Every lawn owner wishes for their green corner to look nice and well-kept. Hence why many of us spend so much time there, polishing it, and making sure that everything looks smooth and neat. But sadly, no matter how hard you try, your lawn is always in danger of those pesky weeds that choke your plants and slowly kill them. Hence why it’s so important to tackle this problem head-on and find the proper lawn weed and feed.

But here’s the thing – there are literally dozens of weed & feed options out there. How can you be certain that the one you pick would be a good option for your lawn?  Well, truth be told, picking the best weed and feed for lawns is actually a lot easier than you think!

And today, we would love to share with you everything we know on grass fertilizer and weed killer, as well as what you need to pay attention to in order to find only the best weed and feed!

What is Weed and Feed?

Weed and feed is a name used interchangeably for various lawn weed and feed chemicals that, surprise, kill weeds, and nurture your lawn, making it stronger. With the help of weed n feed, your lawn can absorb water and nutrients, to grow healthier and stronger. 

Weed and feed have systematic or non-systemic herbicides as well as minerals. And the minerals from the best weed and feed offer the lawn nutrients through fertilizer for healthy growth, while the herbicides act as weed killers.

As it is, weed n feed is a great and helpful way to make your lawn so much more healthy and beautiful.

How Do I Know if My Lawn Needs It?

The best time to apply weed & feed is when your green corner has rust, nitrogen, and phosphorus deficiency, as well as the presence of fairy rings.

Phosphorous deficiency

Phosphorus is incredibly important for a plant’s health, as it enables root growth, improves the quality of the plant, and overall it is one of the most essential elements for a lawn. When your grass is deficient in phosphorus in its early stages, it becomes dull blue-green. Its edges later turn to a purple hue then reddish.

Nitrogen deficiency

Another essential nutrient for your lawn, nitrogen is responsible for proper growth and plant development. Lack of nitrogen in your lawn makes the grass to be yellow-green or yellow in color. And, much like with Phosphorus, when your lawn is Nitrogen-deficient it will not only be growing much slower but will also be more prone to weeds.

Rust

Rust is a fungal disease on your grass that causes it to have a reddish-brown color. And given that rust is caused by a fungal parasite, it will continue to spread and destroy the cells of your plants from within. Hence you need to act fast and fix such an issue as soon as you notice it. For that, you need to apply high-nitrogen weed and feed.

Fairy Rings

When the patches of your grass have dead grass or light-colored grass in the middle, they are referred to as fairy rings. Hence it’s so much easier to identify them. And while fairy wings are mostly a cosmetic problem and don’t pose as much danger to the lawn, in some cases the fungi spores can develop on the outer rings of these “wings”. Thus, it’s a much better idea to get rid of them. Thus, you’ll need to aerate the soil then apply a weed n feed with high nitrogen content.

How to Choose the Best Weed and Feed

Choosing the best weed and feed for lawns can be tricky since there are so many brands. However, it will be a lot easier to find it if you pay attention to several aspects, and find the weed n feed, compatible with the species of your grass.

Type

While creating our weed and feed reviews, we’ve discovered that there are 2 types: liquid and granular weed and feed. While both of them work well, there’s a slight difference between the two:

• Salt content: Roots tend to steer away from granular fertilizer bands with high levels of potassium and nitrogen. Therefore liquids are much better as a starter.
• Equipment: Liquid fertilizer might be quite costly because it needs equipment to apply it. While granular fertilizer doesn’t need any.
• Consistency: Granulars have specific nutrient content in each granule while liquid fertilizer contains identical nutrient content in all drops.

Liquid Weed and Feed

Liquid weed and feed is also called lawn fertilizer and is applied to small areas using a hand-held spray. However, many weed and feed reviews from users often mention that you can also apply it with a concentrate, diluted with water and pump it using a backpack sprayer. 

Benefits:

• Acts fast, and you don’t have to do water lawn pre-application or post-application
• This weed and feed spray targets patches of a lawn or localized areas.

Granular Weed and Feed

There are two types of granular weed and feed fertilizers: quick and slow release. 

As the name suggests, quick-release fertilizer breaks down quickly spreading the nutrients in the soil once they come in contact with water. Slow-release on the other hand takes longer to break as it imparts nutrients in the soil with time.

This type of weed n feed is for larger areas of your lawn. You can apply it by spreading it on a pre-watered lawn.

Benefits

• Soaks in your garden with time making you avoid treating the lawn frequently
• Easy to apply
• Budget-friendly

Liquid vs Granular Type: Pros & Cons

	Liquid	Granular
Pros	• It feeds immediately application	• Quite inexpensive to apply • Only needs 2-3 applications yearly • Applying it is fairly safe
Cons	• Expensive to apply • May need several feedings yearly • Failing to apply it properly can burn foliage	• Has quick and slow release options

Is there organic weed and feed?

Finding genuine organic weed and feed products can be pretty challenging. But still, not impossible. There are plenty of good pet and family-friendly organic weed and feed options: such as Westland Child And pet-Friendly Organic Weed and Feed and Espoma Organic Weed Preventer.

Nitrogen Content

To have a beautiful lawn, the soil needs all the essential nutrients for healthy growth. That’s why you might want to get weed and feed that will add vital nutrients to your lawn. One of the nutrient contents that the weed and feed for Bermuda grass or any other type must provide is nitrogen. 

As we mentioned, nitrogen is important to plants because it is involved in several plant processes like photosynthesis. It plays a crucial role in information of chlorophyll and the growth of cells and tissues in the plant. Plus, with nitrogen, plants can form protein which is essential in a lot of biochemical reactions in plants. Remember – the soil needs at least 40ppm of nitrogen when it’s planted! You need to do a soil test in early spring to find the amount of nitrogen content.

Targeted Weeds

Before you buy a weed and feed spray, you need to know about the problem that your targeted weeds encounter in that lawn. Because some weeds, like ponderosa, kudzu, and eastern redcedar are very pervasive and need a strong weed killer. 

Grass Compatibility

The type of grass also plays a crucial role when choosing weed and feed for St Augustine grass or any other kind. Most of the weed & feed products are generally manufactured for certain types of grass. So it is crucial to ensure that the fertilizer for the plants and grass in your garden. 

The types of grasses that easily react to weed and feed include: 

• Carpetgrass
• Centipedegrass 
• St Augustine 
• Bentgrass 
• Dichondra
• Bahiagrass

When Should You Apply Weed and Feed?

It is essential to apply grass fertilizer and weed killer after watering your lawn to get the soil when it’s damp. And some weed and feed products will need you to water your lawn 24 hours after applying, while others need to be applied after rainfall.

For instance, if you’re using a granular weed & feed,  you also need to apply it after the rain, for the granules to stick well to the leafy parts of the weeds. And of course, avoid applying even the best weed and feed during the winter, because it will cause no effect. Usually, the best time to apply weed and feed for lawns is when the weeds are growing – which is mid-end spring and summer. However, there are also fall weed and feed options, you can apply during this season.

Applying Too Early

 Applying weed and feed too early is not the best choice, as it might fail to kill the weeds that haven’t grown yet. This means that they will still grow later after the application.

Applying Too Late 

If you apply organic weed and feed too late, your lawn will fail to get the nutrition it needs to grow properly.

How to Apply Weed and Feed to Lawns 

To apply the best weed and feed properly, you have to:

1. Cut down the lawn and water it two days before applying weed and feed for even distribution of granules.
2. Do this when the temperatures are slightly higher but less than 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Avoid applying it immediately after heavy rain because the lawn is soggy at this time.
3. Apply granules in your lawn using a drop spreader or a rotary. Walk back and forth across your lawn to cover the area evenly. If you are using a spray to apply weed and feed for Southern Lawns, connect a liquid bottle to your garden hose. You can then apply it according to the instructions on the product.

Safety Precautions

• Always protect your eyes when applying weed and feed. And if some of the product gets in your eyes, make sure to properly rinse the eyes ASAP.
• Don’t ingest the weed and feed!
• Keep the pets and children away from the lawn when you’re applying weed & feed, as they also can accidentally ingest a product, or it can get in their eyes! If that happens, consider calling 911 or the vet.
• During the application process, always wear protective gear like gloves and long pants.

How Long Do Weed and Feed Take to Work?

While creating our weed and feed reviews, we’ve discovered that it takes approximately two weeks for you to see results after applying the product. You will also experience the effects of the fertilizer components after 1-5 days and several weeks later.

And you can tell that your grass fertilizer and weed killer are working by checking the following signs:

• 1-5 days: The grass will have increased growth, appear to be greener, and also grow faster.
• 7 days: Weeds will start yellowing and wilting.
• 14 days: Almost all the weeds will be brown or dead and you can easily pull them by hand.
• 30 days: The majority of the broadened leaves will have died and the grass will be greener than before.

Conclusion

And that’s all for now, folks! All and all, weed and feed for lawns is a very useful product, as it promotes healthy growth for a beautiful lawn. This is a combination of two products, that is weed killer and fertilizer. Besides killing weeds, it also provides nutrients that your lawn needs.

And out of all the assortment of good products, we believe that the best weed and feed 2023 is Scotts Builder Weed and Feed. That is because it’s very effective, doesn’t require frequent applications, and is quite affordable!

However, the final weed & feed choice is up to you! And whichever product you’ll go with, remember to consider how much salt content it has, consistency, equipment for the application, and the type of product. Keeping all this in mind will ensure that you find only the best weed and feed products!

So, have you ever used weed n feed before? Or is it the first time you’re considering it?