new sod

[NAGORSKI]

My new sod is 2 months old and has some weeds coming up. I heard to use a fertilizer with 20-10-10. Is this true,or is it to early to fertilize. And what about insect control and vole preventers, cuz there are critters around thanks.

[LABS4ME]

If you're gonna fertilize with this heat you better be on par with golf course maintenance. Wait for the heat to break and then fertilize.

Use a slow release new lawn fertilizer. The unfortunate thing about new lawn ferts. is the middle number phospherous is an important compound to help trigger root growth, but it moves very little if at all through the soil column, unlike nitrogen which leaches at a rate determined by the makeup of the soil. The best way to use the new lawn ferts w/ phosphorous was to apply it before you sod or immediatley after a core aeration where it will be in the root zone of the grass. Technically phosphorous fertilizer is outlawed here in the twin cities and maybe even the rest of the state now. This is the nutrient that causes the large algae blooms on lakes and ponds. A lot of it comes from people not even living along the shorelines but rather through excess fertilizer washing down drives and streets into storm water sewers and then into the waters... Minnesota soils actually have a fair amount of naturally occurring phospherous so it's been determined to not be nessacary to continue to allow people to apply it at will.

Good luck!

Ken

[NAGORSKI]

Thanks. Yeah I was gonna wait until we were gonna get some rain next week. I do have a sprinkler system, but can only water every other day. So, just look for a new lawn fertilzer w/no phosphorus (the middle #)? How about insect control? I have fetilized before regularly but didn't have a problem with weeds so soon in my new sod. My soil is all sand w/ about 3-4 inches of black dirt. This is at a new house.