My 30 plus years of experience has shown me that most of the time there is no need to buy expense weed and feed fertilizers. Lawn grasses thrive on three things. They have to have sun and water in moderaton, and then they need to mowed often, usually once a week while growing.
As long as lawn grasses are growing and you mow at least once a week the lawn grasses will choke out any weeds. Most weeds like to grow tall and thus will be prevented from going to seed if the lawn is mowed often and the weeds that are short will be choked by a vigorous growing lawn.
If the lawn grass needs extra nutrients to grow more, they benefit the most from 13-13-13 fertilizer. Triple 13 fertilizer is usually very cheap and has all the needed ingredients to make the grass grow. Do not apply more then once a month during the growing season.
Again, weed and feed fertilizers are expense and the weed killer in them will actually stress out other plants and can even kill a tree if applied under the canopy. So, for a perfect lawn make sure the lawn gets sun, one inch of water a week, is mowed once a week, and if needed no more then one application of triple 13 a month.
Till next time, Jorge
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Dear Jorge,
Thank you for your grass tips. It was very informative. One mistake I'm probably making is not mowing enough. WE tend to mow every two to three weeks. your point about not letting the weeds grow tall and go to seed is well taken.
My husband says we need to pay attention to the ph because the soil is very acidic due to all rain. It apparently washes all the alkalinity out. Steve says that's why rhododendrons do so well here.
We also found that renting an aerator really rejuvenated this old compressed lawn.
I'm definitely fine after skateboarding. I was just teasing Olga about encouraging me to skateboard! I'll stick with horseback riding.
See ya soon! still limping slightly, LPk
L, Due you have acid rain in Boston? Rain is usually no problem for grasses. Soil aeration is helpful for lawns that have been compressed due to traffic usually from construction or heavy foot traffic.
If the lawn is cared for as I suggested (also no bagging of clippings) then the natural order of things creates beneficial insects like grubs and worms that naturally aerate the soil. Weed fertilizers and insecticides also have a tendency to kill these beneficial insects.
Skateboarding is tough, anytime I've done it I spend most of the time on the ground.
Later ,Jorge
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