare areas. Let the grass grow through it and mulch it in when you have to start mowing. Otherwise, the new grass won't stand a chance against the blazing hot sun. A good time to weed and feed is after a rain, when you know it won't rain again for another 24 hours. This gives it a chance to really stick to and kill any broadleaf weeds. You won't need to use starter ferilizer if you weed and feed it a month before seeding. Well... those are my thoughts. Gee, I don't know...I hate to be contradictory, but I'd never put down a pre-emergent herbicide just one month before I planned to seed. A pre-emergent wouldn't really be much good if it only worked for a month. |
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