Weed & Feed

“Weed & feed” is the nickname given for a segment of lawn maintenance products designed to both strengthen existing grass and kill off invasive weeds in one single application. Weed & Feed products help to improve the ability of your lawn turf to absorb water and food, and adds essential nutrients which promote healthy growth. As a result, your healthy lawn will prevent weeds from taking over and which will reduce your need to apply the product regularly over time.

While there are designated products to take care of weeds directly like herbicides and other focused products like fertilizer which give your lawn the proper nutrition, weed and feed conveniently combines two in order to save time and essentially kill two birds with one stone.

Weed and Feed products are very easy to use. Simply load the weed and feed into a spreader, put it on the right setting and walk through your lawn until it’s fully covered.

At Solutions Pest and Lawn, we carry the best weed & feed products available on the market and along with that, we offer expert advice on how to apply these products and the best practices and tips to ensure the best possible implementation. Check out our weed & feed products below. If you are ever in need of advice or have questions about an order, feel free to contact us through our various channels of communication. We look forward to hearing from you!

Our Recommendations

• Solutions 15-5-10 Weed & Feed Fertilizer with Trimec
• Nitrophos Weed & Feed Trimec

There are a variety of fertilizers out there that have different core analysis. The core analysis are the three numbers you would see on the front of a fertilizer bag.

For our Weed & Feed, the core analysis is 15-5-10 which means it has 15 percent Nitrogen, 5 percent phosphorus and 10 percent potassium. These 3 elements are essentially to your yards health and the 15-5-10 we carry is perfect when maintaining your lawn in the spring.

It’s important to note that application rates for combination products such as weed & feed products are labeled to be applied at the rate of the active ingredient included as opposed to the fertilizer nutrient analysis. So when a weed & feed product is being applied on follow up applications as the label recommends an over application of nutrient will not occur. The needed amount of nutrient being applied is essentially being split into two applications on this type of product.

User Guide

Tools Needed

• PPE (Chemical resistant gloves, Dust/Mist mask, safety glasses or goggles)
• Weed & Feed 15-5-10 with Trimec
• Granule Spreader (Rotary, Broadcast, Drop spreader)

Step 1: Prepare Your Lawn.

Prep your lawn prior to laying out weed and feed. This can be achieve by making sure your lawn is at a normal height (not too tall, not too short) – approximately 3-5 inches is good. Also water your lawn a bit to make sure the soil is moist.

Step 2: Load and Apply Weed & Feed

Place your weed and feed in the spreader according to the label directions and properly calibrate your spreader on the right setting.

Spread the weed and feed uniformly across the lawn for best results. Start at the end and work your way around the yard, moving at a steady pace. We recommend making two passes at half application strength rather than trying to spread at full strength in one pass.

Do your best to avoid overspreading or getting granules on your ornamentals as it will kill most broadleaf plants. If you must spread near a garden, use a drop spreader or a spreader with an optional deflector guard on one side to prevent the material from being broadcast into the ornamental bed area.

With handheld spreaders the applicator can turn sideways in these areas where the application is being done to prevent the material from going into the non-target areas.

Step 3: Reapply As Needed.

We recommend applying weed & feed no more than twice per year. Over-application can result in run off that is harmful to the local environment, such as nearby rivers, bays, or lakes/ponds. The feed portion of the chemical is actually more dangerous in these areas as it can encourage algae blooms which choke out fish and native plants

Things To Consider

You may be a lawn owner who may be a bit wary about using a weed and feed product because you may have read an article online that advised against using weed and feed or you may have utilized a weed and feed product in the past and have received disappointing results.

Now a lot of times people will buy a weed and feed product at a big box store or order it online, come home and spray their yard and while some people get great results and other people become frustrated and write negative reviews about the product and demand their money back. So what went wrong? Was it the fault of the product or was it the fault of the applicator? Well, that depends.

What we'd like you to understand a bit about weed control is that it is important to correctly identify the weed that you're trying to control on your lawn because weed and feed products contain an active ingredient which on the label lays out what weeds they can successfully get rid of and what they cannot. If what you're trying to control is not on the product label, there's a good chance the weed and feed you bought will not deliver the desired result toward the target weeds you have.

For example, we get pictures sent to us by various customers who need help identifying the weed on their lawn and people message us frustrated with the weeds they have and that they've tried everything to eliminate them and it turned out that they had the weed confused with a different plant and were using the wrong products and chemicals against that particular plant.

Key Takeaways

• Weed and Feed products can be a great way to improve the health and beauty of your lawn while at the same time addressing problematic invasive weeds that have sprung up.
• Prep your lawn prior to application with proper mowing and watering.
• Add the weed and feed to your spreader and spread evenly on your lawn.
• Make a follow-up application 30 days after initial application
• Read the label for specific directions.