1. Its never too late to start feeding your soil organically. Why are you choosing Blood meal and corn meal for a feeding?

2. Yes, compost can be applied anytime. Apply it at no more than 1/4" think and be sure to sweep it off the grass blades. Keep it damp, not wet for the next few days. I would apply the corn meal before the compost.

3. A regular garden rake will do nothing to thatch. Do you mean power rake the thatch? Are you sure you have a thatch problem? If so, yes power rake the thatch first then mulch mow the debris and apply compost.

4. There are more potent vinegar's, but regular household vinegar will work just fine. Remember vinegar is non-selective, it will kill your weeds, grass and landscape plants if you spray them.

Hi Kurioo,

Welcome to the forums! See responses below:

1. Is it too late in the spring to apply A.) blood meal or B.) corn meal to the lawn?

Answer A: No. Blood meal can be applied at any time in the growing season as a high-level source of nitrogen. It's a "fast-acting" source of nitrogen, so be sure to follow the suggested application rates to avoid burning your lawn.

Answer B: No. But I think you're confusing corn meal with corn gluten meal (CGM). Sounds the same, but they are different. If you have fungal disease, corn meal (as another poster will attest) is an excellent solution. It is also a source of nitrogen (not nearly as high as blood meal, not quite as high as Soy Bean Meal (SBM), but higher, IIRC, than Used Coffee Grounds (UCG).) CGM is used by some as a pre-emergent, to stop weeds that sprout from seeds. Since you're in SE MI, I'm guessing the forsythia are long past blooming, and you've missed your window of opportunity for applying any kind of Pre-emergent. However, CGM is also a good source of Nitrogen (or Protein, to use the proper organic reference), but it's cost is often prohibitive to using it as a straight fertilizer. Often depends on your area - some can get CGM cheaply ($10-15/50lbs)straight from a feed store, others can only get it in the "pelletized" form from garden centers ($30+/40lbs)

2. I am getting a truck load of compost from the city tomorrow. Can I spread some on the lawn at this time of year? If so, how much should I spread? Compost first or corn meal first?

Compost can be applied at any time of year. The only danger is applying too much compost that you smother the grass. I believe the recommended rate is approx 1/4 inch of compost as a top dressing. Not sure if it matters whether you apply corn meal first or not. If you give it a light watering, it should settle in anyway and be a nice food source for the microbes in the compost.

3. My hubby suggested raking the thatch before adding anything else. Sounds like this is not recommended per the FAQ, pretty much ever. right?

Do a search on the forum for thatch and molasses. Several forum members have had success reducing their thatch by spraying unsulphured blackstrap molasses on the lawns with a hose-end sprayer. The sugar in the molasses gives the microbes an energy boost that helps them break down the thatch. If it's REALLY thick, if you're husbands back doesn't object, I can't see raking some of it up as hurting anything.

4. Weed control... the vinegar discussed is not common kitchen vinegar, it's a much stronger industrial vinegar, correct?

Regular household vinegar will work. I bought a big jug for about $3 (maybe less) at BJ's/Costco. Industrial strength (15-20% vinegar) is not available at your grocery store or HD/Lowes. You'd likely find it at a garden center, but even that's not a guarantee. Please use eye protection if you use the 15% forumula. (probably wouldn't hurt to use it with the regular stuff if there's a breeze that day).

So yes, you can use household vinegar, but there's a limited set of conditions for it to work: It has be to be in direct sunlight, and it has to be hot. Not necessarity 95+ hot (although that will make it work even quicker), but at least above 75. (Disclaimer - I used it 2 weeks ago early in the morning - 65-70 degrees - and there was no effect after 45 minutes. Sprayed later when it was around 75-80, and it started working in 15 minutes)

Again, welcome to the forum, and thanks for asking questions I now feel qualified to answer! (See what months of reading the forums and trial and error get you?)

Best of luck this year,

Gags

My only issue with thatch from what (I understand): thatch (the problematic dead root stuff NOT the misunderstood lawn clipping version) has a very difficult time being broken down by bacteria due to its complex lignin material makeup. The more effective means of breaking down this lignin is either by the common fungal strains in the lawn or help from the "shredder" arthropods (like my pals, the millipedes).

Ok, so maybe I should be asking a different question. I guess applying compost is not a fertilizer, it's a soil ammendment, right? And I need protein to fertilize the grass so it grows thick and tall, right?

What should I be using?

Also, I have tried straight household white vinegar on weeds in the playground, the plants growing in the cracks of the sidewalk and NO effect! This was last summer, in the middle of the day. No wilting. So I think I need to upgrade vinegars, right?

What should I be using?

Alfalfa is a moderate fertilizer (call it 2-1-2, but many will argue that). Soybean meal is a much better one at 7-1-2 (again, arguable). Really, there's nothing wrong with corn meal (about the same as alfalfa), but for both of those you need a lot of it. For soybean, 15 lbs per thousand square feet of lawn is a good feeding.

So I think I need to upgrade vinegars, right?

Yes. Now, a warning. Horticultural vinegar (20%) can burn your eyes and leave you blinded for months while the corneas heal. That's not from direct application, that's from the spray.