Quick Landscaping question

[Bryan Lisowski]

Is it too late to put weed and feed or something similar that I can use a spreader to put on the lawn? What do you recommend for a large amount of dandelions in the yard?

[Pat Barry]

No, its not too late. Apply it with a spreader in the morning while the dew is still in the grass.

[Bryan Lisowski]

Thanks Pat. Now I just need to estimate the size of the yard. When I cut it today, using my pedometer it said I walked 1.62 miles.

[William Batdorf]

Hi Brian
i use Google Earth and the measuring tool for that very purpose. My calculations held out to +\- half a bag of weed&feed.
I have about 3acres of turf. I see you're in NJ....I use Lebanon Seaboard products and have been very happy with the results. I don't believe you can get their products at the big box stores...try professional turf care distributors. Regards, Bill

[Bryan Lisowski]

Hi Brian
i use Google Earth and the measuring tool for that very purpose. My calculations held out to +\- half a bag of weed&feed.
I have about 3acres of turf. I see you're in NJ....I use Lebanon Seaboard products and have been very happy with the results. I don't believe you can get their products at the big box stores...try professional turf care distributors. Regards, Bill

Bill. Thanks for the recommendation. I will try using google earth to measure. I could walk the property and get a rough area calculation.

[Jim Becker]

Is it too late to put weed and feed or something similar that I can use a spreader to put on the lawn? What do you recommend for a large amount of dandelions in the yard?
I recommend you leave the dandelions for the honeybees :) It's an important food source.

That said, you can help control things more relative to weeds in a lawn by keeping the lawn longer and lusher. Weeds tend to take advantage of poorer conditions and a nice thick and longer lawn really helps with this. I realize this isn't an answer to your actual question, but it may help you going forward.

[Wade Lippman]

I like a sprayer with weed be gone. You only do the weeds instead of dumping poison everywhere.

[Bryan Lisowski]

I recommend you leave the dandelions for the honeybees :) It's an important food source.

That said, you can help control things more relative to weeds in a lawn by keeping the lawn longer and lusher. Weeds tend to take advantage of poorer conditions and a nice thick and longer lawn really helps with this. I realize this isn't an answer to your actual question, but it may help you going forward.

Jim

i agree with keeping the lawn longer and lusher, but right now the weeds are just to prevalent and need to take care of them. A couple years ago (3-4) the lawn had very little weeds, then it was an extremely hot summer and dried it out and the weeds began to take over in the years since. We don't have in ground sprinklers and I am sure that is part of the issue, but will have to continue relying on Mother Nature.

[Bryan Lisowski]

I like a sprayer with weed be gone. You only do the weeds instead of dumping poison everywhere.

Wade, unfortunately I don't think this is realistic due to size of yard and current weed situation.

[Stan Calow]

The "feed" part would be wasted at this time of year (despite what the commercials and providers say). But yes to the "weed" part. I prefer the liquid weed'b'gone stuff, on a hose end sprayer if its a large area. Much more efficient and cost effective. Or you can spread granular weed killer alone if you prefer.

[John Terefenko]

I live in NJ and it is too late to weed and feed unless you have a sprinkler because the days are getting hot and the grass is starting to go dormant. You should not have dandelions this time of the year. Adding fertilizer to a lawn now will stress it.

[Bryan Lisowski]

I live in NJ and it is too late to weed and feed unless you have a sprinkler because the days are getting hot and the grass is starting to go dormant. You should not have dandelions this time of the year. Adding fertilizer to a lawn now will stress it.

John since you live in NJ as well this is good info, so would you recommend doing a weed and feed in the fall or next spring? Also I don't get why you shouldn't have dandelions at this time of year. If grass is starting to go dormant now, that means it is still growing up to this point. I don't like doing landscaping so I'm not well versed in this subject except for basic mowing and similar.

[Larry Frank]

Just a suggestion....I would try a number of things that I do with my 2 acre yard. I use a weed and feed in the spring and then spot spray with weed be gone. There are some area that I use Round Up to keep clean. I also try to keep the areas visible from the street looking better than the back half of the yard.

The other thing is to reseed or overseed the yard in the fall. Different grasses grow better in different times of year. Up north, blue grass grows great in the spring and fall but not when it gets too warm. The rescue type grasses and rye grows better in hot months. You need to keep a balance of these in your yard. Of course, this does not apply to the southern states where it is hot much more of the year.

[Tom Stenzel]

Many moons ago I applied a weed and feed to my much smaller lawn with a broadcast spreader. There wasn't much wind in the morning but there must have been enough for me to wipe out a flower bed. After that I stuck to sprays with my admittedly much smaller yard.

Whatever you do, be careful.

-Tom

[Bryan Lisowski]

I think I'm going to hold off until the fall with doing anything and then repeat next spring. Thanks to everyone that chimed in with advise.

[Jerome Stanek]

Is it too late to put weed and feed or something similar that I can use a spreader to put on the lawn? What do you recommend for a large amount of dandelions in the yard?

Are you sure they are dandelions. We have hawk weed that looks like dandeions and they come up this time of the year. I used a weed killer that you hook to a hose to get rid of them. Sprayed one day and by the next they were dead

[Marshall Harrison]

Use this online app to determine what's best for you lawn: My Lawn Care Plan (https://www.scotts.com/en-us/my-lawn)

[John Terefenko]

John since you live in NJ as well this is good info, so would you recommend doing a weed and feed in the fall or next spring? Also I don't get why you shouldn't have dandelions at this time of year. If grass is starting to go dormant now, that means it is still growing up to this point. I don't like doing landscaping so I'm not well versed in this subject except for basic mowing and similar.

Weed and feed is good for the spring. My reminder to put down in time is when the neighbors yellow crocus start blooming. This year they were late because we had a late arriving spring. I do not fertilize at all in the summer because you do not want to stress grass in the heat. I will spot seed or overseed in the fall after labor day. Fall is the best time to grow grass. I will use winter fertilizer late in the fall. I bet those are not dandelions but some other weed flower. Spot spray with weed killer. I have to spot spray for nut grass every year. That is my enemy weed.

[John K Jordan]

Is it too late to put weed and feed or something similar that I can use a spreader to put on the lawn? What do you recommend for a large amount of dandelions in the yard?

I never use weed&feed. Too expensive and not always useful for what needs to be accomplished. What farmers use is an herbicide that targets broad leaf plants, 2,4-D, available from a farm store. Best if applied early in the spring but there is a version that can by applied later. When spot spraying I mix it with dye so I can see where I've sprayed. (When spraying entire fields I mix up 50 gal at a tome and use a boom sprayer - it flat took care of the noxious buttercup that was overtaking some over my fields last year. I walked around and spot sprayed any that came up again this year - didn't take long to do about 5 acres.

Just like wide spectrum herbicides like Roundup, a farmer cannot afford to buy the name brands but instead uses the generic (glyphosate in this case) in concentrated form at a fraction of the cost. The staff at a good farmer's co-op can tell you what is best to use and when to use it.

It is usually better to use a separate fertilizer if you need it. Pelletized fertilizer formulated for grass would be cheaper. The farm store can also advise about the fertilizer. Fertilizer really needs to go down in the spring anyway. I buy fertilizer for my fields in bulk, usually 2 tons at a time, but you can get almost any formulation in bags.

I'm with Jim, though - I quit my war on dandilions some years ago because of the bees. For the same reason I also don't mow areas that have a lot of clover until later in the summer - without bees 1/4 to 1/3 of our food supply would likely disappear.

JKJ