Fall fertilizer question

[thatguy]

My yards is about 2 yrs old and is still trying to get established.. I need to overseed this fall, part of the yard (10%) is in pretty bad shape (a lot of it is bare spots), the rest has good established grass on it..

Should i use a 'starter' fertilizer on all of it or just the part that has a lot of bare spots? Or could I use a fall fertilizer on all of it and that would be OK for the new grass that will be coming up?

Any advise is recommended..

Brian

 

[ToadHill]

Starter fertilizer is high in nitrogen and that's just what you want for a fall fertilizer. I'd fertilize the whole lawn now and overseed the area that needs it. If you can only fertilize once per year Fall is the time to do it.

 

[Doc_Bob]

I fertilize in the Fall. The Menards fertilizer (slow release) suggested a second application a month later. Should I?

Also ,do I still need a period of rain or watering after fertilizer application to avoid burning the lawn with slow release?
Bob

 

[ToadHill]

You want to fertilize in the fall about 3 or 4 weeks before your grass goes dorment and you should not need a second application a month later since the grass should be dorment by that time. Studies at Cornell have shown that when fertilizing a lawn that any more nitrogen than 3 to 3.5 lbs per 1000 sq ft for any growning season is not used by the lawn and is a waste of money.

If you use 10-10-10 fertilizer that means the first # is the nitrogen content and 10% of the weight of the bag is nitrogen. If the bag weighs 50 lbs, you spread this bag on a space 1000 sq. ft. you have put 5 lbs of nitrogen down and over fertilized.