Does this look familiar?
It is fun to watch the commercials on TV of the advertisements from people like Scotts. They always have the most perfect lawns in the background. I wonder how much camera trickery there really is…but that is beside the point. For the last month or so, they have been advertising their winter guard product, saying that it protects the roots and does this and does that. They also said to put it down now. That is where I have always heard differently. And I learned some of my turf knowledge on the back of the Scotts bags!
As I have talked about in my monthly checklist blogs, September and October are for overseeding and lawn starter fertilizer. (If you live up North, it is earlier than that, but you get my drift). So for Scotts to be advertising their “Winterizer” product in October is counterintuitive in my opinion. According to their bags, the winterizer fertilizer is step 5 and is to be done closer to Christmas. To me, December makes more sense because I have just gotten done putting down grass seed and lawn starter fertilizer. I have experienced too much fertilizer before…and it does not make the yard prettier!
Now, I have nothing against Scotts. They, in my opinion, have the best product on the market for turf maintenance. I just don’t understand their marketing department. I would love to hear from some people from up North as too when it becomes pointless to work in the turf because of snow and freezing. In Nashville, the ground ‘never fully freezes’. It will freeze for a day or two and then thaw out again. Which is good, because all winter long we are getting natural aeration.
Happy Grass
#1 by Bonnie on October 17th, 2009
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Thanks for the info., I am going to follow your advice!
#2 by ChristineV on October 17th, 2009
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we live in upstate New York and I always went by the rule of: Easter, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Thanskgiving.
#3 by Paul Stoltzfus on October 17th, 2009
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I agree Kevin! It has got to be hard for Scotts to make good recommendations that apply to every region of the country. Here in South Central Pennsylvania we are just at the end of our overseeding window.
Anyone who spreads the winterizer before Thanksgiving is risking a late greenup which will basically waste the nitrogen that would have gone to the carbohydrate reserve in the roots otherwise.
#4 by Andy on November 16th, 2009
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I live in the Bluegrass region of central KY, and like the 2nd commenter, I fertilize 4 times per year, following holidays. The only difference is that I do my spring fertilization on St Patty's Day, since it's always mid-March, instead of Easter, which sometimes comes in late April – way too late for me.
If the lawn is still growing at Thanksgiving, I'll wait longer before winterizing, until it starts to lose some of its green. If I haven't had to mow for a month or so, I can be satisfied that it's done growing for the winter. I usually plant garden bulbs the same weekend that I put down winterizer.