Why all the hate for Weed & Feed here?

It’s the Ridgeline of the Outdoor Board. Sure, it’s a good vehicle. Not really a truck, but also not really a car. Doesn’t do either very well, but can still accomplish the job for 75% of people.

Weed treatments and fertilizing should generally be separate, independent steps targeted for each purpose.

It will do the trick for majority of people.

Usually people that have enough curiosity to ask for help on a message board don't want a standard yard though. And the people that often give the advice also don't envision a standard yard for whoever is asking for advice.

Killing the weeds then fertilizing is in the long run cheaper than weed and feed, just has a more expensive initial cost. It also takes more time and scheduling than a lot of people are willing to spend on their lawn.

Because virginia buttonweed and chamberbitter say "hold my beer and watch this" when you put out weed and feed.

I don’t think it’s a hate or beef - as others have stated - it an issue of getting maximum benefit of the herbicide and fertilizer, and applying them simultaneously as a weed & feed product doesn’t always provide for that.

Weed & Feeds were developed as convenience products for consumers, and there are windows of application time, late March/April in the Deep South, where they maybe perfectly suitable for use. But late winter and summer are not particularly suitable times to be using weed & feed products.

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My issue is the lack of control. Maybe you want a little more fert but you can't do that because you'll also be putting down a little more weed control. What if your grass is dark green and looking just fine so you don't want to fert it as much but you still need the weed control. You can't do that either. What if the weed control in the bag is meant for cool weather but it's been sitting in your garage because you didn't use it all in the early spring. Now you apply it in the summer and it does damage. What if your yard only has 5 weeds and your yard doesn't need a full broadcast spread of weed control.

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Ok I see where y'all are coming from now. I'm in the Baton Rouge area and have used weed & feed with zero issues. My yard looks great everytime I use it and I have had some issues with virginia buttonweed in the past but not anymore. I'm happy with the results to be honest.

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deeprig9

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Look if Weed & Feeds work for people then have at it, but I’d be curious what type of herbicides are contained in weed & feed products your neighbor uses for mid summer fertilization applications on your Bermudagrass lawns.

Most, not all, weed & feed products, contain atrazine as the herbicide and atrazine can/will damage/kill actively growing bermudagrass. Other weed & feed products contain trimec herbicides with 2,4 D and that would be damaging to Bermudagrass lawns as well in the heat of summer. Now some weed & feeds contain pre-emergent Dimension and that would be OK.

I know you are in GA but he’ll it gets as hot as Hades in summer there to. Find out what your neighbor uses and let us know.

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I NEVER want my grass fed, ever.

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damn right skippy

im so happy my house is in an area with poor soil so the grass grows very slow

only in august do i "need" to cut grass every week, the rest of summer its only needing to be cut every other week unless we get lots of rain. outside the summer month i can often wait until 3 weeks to cut it

sure i want weed control but i dont want anything that makes it grow faster

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Why all the hate for Weed & Feed

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My professors at LSU despised weed n feed. The "weed" part is a very broad spectrum herbicide that kills broadleaf PLANTS. Oak trees and azaleas included in that list. You don't put out enough to kill the trees outright but you poison it every year and stunt its growth. People only associate weed n feed with the lawn and don't recognize the damage they are doing to the other landscape plants.

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Very good point - atrazine herbicide used in numerous weed & feeds formulations can can severely damage and kill woody shrubs and young/small trees overtime, and if you have landscape beds adjacent to the lawn it’s very easy for rotary spreaders to sling that product into the beds.