re: Can I get advice/tips for my lawn after the winter? ::Updated with pics:::

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I have st. augustine. There are patches of clovers and other weeds growing, I know when the grass starts to grow again it will take over these. But I would like to start putting some care into how my grass looks. Just what herbicides and a general fertilizer to use?

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What I use this time of year for lawn weeds (St Aug, Centipede, Bermudagrass and Zoysia), and most of what you are seeing now are cool season annual weeds, is the winter weed cocktail of 8.6 ounces of Atrazine, 1 ounce of Weed-Free-Zone and 2 teaspoon of spreader sticker (surfactant) mixed in 1 or 2 gallons of water and sprayed over 1,000 sq ft. But I’ll spot spray it as well.

Fertilizer - just any brand high nitrogen lawn fertilizer that you might like, something with about 29 to 34% nitrogen. Don’t apply until you see active growth in your grass, and a good rule of thumb is apply after you’ve cut your grass twice (and that means cutting the grass, not the weeds, to make your lawn look tidy). That will likely be in March in the Lafayette area. St Aug responds well to fertilizer and you can apply up to 3 or 4 times during the year if you want.

Also cut the St Aug at a height of 3 to 3 1/2 inches - don’t scalp it - that goes a long way in keeping a healthy lawn and suppressing weeds.

I don’t use Weed & Feed nor do I recommend it. Timing for treating weeds and fertilizing lawn often don’t coincide so you are often not going to get the benefit of both products. Weed and Feed is a convenience product, but your lawn will benefit by keeping lawn weed control and lawn fertilization as two separate activities.