Lawn weed and feed, how to use it and when not to
Lawn weed and feed, how to use it and when not to
A weed and feed does two jobs out of one bottle. It puts nitrogen into the grass so the lawn thickens up, and it carries a selective broadleaf herbicide that kills bindii, clover, capeweed and thistle without killing the grass around them. It works on the difference between a broadleaf plant and a grass, and once you understand that one sentence, everything else about using it safely follows on from it.
Check your grass type before you buy
This is the one that costs people a lawn. Not every weed and feed is safe on every grass, and buffalo in particular is sensitive to some of the herbicides these products use. The label lists the grass types the product is registered for, so read that before you get to the counter, and if your lawn is buffalo or you aren't sure what you've got, bring a photo in and we'll have a look at it with you.
The other one to leave alone is a lawn you've only just sown or laid. New grass has no business being sprayed with anything, and a weed and feed on a fortnight old lawn will set it back further than the weeds would have.
The drift is the part people regret
A selective herbicide kills broadleaf plants and leaves grasses alone, so think about what that means for the rest of your yard. Everything in your vegetable patch is a broadleaf plant. So are your roses, your tomatoes, your citrus and the neighbour's hedge over the fence. A gentle breeze while you're spraying will carry enough of it to curl up a bed of seedlings, and people usually don't work out what happened until a fortnight later when the tomatoes come up twisted.
So pick a still morning, keep the nozzle low, and if it's blowing a gale, leave it for another day. There's no rush on a weed.
Getting a result out of it
- Put it on while the weeds are actively growing, because a weed that's sitting still barely takes any of it up.
- Water the lawn a few days beforehand if it's dry, since a stressed lawn takes the knock harder than a healthy one does.
- Don't mow just before you apply it, because the herbicide goes in through the leaf and you've just cut the leaf off.
- Pick a dry day with no rain forecast for a day afterwards, otherwise you're washing it down the stormwater drain.
- Go over the lawn evenly rather than heavily in patches, which is what leaves a lawn looking striped afterwards.
- Give it a couple of weeks. Bindii and clover take a while to go, and going over it again too soon is how a lawn gets burnt.
Rates and coverage are on the label and they differ between the concentrate, the ready to use and the hose on, so work off the bottle in your hand rather than off a number you read somewhere.
Afterwards
Keep the kids and the dog off the lawn until it's completely dry. Wear gloves while you're mixing it and wash your hands when you're done. And keep the first couple of lots of clippings out of the compost heap and off the garden beds as mulch, because the herbicide is still in that leaf and it will do to your vegetables exactly what it did to the clover.
If all your lawn wants is feeding and there aren't many weeds in it, buy a straight lawn food instead. There's no reason to put a herbicide on a lawn that doesn't need one.
Shop related products
- Brunnings Feed n Weed Extra Strength Concentrate 1L. Mixes into a watering can or a pump sprayer.
- Brunnings Feed N Weed 2.7L Hose On. Screws onto the hose, which is the easy option on a bigger lawn.
- Brunnings Feed n Weed 3.5L. The larger bottle for doing the whole yard.
- Brunnings Green Up Lawn Food 5kg. Straight lawn food, for when the lawn only wants feeding.
Did you know we also stock garden gloves and pump sprayers in the shop. They're not all on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what's on the shelf.
The rest of the lawn gear is in our garden centre, and the wider garden range is online. We deliver Tuesdays and Thursdays on anything bought from us, $5 around Strathalbyn and $10 on the regional run. Local delivery.
Read next
- What organic products can I use to fertilise my lawn?
- How to stop fertiliser and water running off your lawn
- How to aerate a lawn, and when it is worth doing
I am very good at spraying a lawn and very bad at checking which way the wind is going.
Candeece
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