Spending A Lot More Green For A Greener Lawn

JACKSONVILLE, FL - As we head into the first spring weekend on the First Coast, many homeowners are planning the annual ritual of raking, bagging and lawn maintenance to prepare for a lush, green yard.

But be prepared to pay 20 to 30% more for those weed and feed products and fertilizers.

Part of the price jump is because of new formulations to comply with Florida laws to protect the environment. But the main cause of the increase is because the cost of both organic and man-made fertilizers tripled in price over the summer of 2008.

And now those increases are being passed on to consumer.

Experts say it's important to know what you're buying before dropping a pile of green for the vision of a green lawn. Look at the three numbers on the bag of fertilizer or weed and feed. The first number stands for the nitrogen content.

"With the nitrogen you're going to get the green," said John Hixon of the Mandarin Lowe's Home Improvement Center

"It's going to green your lawn up, it's going to make it grow. It'll kick it off strong!"

The third number is for potash content. That's the good stuff to grow those healthy, deep roots.

"And that's going to give you a stronger lawn, particularly with water conditions we've got now," said Hixon.

But agricultural experts for the state say in many cases you don't need to buy a weed and feed product to spread over your entire lawn.

"Because in many cases, you're applying weed control, weed killers, to areas of the lawn that don't need it," said U.F. Horticulturist Joe Sewards of the St. Johns County Cooperative Extension.

Sewards recommends only treating those problem areas of your lawn with spot spraying of a weed killer.

"Don't spray it where you don't need it!" said Sewards.

"You're not only wasting money by applying more product than you need, but you're also applying it and it's causing runoff and those chemicals go into the aquifer. It's showing up in springs in different parts of Florida."

Both Hixon and Sewards agree the key is to grow a stronger, thicker lawn where weeds are choked out by the grass.

"You want as strong a root growth as you can get," said Hixon.

"Because that's where the root'll grow deep to where the water is, and so it's going to perform better with the new formulations that they have!"

©2009 First Coast News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, or redistributed.