Do do you a product you specifically recommend? I will likely be doing a granular application. I have 2 acres where the hose just doesnt reach. Why don't you recommend weed and feed?

Also in short, is it BAD to weed and feed in september or will it be okay?

You'd be fine. Weed and Feed is an OK feed, it's just not very good at the Weed bit. For dandelions, that's not much of an issue, they don't take much. Just follow the bag instructions.

If your major problem is dandelions, a one-gallon sprayer loaded with plain old Weed B Gon can be used to zap them lightly whenever you see them (more severe problems may require an area or blanket spray).

A pre-emergent in spring and/or summer would also help keep the weeds down and use lighter chemicals.

Whether or not it is OK is a matter of opinion. Yes, it is not particularly effective at weed control but that is the least of the issues. As a granular product, it leaches easily with rainfall and irrigation into groundwater and from there into streams, rivers and larger bodies of water. It is a significant source of pollution. 2,4-D and atrazine, two of the most common herbicides in weed and feed, are also the most common pesticides found in drinking water, nationwide. They have a negative effect on aquatic life and amphibians, specifically frogs. The granules are also consumed by birds and are easily tracked indoors on shoes and clothing. The pesticides can be particularly harmful to kids and pets. This is why dedicated, liquid or spray-on lawn herbicides are recommended over a weed and feed product. You can spot spray to address specific areas of concern, they dry rapidly with minimal leaching and once dry, are of much less concern to wildlife, kids and pets.

FWIW, weed and feed products are banned in Canada, which takes a much more conservative view of pesticides than does the US. And at one time, nearly 15 years ago now, a broader US evaluation of these products was undertaken with a view towards restrictions or banning as well. My state authorities were quite outspoken about it. However the lobbying efforts of agribusiness and the product manufacturers - eg, Scott's - managed to quash that effort.

There are two camps of thought regarding lawn care, although you do not tend to see much of one on this forum. One is the no-holds-barred, pour on the chemicals to achieve that flawless, pristine weed-free lawn attitude (what I call the CaddyShack mentality) and the other that takes a wider view of the environmental impact of pesticide-based lawn care and pesticide-based gardening in general. And is willing to tolerate and even encourage a departure from that pristine, resource consuming monoculture that is an always green, meticulously kept, weed-free lawn.

While all that is true, it's also exploded out to the level of scaremongering. I can do a write-up of water that would have you move to Arizona and dehydrate yourself.

The occasional use of Weed and Feed products is not going to collapse the environment, although (as I noted in my post above) there are certainly better ways to do it.

To gain control over something that's been left go, your options are W&F or blanket spray. Both of which will apply the same chemicals at about the same rate.

Post that, care to fill it in comes into play. And contrary to...some claims...being very close to weed-free is not that difficult and does not require the excessive use of chemicals. As my three year old, one gallon batch of Tenacity will attest. What it does require is some initial time and effort, and only you can decide if you want to put that in or simply reset it once a year or so.

Personally, I'd use a pre-emergent late next spring as the forsythia blossom, something that will last through summer.

If you'd rather explore organic options, please feel free to cross-post this on the Organic Lawn Care Forum. They'll be more than happy to assist you.

Generally we tell folks to use a fertilizer when you need to fertilize (late May, early Sept, and Thanksgiving) and use a herbicide when you need to kill weeds (mid April and late Sept). Scott's puts out these miracle cure-all products and encourage people to use them on their 4-step program. Some people are successful with them, but we get a lot of traffic here from people having problems.

Weed n feed products usually do not work, because they have to go onto soaking wet grass. Most people don't read the directions. If you cannot reach a hose to the area, then you would be wasting the product. As for your situation, you could mix some liquid Weed-b-Gon in a pump up sprayer and spot spray the weeds - as morph said above.

I suspect one of the problems causing your weeds is that you cannot get water to the affected area for regular irrigation. That leaves the grass thin and susceptible to weeds. If you decide to run an irrigation line out to the hinterlands of your property, I would not use 1/2-inch pipe. I would go with 3/4 or 1-inch. If you go too small you won't have the pressure out there that you need to irrigate.

I did the weed and feed product this past early summer with fairly poor results. You just can't get proper coverage.

I'm busting out the sprayer this week. It was be time consuming but at least I know it will work.