shame on me!

No harm done. Grass likes to feed heavily in fall.

Temperatures are starting to fall, so the alfalfa isn't going to be as effective. If you put it down (in a week or so to give the winterizer time to work its way in a bit), some will tap now, some next spring.

Personally, I would use the alfalfa in the gardens and stick with winterizer for the rest of the year. How much of the alfalfa will tap out this year depends on the weather, and you don't want to put way too much nitrogen down.

Your last feed is when topgrowth on the lawn stops. For me, that's usually around Thanksgiving, but your timing will differ--my grass is still in summer mode, and it's October. It was also 85 today.

Thank you, morpheuspa, for the reminders. Don't know why I forgot that alfalfa works better in warmer weather. I think I'll go along with your suggestion and save the alfalfa for my roses next spring--the roses do love it so much!

Second Winterizer feed when growth stops--got it! (Now if I can just remember this next autumn.)

Thanks again,
Kate

Second Winterizer feed when growth stops--got it! (Now if I can just remember this next autumn.)

I keep a journal of what I did and why--which makes it a lot easier the next year to see how I responded to a given issue. At the bottom I have a summary chart of the date, NPK delivered, pounds of organics per thousand square feet of lawn, plus iron, calcium, and a column for any notes that don't apply in any of the previous.

We should note here that I'm a perfectionist.

I'm not sure how Kansas weather goes, but you can (and probably should) fertilize again moderately about a month before topgrowth is going to stop. Since you fed at the end of September, that would be (for me) the end of October and the end of November. Actually, that's the schedule I'm on for fall this year. Assuming the weather cooperates--my winterization last year was the end of December and only because I got tired of waiting.

That'll really give the grass good roots for winter and an earlier greenup next spring.

Thanks for the additional info. I may try to work in that extra feeding before the final one--depending on how busy I get. I sometimes just forget --which I wouldn't do if I were a careful journalist like you, but my problem is that I forget where I put my notes. Obviously, I'm not as organized as you are.

Let's see--I need to associate it with something--next feed about Halloween and last feed about Xmas break. That might do it.

Thanks for your help.

Kate

If you keep the alfalfa over the winter, by spring you are likely to have half the current volume of alfalfa and roughly half a volume of weevils and weevil poop. It is still great to use in the garden or on the lawn, but it is not as nice to dig your hands into.

I try to use up everything organic before Thanksgiving. And any day is a good day to spread your organic materials.