After paying TruGreen and Scott’s lawn services (at different times) to treat our lawn with unknown substances, and not being satisfied, I figured I’d try my hand at my own lawn care – here is a program referred to me by a friend. I started it in the Winter/Spring of 2015 – let’s see how it goes.
February 1 (no later):
Spread corn gluten meal. For my yard, ~4000 sq ft, I use two bags. It needs to be wet down in order to “stick”, so I run my sprinkler test pattern (1 minute per station) twice.
(Update – previously, I did this in late-February, but in the Spring the yard was still very weedy, so I figured doing it earlier in the year would be better. We’ll see how this goes.)
Two weeks later (no sooner):
Spread fertilizer.
For my yard, I use one 25-lb bag.Spread Ladybug Brand 8-2-4 fertilizer.
Update: my store no longer carries Ladybug fertilizer, so I used what their new recommendation is, Good Natured 10-1-1 Natural Poultry Fertilizer. One 40-lb bag covers my ~4000 sq ft yard.
Spray with Foilar Spray. This is a concoction mixed in the sprayer bottle: 8 oz of Ladybug Brand John’s Recipe and 2 oz Agrispon. Since this is too thick to be sprayed easily out of the nozzle of the bottle I have, I dilute it by filling the rest of the 16 oz spray bottle with water.
May (15th?):
Spray with Foilar Spray.
July (15th?):
Spread Fertilizer.
Spray with Foilar Spray.
September (15th?):
Spray with Foilar Spray.
Spread corn gluten meal.
(Update – previously, I did this in mid-October, but in the Spring the yard was still very weedy, so I figured doing it earlier in the year would be better, and doing so was recommended by someone at the store who seemed to know what she was talking about. We’ll see how this goes.)
Late October – Early November:
Spread fertilizer.
Spray with Foilar Spray.
Update
The above worked so poorly that in 2022 we had to have our entire yard plowed under and re-sodded. So, since then, here’s what has actually worked:
February (after the likely last freeze of the season)
Mow short, removing the “thatch”, with the grass catcher to bag the clippings.
Spread pre-emergent. Lesco 0-0-7 has worked fine. Use according to directions, but there’s really no such thing as “too much” that would damage the yard, so if rain washes it away in a few days, you can apply another half-dose.
March (4 weeks after pre-emergent)
There will likely be weeds. Mow and wait for a week until weeds are actively growing, then spread “post-emergent”. I used Lesco 18-0-9 “weed and feed” until I couldn’t find it any longer. Another product was recommended that I now can find locally: Lesco’s “LockUp Extra”, fertilizer plus herbicide. This has been described as a “post-emergent”, that is, to kill weeds after they actively start growing.
Pay attention to the directions. You should water (or let it rain) before applying, and do it at a time when it won’t rain again for the next few days.
April (4-6 weeks after March application)
Repeat the same thing you did inMarch. Mow and wait for a week until weeds are actively growing, then spread “fertilizer plus herbicide post-emergent”.
Early-Mid September
Right around the time the 100° temperatures are in the past, repeat what was done in February: spread pre-emergent. Lesco 0-0-7 has worked fine. Use according to directions, but there’s really no such thing as “too much” that would damage the yard, so if rain washes it away in a few days, you can apply another half-dose.
Early November
Spread fertilizer, a kind that’s more of a “root builder” than actively promoting growth. Lesco’s 15-5-10 is good.
