Lawns & guinea pigs

[olyman]

Hi, I am a newby here.

Recently moved into a property with a 25 x 35foot lawn. Our guinea pigs are put on lawn in a run each day.

The lawn has a lot of weeds so needs a weedkiller application, also I supect it needs a feed.

Question, should I apply weedkiller before the feed or after.

The instructions for weedkiller say 'keep children & pets away from treated areas untill spray has dried".

Question2, will it be safe to put the guinea pigs on the grass after spray has dried, they eat only grass, not weed.

[Frank]

You're kidding, right?

[willshak]

olyman wrote the following on 8/27/2012 1:20 PM (ET):

Label all the weeds with warnings written in Guinea so they will know which plants not to eat.

[Pat Kiewicz]

All right, I will treat this seriously...

After, because the weedkiller needs the weeds to be growing actively. But...I wouldn't recommend treating any lawn that beloved pet animals would be grazing on.

Lets make that crystal clear: DON'T DO IT.

That's reasonably safe for children that will only be walking across the lawn. Not safe enough as far as I'm concerned if the animals might be rolling on the lawn and tend to lick their paws (cats and dogs). Wait until after a rain (or several). Err on the side of caution.

No, I would not let the guinea pigs graze on a treated lawn, nor even on one that had been recently fertilized, unless perhaps it was lightly treated with an organic fertilizer which had been well watered in.

[lil Abner]

On the opposite of the pond. A 25x35 lawn, you could pretty much pull up or dig up all the weeds. I've used weed an feed and so on over time and don't loke what it did to the lawn and wildlife. We used to have a lot of rought ground snakes. A lot like big earth worms, that lived in the thatch. They got rid of grubs, worms, fleas, ticks and pretty much everything. These chemiclas killed them out and lots of lawn but the weeds persisted. Some weeds have to be dealt with with herbicides though. Overseeding grass and encouraging tall lush growth crowds out most or all weeds depending on section of yard. You just have be sure and mow it when dry and not let clippings mat up.