Any lawn fertilizer experts?

GET YOUR LAWN OFF DRUGS!!!
http://www.ns.ec.gc.ca/epb/factsheets/12_steps.html

or better yet,

GET YOUR LAWN OFF GRASS!!!
…but you'll have to buy the book to find out how.

How To Get Your Lawn Off Grass: A North American Guide to Turning Off the Water
Tap and Going Native, by Carole Rubin, Harbour, 175 pages, $18.95
If compost is black gold, the next "golden resource," of which all too few are aware, is
water. Carole Rubin's book is a real education for any gardener. The B.C. resident explains
why we should be using native plants, and why they work, and details the ethics, myths
and facts of replacing turf lawns with native groundcovers and plants that do not require
constant watering. (Sixty per cent of North America's potable water is used on lawns and
ornamental gardens, not only using up vast quantities of a valuable resource, but also
degrading the overall supply with leached-out fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.) Rubin
discusses native specialty gardens -- to attract butterflies and birds, for woodlands and
meadows -- and, best of all, includes maps and descriptions of each native plant region in
North America, and lists of plants that work best for your first attempts.
http://www.globebooks.com/Growing_your_library.html

 

Excellent post Grizzled! Getting rid of our lawn was one of the best things we ever did. It cut our water bill dramatically, we get all kinds of interesting birds and butterflies and, best of all no mowing!

Our yard is a certified National Wildlife Federation backyard habitat. In fact, it's in the habitat gallery on their web page -- http://www.enature.com/backyardwildlife/nwf_bwh_showhabitat.asp?bwhid=10381

 

Cool! That's a great back yard!

 

Neat Mrs JB, that is really cool.

We have kids so we need a good sturdy yard. I recommend weed and feed 3-4 times a year, and you water it in immediatly. A spreader works fine....what is always cool is to watch when a line of rain showers are approaching and quickly fertilize your yard.

Also, you will need to kill all the grub worms etc, especially if you have St Augustine. I recommend Diazanon or some other poison for that, and also water it in immediatly.

Now, Jeff will respond with his customary, " Don't use poison" and he certainly knows more about it then I, but I use it 3 times a year and my grass looks very nice.

DaDakota

 

The big concern for you, Da, shouldn't really even be the nice looking grass. Nearly every environmental group, pediatric doctor's group and consumer group has warned parents about children playing on laws where pesticides are used. Diazanon is now a banned substance because it was found to cause cancer in children so you won't be able to use that much longer (once the supply runs out on shelves, its gone for good).

Just be careful and consider the consequences.

 

Diazanon sucks. It is bad enough to get banned, but the manufacturers are allowed to sell their existing supplies (probably 10 years worth). Pesticides like Diazanon kill everything, including beneficial bugs. It doesn't make sense to use it when you have natural alternatives. For grubs, buy beneficial nematodes and milky spore. Once established, the nematodes last years.

Don't use weed and feed if you have trees, after all, trees are a broadleaf weed (read the warning label).

Some of the new organic fertilizers work just fine. Your lawn takes longer to green up (since the fertilizer has to break down naturally), but the soil is alive and helps the grass through stress (like heat and drought). You also don't have excess nitrogen polluting the water supply.

Weeds are a problem for organic lawns. The trick is to keep them from sprouting in the first place. The weeds spout before most warm season grasses get going. Don't scalp your lawn in the spring. A thick lawn keeps the sun off the weed seeds and they don't sprout. Corn gluten meal is available in 40 lb bags and is a pre-emergent herbicide, among other beneficial attributes (it can smell for a week or two, though).

Good luck.

 

If it's weed and feed - put it down when the grass is wet (from rain or dew) and do not water. The granules need to stay on the weed for a few days and the moisture from the water being on in the weed before you put it down causes the granules to stick.

If it's just fertilizer - put it down before a rain or water within a day or 2.

 

Dry red clay someimtes works like asphalt-- but without all the heat absorption.

 

Aaaaah... that's one of the big 3 on all gardening radio talk shows isn't it?! Diazanon, Dursban, and Malathione (sp?). I swear to God those 3 things were the solution to anybody's problem. I can't believe I listened to those shows as a kid and I still don't own a lawn.

 

1) Walk out to lawn
2) Pull down pants
3) Squat
4) Let it fly
5) Repeat as necessary