The Grass Doctor

When is the best time for fertilizing a lawn?

My lawn has lots of bare spots and weeds. How do I first kill the weeds without using poisonous chemicals. I have dogs.

Public Comments

1. At this time of year, there's not much point in spreading fertilizer on your lawn. The grass is not growing very strongly, so encouraging growth with a chemical will produce thin, weak grass next spring. Before you put weedkiller down, "spike", or aerate, the lawn. You can do this with a garden fork, or you can use an aerator that you push along. The idea of aerating is to allow nutrients in rain water to get down to the grass roots, and it is particularly necessary if the soil has become hard and compacted. Once the aerating has been done (and autumn is a good time to do it), apply a selective weedkiller. This will kill weeds but not harm the grass. Bare spots can be dealt with by loosening the surface with a garden fork, raking the loosened soil to one side, and spreading seed at 1 oz. per sq. yard. Cover the seed with the raked soil, and press it down lightly with a piece of hardboard or similar. The bare patches may have been caused by dog urine, so be aware of the damage dogs can do to lawns. Start putting fertilizer down in spring, and choose one that contains weedkiller.Best of luck.
2. Another solution is to go to Scotts web page and follow their 'four step' program. I have followed it for three years now and my grass is almost weed free and when you walk on it it is like a carpet. I live in Illinois, and cut my grass at a 3 inch length.
3. The spring is the best time to start fertilizing your lawn. If you don't want to use chemicals for weeds then the only real solution is to get down on your hands and knees and start pulling.
4. The easiest way to remember is by Holidays - Memorial Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day. It's not too late to fertilize now - but do it before there are any real hard frosts.