Question
OK, I抦 new to lawn care.  Our new lawn was seeded Oct 2007.  We are in S. DE and have very sandy soil.  This spring we fertilized (after 4 3.5?cuttings) using a fertilizer with broad leaf weed killer.  Now it is time to put on a Summer fertilizer.  We also want to add lime because the pH is 6.0 and a lawn bug killer.  Can we add all 3 things at the same time?

Answer
Holy Mackerel, Where do I begin here?

First, Grace, you are not the only person in the country who is 'new to lawn care'.  We're all new at some point.  And right, millions of 'new to lawn care' customers are being targeted by Scotts for the billions and millions they are going to spend in 2007 on their Lawns.  You are one of them.

For this target, Scotts wants you to think that they have good things for your Lawn.

FORGET EVERYTHING YOU LEARNED FROM SCOTTS.  It's like buying Medicine from the Medicine Man.  Like buying Prescription Drugs from your local Drug Dealer.  Scotts is a HUGE company with a lot of money to spend on advertising and promotions.  They are NOT INTERESTED in ANYTHING that is GOOD for your Lawn, because their products are NOT good for your Lawn, and the more you know, the worse it is for them.

What's wrong with fertilizing your Grass?

Well, when you fertilize with concentrated Nitrogen fertilizer -- the powdered kind that Scotts and other companies put in a large bag -- you damage your soil, and you aren't doing your Grass any favors, either.

You damage your soil by wiping out the microscopic life that makes nutrients for your Grass.  You learned about the Nitrogen Cycle in school, remember?  When you wipe out part of the Cycle, it doesn't work anymore.

Then there's the Food Chain. Remember that?  Wipe out one entire level of the Food Chain, and you break the Food Chain.

But what about your Grass?  Isn't Nitrogen good for Grass?

Sure!  Low, steady, even doses of Nitrogen, paced to match the metabolism of your Grass, is Lawn-friendly.

The one-shot mega-dose of powdered pure Nitrogen is like shooting it into their veins for a few minutes.  Fact:  Once the Nitrogen hits the soil, it vanishes!

It goes down into the earth, or it goes up into the air.  A little bit -- a LITTLE BIT! -- goes into the Grass roots.  And because it's a little bit, it's highly concentrated.

Your Grass says, Wow!  This is delicious!

It turns bright green for a few hours.  It's happy.  And then it begins to starve.  Because there is NO Nitrogen in the soil now.  It's gone.  Like the CO2 in seltzer water, it disappears.

You never hear of 'Nitrogen pollution,' right?  Because Nitrogen is so unstable, it can't even be kept around to pollute anything.

Poof!  It's gone.

And now you've killed -- it kills microbes -- the life in the soil.  They're not going to pick up the slack.

This is a long way of saying, Build up your soil.  Don't put any chemical Fertilizer down or you'll ruin everything.  There's more, but I've already put too much down here and I'm not even done.

That Scotts 1-2-3 -- beautiful marketing gimmick.  They are good.

Your Sandy Soil should be TESTED.  You know it's Sandy, but do you know what it has, and what it doesn't have?  You can put down things that are missing.  Nitrogen is not one of them.  But there might be things in there you don't know about and you won't have to buy them if they're already down there.

Sandy soil needs Organic matter, not Nitrogen fertilizer, not weed killer, NOT LIME and NO bug killers.  What will the birds eat for breakfast if you wipe out the bugs?

It's a long story.

You won't listen anyway.  The Scotts ads are all over the place.  It's Scotts Season.

But you asked.  Here's what you need to do:

1.  Get a soil test.  You are clearly -- CLEARLY -- educated here because you know how to spell pH AND you KNOW what the pH is!  You are detail oriented, so you are probably a professional with a much higher level of education than most people I write to.  YOU NEED A SOIL TEST to find out what's in your soil.  Get that from the University of Delaware:

http://ag.udel.edu/other_websites/DSTP/soil_tests.htm

Be precise when you collect the soil for sampling.  The results depend on it.

2.  Pick up a few tons of Organic Matter at your local Garden Center, Lowes or Home Depot.  If you have horses somewhere, cows, a farm, you can get Manure for FREE.  It's the BEST way to build up your soil.  Add some Humus or Compost.  DO NOT add top soil -- a euphemism for 'dirt' that means absolutely nothing.  You want good stuff to build up your sand, not dirt.

3.  Mow your lawn which I assume was seeded Oct 2006 (not 2007) faithfully - do not let any Weeds go to seed.  Most Weeds are annuals and if you can get to them before they flower you head off tens of thousands of potential Weeds in the future, plus you only have to deal with seeds that are down there now.

4.  NO LIME.  Why not?  Because a 6.0 pH does not cry out for Lime, it cries out for Organic Matter.  Scotts doesn't sell Organic Matter -- don't expect them to tell you about it.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

Finally, since I want to minimize the damage you are doing to your own Grass, let me advise you that anyone who tells you to put down Lime and Nitrogen at the same time should quit their day job.  Lime basically vaporizes Nitrogen.  It's going to evaporate quickly enough already.  You don't need to help it do that.

Good luck.  Let me know when you are ready to stop making the Scotts shareholders rich.  I'll give you a real Lawn education.