Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
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Green
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Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Post by Green » November 5th, 2018, 7:52 pm

Has anyone here ever used the final app, right after growth stops, as the only Nitrogen app for an entire next season?

If so, what type of results did you have, and what type of lawn was it?

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Re: Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Post by lVlrBoJang1es » November 6th, 2018, 8:50 am

My answer is of course "no", but while the topic is open for discussion...

I feel like this is a very situational scenario. I'm trying to piece together how this might happen:

Maybe someone who is a lawn care nut that just bought a new house at this time of year from a previous owner that neglected the lawn?

Or someone who was medically disabled for the entire season and only had a neighbor to help cut when needed. This person has now (end of season) regained mobility just in time for the winterizer?

Perhaps helping a neighbor who, all of a sudden at the end of the growing season, wants to know what can be done NOW for next season when they "swear they'll take better care of their lawn (weeds)"?

Otherwise, I feel like the winterizer app's importance would only be appreciated by someone who is already well past the 4 x 1lb apps/year entry stage.

Care to share the origin of your question for my own curiosity?

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Re: Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Post by andy10917 » November 6th, 2018, 10:01 am

My experience is that the winterizing app shows signs of wearing off as the Spring Flush is ending (early June around here). The combination of Spring rains and usage of the Nitrogen that was stored in the roots consumes the Nitrogen.

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Re: Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Post by llO0DQLE » November 8th, 2018, 9:29 pm

Well, if KBG needs at least 4lbs nitrogen per year, and your winterizer is 1lb, then one could only guess that the lawn wouldn't look that great.

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Re: Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Post by Green » November 8th, 2018, 9:37 pm

llO0DQLE wrote:
November 8th, 2018, 9:29 pm
Well, if KBG needs at least 4lbs nitrogen per year, and your winterizer is 1lb, then one could only guess that the lawn wouldn't look that great.
Yes, that should be the case.

However, a low-input, weedy lawn with "Fescues and stuff" is a different story.

Background: last year we fertilized my aunt and uncle's lawn in early October after it had gone a few years without. (Their avg. first frost is early Nov.)

This year, we were hoping to do it again, but didn't get to. But if the timing works out, we might be able to do the final app instead.


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Re: Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Post by llO0DQLE » November 8th, 2018, 9:53 pm

Well, if it's a weedy lawn then I'd say it's a bit of a moot point trying to guess what one app may do. Suffice to say it's not even maintained that well so expectations are low. I'd say fertilize when you/they can and que sera sera.

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Re: Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Post by Green » November 9th, 2018, 1:20 am

The cool thing I think is that now that the crabgrass has been gone a long time, fertilizing this Fall would fertilize the good grass without fertilizing next year's crabgrass. Seemed to work well with the early Oct. app last year. Hoping to achieve similar if we get to do the final app instead this year.

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Re: Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Post by jimmo » November 9th, 2018, 6:31 am

My dad does one fertilizer app in the fall and that's it. Well and does a Grub-x treatment about every other year in June which provide some addl N. And his lawn looks pretty dang good provided we get sufficient rain (he does not irrigate). It's an established 50 year old KBG lawn.

He doesn't bag grass clippings so that would return some additional N throughout year.

Probably important to recall that a lot of our parents and grandparents didn't spend money on all the various lawn care treatments we now think of as standard, and their lawns were more than adequate.

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Re: Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Post by Chris LI » November 9th, 2018, 2:38 pm

jimmo,

Does he use any preM? Most of those mature kbg lawns don't need too much nitrogen. It sounds like your Dad has it squared away pretty well.

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Re: Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » November 9th, 2018, 3:25 pm

I put fertilizer down once a year, usually later November on my never-mown tall fescue at my cabin.

It breaks all the rules - sometimes there is even K in it. :O

The grass has established well, has never been mown. It's about a foot tall and has choked out most other plants from growing up.

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Re: Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Post by Green » November 10th, 2018, 12:42 am

HoosierLawnGnome wrote:
November 9th, 2018, 3:25 pm
I put fertilizer down once a year, usually later November on my never-mown tall fescue at my cabin.

It breaks all the rules - sometimes there is even K in it. :O

The grass has established well, has never been mown. It's about a foot tall and has choked out most other plants from growing up.
That's cool! I hadn't heard about your cabin lawn in a long time. Good to hear it's doing well. Did you end up adding clover successfully? Also, never mowing, how high does it get?

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Re: Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Post by BobL » November 13th, 2018, 1:05 am

Green wrote:
November 8th, 2018, 9:37 pm
This year, we were hoping to do it again, but didn't get to. But if the timing works out, we might be able to do the final app instead.
If I understand correctly, you are where you are and you can't go back and do what you didn't do, so I would think putting it down is better than not putting it down.

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Re: Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Post by Masbustelo » November 23rd, 2018, 1:59 pm

I just did today. My son's lawn wasn't fertilized all year, and today I did 2lbs urea to k.

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Re: Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Post by Green » November 23rd, 2018, 8:40 pm

Masbustelo wrote:
November 23rd, 2018, 1:59 pm
I just did today. My son's lawn wasn't fertilized all year, and today I did 2lbs urea to k.
Ok. Feel free to post the results over the coming weeks and months, in this thread, if you'd like.

I told my family members that if their leaves get cleaned up in the next two weeks or so, we can still do the fertilizer as long as the ground hasn't frozen. They're almost coastal, Zone 7a, so we likely have 2 more weeks of window to winterize. They still had leaves coming down noticeably yestersay. It will be the same boat as your son's.

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Re: Anyone ever used "Winterizer" app as the only app?

Post by Green » December 20th, 2018, 11:47 pm

Update:

Almost a week ago, we finally winterized the lawn. It was getting closer to the ground freezing, with some pockets of 33 degrees and hard surface at 1-2 inch depth, but the majority above that, and closer to 40 degrees at 4 inches. Zone 7a. Normally it's not this cold there this time of year, and the grass continues growing halfway into December. Not this year because it was so much colder in much of November.

We won't be able to tell the results scientifically, because we also applied Milorganite (which will be used in the Spring by the lawn) at the same time...but that's ok. This is the real world, and not some experiment. As long as their grass stays alive and green and we avoid fertilizing next year's crop of crabgrass for the most part, we are good. :-)

Thanks to everyone who replied.

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