After several years of townhome living my wife and I recently bought a house with a real yard. I'm looking for recommendations on fertilizers that will kill weeds, dandelions, etc and are pet friendly. If being pet friendly is impossible that would also be good information to know.

Knowing where you are, what type of grass you have will help a lot. In general don't use a weed n feed product. Fertilizing the grass and treating for weeds should be completely separate. Get on a good fertilizer schedule, I use 3-1-2 ratio fertilizer. But it's also a good idea to have your soil tested and see what nutrients you might need. Get on a good pre-emergent schedule, 3 applications per year will prevent a lot of weeds from coming up in the first place. Now is the time to get down a pre-emergent treatment. I use Barricade or Dimension.

When is the last time you fertilized and what did you use?

Having a thick yard and using pre-emergent are really your best defense against weeds. Get on that schedule and stay on it for the whole year. The patience will pay off.

Scott's weed and feed for Southern lawns has always been great for my yards.

Go to DoMyOwn.com and sign up for their "Turf Box" subscription service. You give your zip code and lawn size... then choose what type of service (weed, fertilizer, disease prevention) and they automatically ship you the products you need around the time you need to apply. I still use Neill Sperry's timing recommendation but the products they send are great and have gotten me the thickest lawn on the block.

Sweet Kitten Feet said:

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Knowing where you are, what type of grass you have will help a lot. In general don't use a weed n feed product. Fertilizing the grass and treating for weeds should be completely separate. Get on a good fertilizer schedule, I use 3-1-2 ratio fertilizer. But it's also a good idea to have your soil tested and see what nutrients you might need. Get on a good pre-emergent schedule, 3 applications per year will prevent a lot of weeds from coming up in the first place. Now is the time to get down a pre-emergent treatment. I use Barricade or Dimension.

When is the last time you fertilized and what did you use?

Having a thick yard and using pre-emergent are really your best defense against weeds. Get on that schedule and stay on it for the whole year. The patience will pay off.

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Ok, all good info. No weed n feed. Got it.

My follow ups. FYI, I'm a big newbie

1. What does "3-1-2 ratio fertilizer" mean?
2. Understood on the pre-emergent.
3. We've lived here almost a month, and the grass was put in shortly before while the home was being built.

Definitely going to look into that.

dc509 said:

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Sweet Kitten Feet said:

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Knowing where you are, what type of grass you have will help a lot. In general don't use a weed n feed product. Fertilizing the grass and treating for weeds should be completely separate. Get on a good fertilizer schedule, I use 3-1-2 ratio fertilizer. But it's also a good idea to have your soil tested and see what nutrients you might need. Get on a good pre-emergent schedule, 3 applications per year will prevent a lot of weeds from coming up in the first place. Now is the time to get down a pre-emergent treatment. I use Barricade or Dimension.

When is the last time you fertilized and what did you use?

Having a thick yard and using pre-emergent are really your best defense against weeds. Get on that schedule and stay on it for the whole year. The patience will pay off.

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Ok, all good info. No weed n feed. Got it.

My follow ups. FYI, I'm a big newbie

1. What does "3-1-2 ratio fertilizer" mean?
2. Understood on the pre-emergent.
3. We've lived here almost a month, and the grass was put in shortly before while the home was being built.

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Fertilizer is mixed at certain Nitogen-Phosphorus-Potassium ration (N-P-K). A little math is required because you'll probably never find a fertilizer labeled 3-1-2 but a 15-5-10 or 60-20-40 or any other multiple of 3-1-2 is the same. You can buy in whatever ratio you need or even combine two to get the right ratio. Ie. 10-0-5 plus a 5-5-5 equals 15-5-10.

Edit to add: a 15-5-10 is 15% N, 5% P, and 10% K. Any analysis you get will tell you you need to apply x amount of N, P, and K per 1000 square feet or acre or some other area. If I want 1 pound of K per 1000 square feet and my lawn is 3000 square feet, I need to put down 30 pounds of a 15-5-10 fertilizer. Obviously, though, for ever pound of K I put down, I'm putting down 1.5 pounds of N and .5 of P. Which is why getting the correct ratio for your needs is important.

If your grass was put down in the last month or two you probably need to hold off on fertilizer and pre emergents. Not sure on a time frame exactly. Until it's well established I think the grass can be damaged by fertilizer or pre emergent.

Look up Randy Lemmon for Houston and Neil Sperry for Dallas. Theyll atleast get you on a decent schedule.

RCR06 said:

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If your grass was put down in the last month or two you probably need to hold off on fertilizer and pre emergents. Not sure on a time frame exactly. Until it's well established I think the grass can be damaged by fertilizer or pre emergent.

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Yes. Do not put pre-emergent down on a freshly laid yard. I'd give it a full growing season to establish itself before worrying about that. Do fertilize and water well. Water more frequently until roots are well established. After that, twice a week about an inch total.

Premium East Grow has been my go to fertilizer for over 30 years. It cost around $30/bag and covers like 7600 square feet if I remember correctly. It is a little more expensive than others but well worth the redsults

No one has addressed it but most anything you put down will be pet friendly, if it is a liquid application just let it dry.

RCR06 said:

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If your grass was put down in the last month or two you probably need to hold off on fertilizer and pre emergents. Not sure on a time frame exactly. Until it's well established I think the grass can be damaged by fertilizer or pre emergent.

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Fertilizer will not damage new sod. Preemergent can cause some root pruning but nothing that I would worry about this time of year. If you can find Ronstar, that is the safest on the root system.

MicroLife organic fertilizer. You can apply anytime, to any plant. You'll never burn your grass.

Disclaimer: everything will grow with this stuff. It's not a pre-emergent or weed killer. It simply feeds your yard like crazy .. but healthy grass should push our weeds over the summer.

First of all, congratulations on the new home!

There is just nothing out there that will do it all well: fertilize, kill weeds, insects, fungus, etc. To get a good result you will have to treat each separately. A few guys I follow on YouTube for advice are Ryan Knorr, GCI Turf, Lawn Tools, Lawn Care Nut, Lawn Ginga, Lawn Rebel, and The Lawn Whisperer.

I've been using the YardMastery fert and so far really like it. You have to order online but it's good stuff.

My fert plan this season on my bermuda and zoysia:
April and May: Flagship 24-0-6
June: Double Dark with 6% iron 16-0-0
July: Stress Blend 7-0-20
August: close out the season with Flagship 24-0-6

As others have said, super important to lay down a preemergent in the middle or at the end of February before crab grass and weeds start. I spray it with prodiamine 65WDG (water soluble granules) in February at the full application rate for my first preemergent application. At beginning of March I spray it with Demension (dithiopyr) at the full application rate. The two preemergents target different zones in the soil.

I spot spray weeds before it gets too hot with a mix of Speed Zone or T Zone and Blindside. In the winter, WHEN THE GRASS IS DORMANT!, I will spot spray with 43% glyphosate. When nutsedge pops up I spray it with Dismiss. Dismiss is expensive but it whips Nutsedge's ass. You'll see it begin to yellow 24 hours after the application.

In March I apply Acelepryn G or Grub X for grubs and insects.

If I begin to see bermuda seed heads pop up I apply T-NEX PGR (plant growth regulator). PGR also keeps your lawn from growing tall quickly, meaning you mow less frequently. It slows the grass growth allowing the grass to use more of its energy towards the root system and overall health (thickness?) of the grass.

I also highly suggest getting a soil sample kit and sending a soil sample in for an analysis. This will help you determine what your particular yard needs.

My plan is pretty involved and I really enjoy yard work so this may not be for you. So far my lawn is three shades darker than both of my neighbors and I have very few weeds. One of my neighbor's yards is solid crabgrass and you can clearly see the line I sprayed heavy with prodiamine between our two lawns..

I use Ortho weed b gone spray that you hook up to a hose. I generally apply it at night late and let it dry over night 3-4 days before I mow. I have Bermuda and it works on every thing but sedge. Image same type of application for the sedge.

Am I the only one that finds it impossible to find a pre emergent? All I can find is weed and feed

*NERD ALERT*

To add to the N-P-K calculation post earlier, be careful not to apply too much nitrogen to the yard if you are using a synthetic fert or you will burn the lawn. I will typically only add 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 SF at most during the beginning of the growing season. I'll add about 3/4 lb per 1,000 for the rest of the apps.

A good app to calculate this is Turf Therapy and it's free.

Example (not that you need it, but I did)...
- My lawn is 11,000 SF
- I'm using Flagship 24-0-6

Rate: 1 lb N per 1,000
100/24 = 4.17
4.17(11) = 45.87 lbs of product to cover 11,000 SF

Rate: 3/4 lb N per 1,000
75/24 = 3.13
3.13(11) = 34.43 lbs of product to cover 11,000 SF

tlepoC said:

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Am I the only one that finds it impossible to find a pre emergent? All I can find is weed and feed

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Amazon carries both prodiamine 65WDG and Dimension.

Quote:

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Fertilizer will not damage new sod.

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False. Most sod farms are pumping tons of fertilizer on their fields to push growth. Applying more fertilizer too soon has the potential to cause major damage. (Depending upon when the sod farm last applied fertilizer, which you won't know)

Case in point: Two years ago I installed 1800 square yards of Zeon zoysia for a client. Five days later a very large & well known lawn care firm comes out & fertilizes. A few days after that I'm getting calls about the lawn turning brown.

The lawn care firm paid for removal, disposal & re-installation of a new lawn because they knew they screwed up.

Moral of the story: wait a couple of months before you fertilize your new lawn.

For the pets..go organic fertilizer or if you do buy a weed and feed just make sure it's watered and well.
Another thing is I noticed you said you moved into a townhouse which likely means you have a very small yard. A lot of the products you are going to find are going to be in big bags which will more than cover the size of your yard. Again assuming the townhouse has a small yard. It might be more economical and easy to apply by utilizing spray in fertilizers. However it might be a little more difficult or expensive to buy something that is a spray in pre-emergent.
I live in Houston and have St Augustine and follow Randy lemon schedule pretty closely and my yard is certainly better than most in the neighborhood. I apply pre-emergent four times a year but my neighbors do absolutely nothing so I still end up with some weeds and in years when it's bad I will use one application of Scott's weed and feed in late spring such as late April early May. We have multiple dogs and have never had a problem just by watering that particular weed and feed product in.
You can find a lot of the products referenced in this thread online but I would also recommend finding a local garden center and go talk to the staff there. For example here in Houston we have Houston garden centers which are big box stores as well as Lowe's and home Depot. But if you want a proper selection and maybe someone who has some knowledge to help you out I would go to a place like Warren's garden center in Kingwood. There's likely a place like that wherever you live

Thank you all for the advice. I'm digging into all of it to put together a lawncare plan.

I've got all these tree saplings trying to come up in the grass and mulch around tree. What's the best way to manage? Just now the bstrds down?

Pull, sharp shooter, or spray.

Run a spade about 4-6" deep around the perimeter of the circle bed.

Do you sharpshooter each one then replace the soil? Will it fill in w st Augustine ?

If spray , what do u Rec? I imagine will harm the grass though too ?

All you're trying to accomplish with the spade is to cut the roots feeding the shoots. Insert spade and pull straight back out. No need to remove any soil. You will not harm the tree.

Perfect. Thanks. Wasn't sure if it was a root feeding them or if they were independent.