Scott anual program help…. New lawn Please help

svcrawf72 – posted 05 March 2004 06:57

I just put “Scotts Bonus S Weed And Feed” on my St Augustine grass on March 1st “Jacksonville Fl”. Scotts website says in 2 months to use “Scotts Turf Builder Lawn Fertilizer” I would like to stick to this program but is there anything else I can do or should do to help my grass along or is this a good program? What should I do or not do here? This is a new sod lawn of a month or so, my first lawn so thanks for your help

http://lawncare.ortho.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=AnnualProgram.ShowWheel&iZipCode=32221&iGrassID=94872&poeSiteID=10927&partnerID=100004&iStoreTypeID=105469&x=37&y=9

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 14 March 2004 15:18

The commercial chemical lawn care manufactures are going to a full court press on weed and feed products. I think the rest of the world is all of a sudden realizing that they don’t work as advertised. The reason is the timing is off for either the weed killer or the fertilizer.

Weeds die best when they are growing the best. The grow the best about 2 weeks after fertilizing. So when you apply both products at the same time, the relatively weak weeds get the dose of weed killer and don’t die that fast. Then the fertilizer kicks in and the remaining weeds take off.

A better way is to just use plain fertilizer and follow up 2 weeks later with spot spraying of a herbicide just on the weeds. Save that for next time, though.

Other than that, Scott’s is good fertilizer and the program seems to work for many (especially for the Scott’s executive$). The summer fertilization is probably not needed because many grasses are dormant in the summer. Southern grasses sometimes are still growing in the summer, but generally the grass itself doesn’t need the feed.

Beyond the program, you can do the following:

1. Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means for an hour or more all at one time. Infrequently means monthly during the cooler months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. This will develop deep, drought resistant roots for you.

2. Mow most grasses at the highest setting on your mower for max density. Mow bermuda, centipede, and bent at the lowest setting on your mower for max density. Some can go to 1/16 of an inch.

3. Fertilize regularly, which it sounds like you’re doing. I like organic fertilizer but the kind you use is less important than numbers 1 and 2 above.