I am a college basketball junkie, have been for a long time, so I have been watching a lot of basketball the last week or so (Go Badger’s and HailState Hoops). About every hour there seems to be an advertisement for Scott’s lawn products featuring Scott, the Scotsman, although I think he should be in a kilt and not just a plaid shirt. The guy is everywhere, even in my local Lowes store. He’s telling me it is time to feed my lawn. I am trying to figure out where he lives. In the commercial his turf and his landscape seems to be in wonderful form except for his neighbors grass that is whispering “ feed me” . Pretty sure he has never seen Little Shop of Horrors. If my grass was whispering “feed me” I think I would move. I can’t think of anyplace but a narrow band in the northern transition zone that might need fertilizer plus PRE product right now maybe in Kentucky or Southern Ohio or on the West Coast. Checking soil temps in northern IL I see they still have not cracked 40, and I am pretty sure that things are similar in the cool season grass zone.
In my Mississippi Lawn bermudagrass is just starting to wake up and put out a few tender blades. The soil temps hit 50 a few weeks ago (March 1) and I put out my PRE then, on a calcined clay carrier as my grass is far from needing any fertilizer. I like to wait until it is fully green and I have mowed it a couple times. I am talking mowed the grass and not a few renegade weeds.
With all the concern about nutrient pollution should Scott’s be encouraging home owners to put out fertilizer, particularly N that their dormant or nearly dormant grass does not need? In my patchwork experimental lawn my zoysia grass is coming on, maybe 30% green, my bermudagrass and St. Augustine grass are just barely active. This is certainly good marketing on Scott’s part, but even though they market nationwide these are cool season grass products that have little business being marketed in warm season grass regions. The photo is from my Starkville Lowes Store. Our grasses probably don’t need any fertilizer for at least another month if not two, save for the few tall fescue lawns that may exist in northern Mississippi. Also the concept of feeding your lawn twice for the season is just not adequate for our long summer growing season where we need at least 3 applications of fertilizer.
It’s probably not too late to get a good PRE out. I would either spray it or use a neutral carrier product. Our local Co-op carries a prodiamine plus sulfentrazone product that would be a good application now. A PRE on a 0-0-20 fertilizer would be a great product but I do not see that available to the homeowner. You may have some crabgrass already germinated but we might get lucky with a late frost. If crabgrass is a problem you can use some quinclorac POST. Remember feed your lawn when it is ready.
So tell me, where do you think Scott Lives?
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