Lawn weed and feed?too early?

[bassphish2005]

I was thinking about putting down the weed and feed Monday after Easter,I have already seen dandilions coming up near the concrete where the sun hits it all day.What do you guy's think...is it too early,or am I on the right track?

[hotrod1]

Personally, I think it is to early for a weed and feed.

You realy don't want to apply much Nitrogen on turf this early in spring. You will get excessive growth which will stress your lawn out as well as make you mow more often.

You can usully take care of dandilions when you start seeing them.

I would probly wait a few weeks when we get some steady warmer temps before putting it down.

Also, just for reference, the best time to put down your weed and feed is in the fall. that way you don't get the excessive growth in the fall and spring and you could wait until mid to lat May for fertilizer. Plus the herbicide will be more efective in the fall and lower the amount of dandilions in the spring.

[bassphish2005]

I put down in the fall[early Oct]but then got lots of rain so I think some of it just washed awa.....I guess I can wait a week or two to kill them 'lions!

[LwnmwnMan2]

There really can't be that many dandelions right now, the ground temps are just too cold.

You'll get zero effectiveness if you tried to put down ANY fertilizer right now (generally speaking around MN, for you readers from out of the state).

You won't want to put down a weed-n-feed product until sometime in late May or early June.

If you want to just pull the heads off the dandelions so they don't go to seed, that's what I would do for now.

It's still 3-4 weeks before we're even worried about putting down pre-emergent at the rate this weather is going, let alone worrying about the dandelions.

[Powerstroke]

My company came out and applied fert with Pre-M yesterday. I was so mad. They spoke to my wife on monday and she said it was fine. I wish she would've asked before they came.

Anyway, I have noticed many yard signs this weeks from the splash and dash types out applying already. It makes me mad, but then again, I got hit too.

[fishersofmen]

I've been in the lawn and tree care buisness for 9 years. Our buisness is centered around fertilizing and weed control. We will start our first round of applications next week. We typically start the second week of April. Almost all companies begin the the first application with the pre-emergent by mid April in order to time the yearly schedule properly. Our company offers as many as 5 applications throughout the summer with the larger companies offering as many as 6 or 7. I will say the way some of these companies begin there applications at the end of March or even when there is still snow on the ground is rediculous. But just realize with how big these companies are (Truegreen) they almost have to begin the process that soon in order to get everyone completed on time. The best way to avoid this is to stick with small local companies who don't have to fit thousands of customers into the schedule. Powerstroke you should be fine though if the Pre-emergent was just put down. I believe the label for effectivness on the stuff we use is around 4 months. Like I said we will start putting it down in a few days and very rarely do we have a customer that gets crabgrass. If for any reason a customer does we will treat it. As far as fertilizing goes while some choose to wait 4-6 weeks, my lawn will be dark green and looking good w/zero dandelions 2 weeks from now.

[Tom7227]

No offense to the original poster, but I was thinking WHY IN THE HE77 DON'T PEOPLE LOOK AROUND BEFORE THEY ASK A QUESTION THAT'S BEEN ANSWER 746 TIMES BEFORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, but this subject has been beat to death - for at least the past 4 years.

[LwnmwnMan2]

No offense to the original poster, but I was thinking WHY IN THE HE77 DON'T PEOPLE LOOK AROUND BEFORE THEY ASK A QUESTION THAT'S BEEN ANSWER 746 TIMES BEFORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, but this subject has been beat to death - for at least the past 4 years.

Tom - It's nothing to get that worked up over....sheesh...

It's amazing when you're on a forum that's completely dedicated to ONLY lawn and garden stuff, and the "professionals" keep asking these questions over and over and over.

[Tom7227]

Sorry, it's been a long day and my tolerance is low.

[fishersofmen]

On any HSOforum that is based on sharing information, I would think its pretty typical that a question gets asked numerous times.........

[charliepete]

The topic may be beat to death, but about the only reason I read this forum is to decide when to put my crab grass preventer down each spring.

[the squirrel]

So if it stays above freezing from here on out crabgrass preventer on May 1st is still too early?

[LwnmwnMan2]

I was out checking today around the north Metro, ground temps were in the low 40's.

That doesn't mean along blacktop or sidewalks the temps won't be pushing 50.

However, forecasts are starting to show a bit of a cool down as well, plus if we don't get any moisture to break the product down and create the "barrier", it's going to do nothing but sit there anyways.

[fishersofmen]

You can put it down any time at this point and you will be good to go. We covered around 6 acres today.......

[nofishfisherman]

I checked my yard in St. Paul last weekend and it was right around 45-46 degrees in all areas I checked including next to the driveway.

I'll check again this weekend.

[the squirrel]

I just raked her good yesterday and looks much better still might put the dethatch blade on and do a once over. I'll hold off a bit on any applications and just give her some water in the mean time.

[LwnmwnMan2]

I checked my yard in St. Paul last weekend and it was right around 45-46 degrees in all areas I checked including next to the driveway.

I'll check again this weekend.

What time of day did you check? You're supposed to be fairly close to sunrise when you do it, if possible.

[nofishfisherman]

It was later then that, probably 11am or so, maybe a little later. The areas I checked had yet to see the sun because of shade from the garage and a tall pine next to it.

I realize the temp may have been a few degrees warmer but it atleast gives me an idea of what I'm dealing with. I know if its not 55 at noon then its still way to early. I haven't checked this weekend yet.