Starter Feed and Pre-Emergent Concurrently?

[icspres]

Just joined. Thanks for the add.

So my wife wouldn't allow me to use chemicals on the lawn for nearly a decade. Kids, puppy, etc. Kids are old enough now they won't ever roll around in the grass again and the dog we can control, so I got to attack the front yard starting last year, back yard this year. Re front lawn, killed all the weeds, triple aerated last fall, heavily overseeded and added a heavy sprinkling of topsoil throughout. The lawn germinated nicely in the fall, new grass is maybe 3". It's starting to come out of hibernation but because of the temps, rain, I really need to do pre-emergent now as well as starter feed. What happens if I do both same day? I understand pre-emergent can stunt the growth of young grassplant roots? Can anyone confirm? If I kit the grass with starter feed a few days prior, will this help? Problem is the grass is just starting to wake, much of it is still dormant. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[Green]

Welcome.

I assume by "starter feed" you mean first Nitrogen fertilizer application of the season.

There is absolutely no issue doing both that and a pre-M at the same time. In fact, many pre-Ms have Nitrogen in them already, and almost all have Potassium.

That said, I would recommend holding off on Nitrogen fertilizer until you've mowed at least twice, or maybe three times (in other words, the grass has been actively growing for a few weeks) before you fertilize with Nitrogen. That way, you don't shock it into growth mode. You don't want it to be partly dormant when applying Nitrogen.

Also, you can wait until Forsythia bloom for the pre-emergent application. I would guess it would be soon in your area.

I wouldn't concern myself with the root pruning from the pre-emergent as long as normal rates are used. It's not an issue in the big scheme of things.

[Green]

The exception to my last statement is if the grass was just planted the previous Fall. It needs a few extra weeks if the roots haven't developed enough yet by the time green-up occurs. I guess that could be your situation from what you've said. In that case, Scotts starter fertilizer with Mesotrione would be a better initial pre-M plus fertilizer combo in all likelihood. But it only lasts 4-6 weeks and you need to follow up with a real pre-M at that time, such as Dimension. I'd look for a good Dimension plus Nitrogen product for use as a follow-up after 4-6 weeks. The newly planted grass likes a good bit of fertilizer the following Spring. I would still wait for Forsythia bloom and/or full green-up (whichever comes first) before using the Scotts with Meso.

Sorry to hear you were not allowed to fertilize at all for like ten years. That is not a good situation. How is the grass doing? Did it survive with no fertilizer all that time?

[jimmo]

Sorry to hear you were not allowed to fertilize at all for like ten years. That is not a good situation. How is the grass doing? Did it survive with no fertilizer all that time?

Couldn't help but LOL at this. It wasn't all that long ago that residential lawn fertilization wasn't common practice. Grass can survive just fine without added synthetic fertilizer. It won't likely look like a golf course certainly. Adding clover to a lawn can help naturally return nitrogen to soil and once upon a time that was common practice.