Lawns form an integral part of your home – the element of greenery, a space for the children and pets to play, and a spot for Sunday barbeques or morning coffees. However, caring for your lawn can get difficult, especially during seasons that encourage weed growth.
Weed actively grows in the spring and fall seasons – when your lawn needs the most care and upkeep. These are the times when you need to consider weed and feed treatment for lawns.
This is a process by which a lawn care expert administers weed-killing agents to your lawn that promote grass sustenance simultaneously. Let’s understand the weed & feed process in more detail.
What Is a Weed and Feed Treatment?
Weed and Feed are a class of lawn care products that contain two types of agents:
- Weed: A herbicide that is either chemical or natural to kill off the weeds in your lawn.
- Feed: A fertilizer that helps the grass to grow.
A normal course of weeding your lawn and helping the grass grow would typically take two phases – one to apply the herbicide and allow it to work, and then using the fertilizer separately to enable the grass to grow and sustain.
This procedure may be too long and effort-intensive for some people or larger areas. Therefore, weed & feed products combine the process into a single application, saving time, manpower, and effort to achieve similar or better results.
A good analogy is to think of weed and feed products as something akin to your typical shampoo + conditioner products.
Know Your Weed & Feed Product
Weed and feed for lawns, as is evident, contains two components – a herbicide and a fertilizer.
Let’s break that down.
“Weed” or Herbicide
Two predominant types of herbicides are available in the market – post-emergent and pre-emergent. Most of the weed & feed mixes consist of the post-emergent type. Let’s understand the difference between both before you can determine which type is the most suitable for application on your lawn:
Post-Emergent Herbicide
Post-emergent herbicides are weed killers that work on weeds already in your lawn. You can use this herbicide to eliminate dandelion, clover, crabgrass, and other intruders that have already “emerged” or started growing between the grass.
Pre-Emergent Herbicide
Pre-emergent products are applied to lawns to prevent new weeds from successfully germinating between the grass. However, timing is key with this type of herbicide. If you apply it too soon, you risk losing its efficacy because the weeds are still dormant. If you apply it too late, it won’t work because the weeds have already germinated.
This is the major reason why a post-emergent herbicide is preferred to a pre-emergent herbicide.
“Feed” or Fertilizer
Fertilizers contain a good mix of macro-nutrients and nitrogen that helps plants and grass grow. The key difference between types of fertilizer is the proportion of nitrogen to other nutrients. You will find two fertilizers options in a weed & feed product: fast-release and slow-release nitrogen.
Fast-Release Nitrogen
Fast-release nitrogen feeds for lawns comprise urea or ammonium sulfate, commonly known as water-soluble nitrogen (WSN). Since this fertilizer is water soluble, it is readily available to the grass and quickly absorbed as well. However, carelessness with such fertilizers can lead to lawn burning or leeching through to the root zone.
It is advised to carefully study proper application before using WSN-based weed & feed.
Slow-Release Nitrogen
These fertilizers are more popular because their nitrogen content is released slowly, allowing for a more sustained fertilization that can last up to three months. These compounds are also commonly called water-insoluble nitrogen and may come as animal manure, sulfur-coated urea, or methylene urea.
When to Use Natural Weed and Feed?
If you are a homeowner with children, pets, or seniors, you should consider using weed and feed for your lawn made from natural products. This ensures safety for the home occupants when they have access to the lawn.
Additionally, for healthcare premises or other institutions where chemical intervention can pose a threat or danger to the safety of the occupants, it is best to opt for natural weeding and fertilization products.
Natural methods can also be used when your weed problem is not severe and can easily be controlled using vinegar or other natural remedies.
When to Use Chemical Weed and Feed?
Chemical weed control and fertilization has its merit in several specific situations and cases. If your weed problem is rampant and is causing damage to other plants and grass, chemical intervention may become necessary.
Additionally, if you are encountering the recurrence of a specific, regional weed that refuses to go away, you may need to consider specialized weed and feed that helps eliminate and keep it at bay.
Lawn care in Oakville also recommends using chemical weed & feed where long-term results from de-weeding have immense importance on preserving the aesthetics and utility of a property.
Handy Tips for Using Weed & Feed
You must take care of several aspects while using the product to get the best results from your do-it-yourself weed and feed operation. Listed below are some handy tips and tricks that will ensure good results:
Know Your Product
Before you finalize the purchase of a weed & feed product, thoroughly study its label to understand what goes inside it. Make sure it has the ingredients you seek.
Know Your Weeds!
Before you purchase any product, you should look at the types of weeds growing on your lawn. You may then determine whether you need a specialized or generic weed killer.
Know Your Grass
Before proceeding with your weed and feed application, you should know the type of grass planted on your lawn. If it is a cool-season grass, it would likely stay green all year. If it is a warm-season grass, it will turn brown in the colder months.
The warm-season grasses need the “Feed” in late spring or early summer, while the cool-season grasses need the “feed” in fall.
Know when To Apply
If you have come home with a post-emergent weed and feed for the lawn, you should apply it while some dew remains on the grass – use it early in the morning. The granules of the product stick to the wet grass blades and release the herbicide component more efficiently this way.
Know the Directions
Every weed and feed product comes with its own set of directions. Give it time to read and understand how to use the product. Follow the instructions on the label down to the last T, especially if the product has fast-release nitrogen in the feed.
Since WSN products can burn your lawn if applied too much or improperly, it is best to get expert assistance when dealing with such products.
Set up A Perimeter
After applying the weed & feed to your lawn, set up a perimeter to keep your children and pets away from the lawn, at least for a few days. It is best to avoid them coming in contact with the chemicals in the lawn.
Best Time of The Year for Weed and Feed for Lawns
The best time to weed and feed your lawn is late spring, early summer, or fall – depending on the grass you have planted.
Typically, most of the weed & feed products you buy would be good enough to be used every six to eight weeks during the spring and summer months and then in autumn.
It is important to note that overusing fast-release nitrogen products in your lawn, or using them too frequently, even by way of weed and feed, could damage your property.
It is highly recommended to seek expert assistance in timing and quantifying the weed and feed application to your lawn.
Dependable Lawn: Lawn Care in Oakville for Best Weed and Feed Services
Dependable Lawn Care in Oakville has been in the landscaping and lawncare niche for a decade. We are a group of thoroughly committed lawn experts who have extensive knowledge of weed & feed.
The ethos at Dependable Lawn Care is to maximize client satisfaction through services of the highest quality and value. If you are experiencing trouble with weeds and are at a loss for the next steps, Dependable Lawn Care Oakville can help with consultation, products, application, and aftercare for the weed & feed operation.
You can look up our website to learn more about our weed and feed program or call us for a more thorough assessment.