On Jul 26, 12:16 am, blueman wrote:
Phisherman writes:
On Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:34:31 -0400, blueman wrote:

First, I use a drop spreader rather than a rotary spreader since I
don't want the herbicide to hit the plantings bordering the yard.

So here is my paradox.
The Scott's weed & feed says to wet the lawn before using (presumably
so the herbicide granules can stick to the weeds better). However,
when I wet the lawn, some wet grass inevitably ends up running against
the drop-feeder slit which causes the fertilizer to cake-up and clog
the slots.

In summary:
1. If I don't wet the lawn first, then it spreads but it doesn't stick
to the weeds, so the herbicide doesn't work
2. If I wet first, then the drop spreader slits clog and I get neither
fertilizer nor herbicide action (or I end up opening the slits
wider by some random amount and get a random, uneven coverage)

So, what am I doing wrong and what should I be doing?

That is the trouble with drop spreaders. There are broadcast
spreaders with some having a side guard to prevent spreading the
product on one side.

Weed-and-feed products are popular but very harsh on the lawn overall
and rarely recommended. Get yourself a good garden sprayer with a
brass wand and spot treat (on a windless sunny day) with Bayer,
Weed-B-Gone or Spectricide. If you clean out your sprayer each time
it will last a very long time. Eventually, if you are overseeding
you'll see fewer weeds each year--weed treatments would disappear, but
should become less time-consuming. Now, I just use a 32 oz trigger
spray bottle for the few weeds I get on an entire 1/2 acre of lawn.

I had some a big unused jug of Weed-B-Gone along with an unused pump
sprayer in my garage for the longest of time. I finally used it and I
was *amazed* with the results. It truly started making the clover wilt
within just hours. Within a few days, there were just about not weeds
left. I spot sprayed the remaining weeds and my lawn is now weed
free. Works much better than the weed-and-feed.

Rather than having to mix up a full batch time and set up and then
clean my pump sprayer, I'm thinking of just making up a gallon batch
and putting it in an old Round-up sprayer bottle. (Of course, I will
re-label it properly). That way I will always have it available and if
the sprayer gunks up after a while, I'll just move it to another old
bottle. This should work well for occassional spot treatments though
if I find a need for a more extensive treatment at the beginning of
the year, I can always just mix up a batch in my real pump sprayer.

Does that sound like a reasonable idea?


First, as you've learned, doing spot treatment with a sprayer on your
lawn is way better than the weed-n-feed. You minimize the herbicide
used and deliver it far better right where it's actually needed. So,
you are on the right track.

For convenience, I just keep 3 sprayers. One backpack with Roundup
for big areas, like my stone driveway, one 2 gallon with Roundup for
small areas, one 2 gallon with Weed B Gone for the lawn. As long as
you just rinse them out at the end of the season they last fine. The
only time I've had problems was when I failed to do that and left them
sitting unused all winter. Freezing is obviously bad too