Fertilizer and Rain

[Peter Pan]

I live in NJ and recently purchased some Scotts Fertilizer 30-3-4(Blue bag) from Lowes, the woman working there said that is what's needed for this time of year. I came home with the Scotts and some Lime and applied both to my lawn. Later that day it began to drizzle and continued with the light rain for the remainder of the day. Do I need to re-apply the Scotts or will my lawn be ok? My second question is what is the next thing I should do for my lawn? Thanks

[Steve]

Jim wrote in news: [e-mail]:

If you have crabgrass, a crabgrass preventer like Green Light. Should be applied when the forthisia blooms, because that is an indication of the soil being warm enough for the crabgrass seeds to begin to germinate. Re apply one May 15th, because it can germinate in different times on different parts of your lawn (cooler areas). You might also want to put down a weed screen product. I use Portrait.

[Jim]

you were so well blessed to receive a light slow drizzling rain on the very day just after making the fertilizer application. the water begins the process of breaking the fertilizer down and making it available to the grass as plant food.

no, just go out and brag to all your friends of how you received a light slow drizzling rain on the very day just after making the fertilizer application.

what's your over all objective for your lawn and what type of grass are you growing?

[Peter Pan]

[Steveo]

The same place you bought the fertilizer you just applied. Now is the time to apply it, btw. See if they have one (pre-emergent crabgrass control) without fertilizer, if they do, apply it in a week or so. Before another light drizzle.. :P

[GWB]

" light slow drizzling rain" wouldda been nice. I got an inch and half after fertilizing. Too much of a good thing??

[Kyle Boatright]

In your situation, you should probably seed the fescue in the fall and apply crabgrass preventer in the spring. Either when the forsythia bloom or when the soil temperatures get above 50f.

You don't want to use a crabgrass preventer until 8 weeks or so after any fescue seed has been sewn or the pre-emergent will kill the fescue.

If I had a neighbor like yours, I'd just apply pre-emergent to a 10-20' strip of his yard closest to mine.

KB

[trader4]

The better solution would be to have bought a fertilizer with pre- emergent crabgrass control and applied it mid April. And no need to worry about rain after fertilizer application. Rain is a good thing, unless it's some pathological case, like extreme slope and so much heavy rain that it washes downhill.

[Jim]

2.5 inches of rain in less than 5 minutes on the day after I broadcast at the precise rate of 2.5 pounds per 100 square feet. end result was I'd just as well taken the entire bag to the low spot where the water ran and dumped it on the ground. grrrrrrrrrr!

[Peter Pan]

[Jim]

the product you mention contains a component that will prevent the crabgrass seed in the soil from germinating. that particular product will not kill crabgrass that has already germinated and sprouted, nor will that product have any effect on the various other types of undesirable broadleaf weed seed resident in your soil. pre-emergents work by stopping the seed from germinating. since crabgrass is a hot weather weed, usually the first frost begins the process of killing the living growing crabgrass. next years crabgrass crop is the result of the previous years crop having left seed in the soil.

post emergent selective herbicides are required to kill undesirable living growing broadleaf weeds. the general rule is not to apply liquid post emergent selective herbicides after the ambient daily temperatures have exceeded 80 degrees F and don't apply under drought conditions.

I use Lesco products on my lawn and in my lawn care business.

[Jim]

good choice for your growing zone.

that's a common problem I run into with customers living in row houses where their lawns connect to the neighbors lawn with no hedge or barrier to reduce the amount of wind blown seed from undesirable plant life. the solution has been to stay vigilant with the timely deployments of pre and post emergent herbicides while adhering to a stringent application schedule.

crabgrass will attack and kill fescue.

I use Lesco on my lawn and in my lawn care business.

[Peter Pan]

[Jim]

[Steve]

"Peter Pan" wrote in news:2padnWXmjeBanpXbnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

I think I would avoid Scotts. I think the fertilizer especially is a quick releasing product, which makes your lawn grow super fast in the spring, then looses it's punch in the summer. I follow a lawn plan by a local garden nursery near in Northern Maryland called Carroll Gardens. He has a radio program on from 7-9 here in the Baltimore area on AM680. His plan includes Turf Trust fertilizer, which is really an awesome product. I have used it for years now. Once you establish your lawn, you will only need to feed it 3 times a year, and it will encourage new growth of your seed, and weeds will be choked out. You can view his entire year of lawn care at

I would highly recomend it.

Greenlight products (along with the Portrait Weed Screen) can be ordered online at Greenlight's website, or they may be able to tell you where it is available in your area.

-Steve

[Steveo]

Are you affiliated with them?

[Eggs Zachtly]

Nothing wrong with Scott's program, AFAICT. It works fine for me, and many I know.

All cool season grasses "lose their punch" in the summer, DUH. Did you even bother to READ the OP's reply: Message-ID:

"I am trying to grow fescue..."

Do you not think that it's going to "lose it's punch" in the summer?

Who the fsck let's their lawn go to seed?

[rest snipped]

*rolls eyes*

[Jim]

[....]

some great success has been had with allowing Bermuda to produce seed in the early season by not cutting it until well after the seeds are mature. then using a planned dispersion with a side discharge mower one can control the reseeding distribution. follow the mowing with a star tooth aerator and presto the lawn has been reseeded in a most cost effective manner.

[Eggs Zachtly]

Here, Bermuda is an incessant weed. It's growing season is too short to establish itself as a turf grass. And, again, the OP stated they wanted to grow Fescue. =P

[Jim]

here in the south Bermuda is an excellent choice when high traffic is a concern. the stuff is almost indestructible. lots of the golf courses here use Bermuda because it will hold up under the tough conditions present on the high traffic areas. my dislike for Bermuda is how it goes brown during cool and cold weather. though requiring more care my preference is fescue.

due to the location of the OP their choice of fescue is a far better choice that Bermuda.