I live in south GA (Savannah area) and toward the end of last year, my lawn started looking not so great even with regular water and fertilizer. Right now my lawn is still winter brown/dormant. Honestly, we just brought the place a couple of years ago and I am not sure what type of grass it has.

I have a few questions:

What are the advantages/disadvantages of aerating a lawn and when is the best time to do it?
Some weeds are starting to pop up - what is the best treatment? Is something like Scott's weed/feed fertilizer something I should put down now? What about spot treatment - won't that kill the surrounding grass?

I really don't want to ask the local yahoos down at lowes or HD. Thanks for any help!

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Posted by TigerTerd

Member since Sep 2010

2659 posts

Posted on 2/27/15 at 9:00 am to Spaceman Spiff

If it's Bermuda, aeration will have a tremendous positive effect

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Posted by 756

Member since Sep 2004

14850 posts

Posted on 2/27/15 at 9:05 am to Spaceman Spiff

You can get weed killer that does not kill grass and spot treat- A healthy lawn will choke out most weeds.

Dig up a sample of your weeds and go to a garden center not a box store

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Posted by bootlegger

Ponchatoula

Member since Dec 2012

5330 posts

Posted on 2/27/15 at 9:12 am to Spaceman Spiff

I aerate every few weeks, but only during the growing season as to not stress the grass. Core aeration is more beneficial than spike aeration, so I recommend that. Right now, broadleaves and possibly Poa Annua should be your main problems. A good broadleaf selective herbicide (Weed Free Zone, Trimec, etc.) should help. Just be cautious if using these products on lawn grasses sensitive to 2,4-D

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Posted by Tigerpaw123

Louisiana

Member since Mar 2007

17249 posts

Posted on 2/27/15 at 10:18 am to bootlegger

quote:
Right now, broadleaves and possibly Poa Annua should be your main problems. A good broadleaf selective herbicide (Weed Free Zone, Trimec, etc.) should help. Just be cautious if using these products on lawn grasses sensitive to 2,4-D

+1

find out what kind of grass you have

do not do weed n feed, the 2 steps should be done separately, now is the time to do the "weed" portion as stated above, wait till green up is well underway then apply fertilizer, if you have centipede grass, be aware more lawns have been harmed by fertilizer than helped, go easy with it and only apply a variety specific one. stay away from all of the turf builder and multiple applications

also make sure you are cutting at the correct height, most people cut too short

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Posted by Spaceman Spiff

Savannah

Member since Sep 2012

17432 posts

Posted on 2/27/15 at 10:37 am to Tigerpaw123

Thanks! Are turf builder products bad?

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Posted by Tigerpaw123

Louisiana

Member since Mar 2007

17249 posts

Posted on 2/27/15 at 10:47 am to Spaceman Spiff

quote:
Are turf builder products bad

depends, not necessarily bad, but not good either, they are designed to treat a wide range of lawns okay instead of a particular type well, for example if you have centipede it does not utilize one of the 3 components of fertilizer and too much of it can lead to a fungus issue, so you want a fertilizer with none of that, and so on

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