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NC weed and plugging


Question
Thanks Kenneth. Should I have the local lawn guy plug and seed? Is it important?
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Followup To

Question -
Hi Kenneth. Triad area, NC here, tons of crabgrass, new construction, 1 year old. The local lawn guy told me he'd plug and seed in 5-7 weeks. He told me to bu Scotts weed & feed and apply after mowing on the highest setting. I sen my hubby to Home Depot and they told him to get Scotts turf builder with plus 2 weed control. Can we use this?

Answer -
Scott's Turfbuilder Plus 2 weed control is "weed and feed" (same thing).

Water your lawn thoroughly before applying so that the material stick to the leaves of the grass and weeds. Then leave on for the recommended period stated on the back of the bag (do not water until this period has expired, and do not apply when rain is expected). After the period has run, water the product into the lawn.

Note: weed-and-feed will help with lots of broadleaf weeds but it is not effective against crabgrass. Some post-emergent herbicides (including 'weed-and-feed' types) can fight some crabgrass when the plants are very small (less than two branches) but I doubt it will be extremely effective (it will help with clover and dandelions).

Crabgrass is an annual plant which should die with first frost (but regular weeding is also recommended). Next year, apply a fertilizer w/crabgrass preventer early (January) which will take care of any weed seeds left over (crabgrass plants will leave seeds in the soil which will germinate next spring). Water in well after applying (apply to dry soil). Example of such product is Scott's Turfbuilder with Halts.

E.g. you can use Scott's Turfbuilder plus2 now for broadleaf weeds but I would not hold out hope for good crabgrass control. You can control crabgrass by regular weeding in summer and fall, and apply a pre-emergent herbicide in January.

The timing mentioned above apply to NC.

Answer
Plugging (I suppose that would be core aerating ?) can be beneficial especially in aggressive spreading grass like bermuda for example or on hard clay soil. It is not absolutely required on an established lawn, but it can be beneficial. Overseeding at the same time helps thicken up the lawn.

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