Just because you live in an apartment doesn’t mean you can’t keep and tend a garden.
As long as you have the space to do so, such as a balcony, you can embrace your green thumb.
Landscaping a garden on your balcony breathes life into your apartment, and it’s even possible to grow a small lawn.
If you’ve decided to grow a lawn, you’ll want to keep the weeds to an absolute minimum while keeping your soil in excellent condition for the grass to grow.
Below, we share the best time to apply weed and feed to your balcony lawn, which will help ensure that you get the best use out of this product.
Why Use Weed and Feed
To keep a lush, green container garden on your balcony, you’ll need to look after it.
One way to do this is to make sure weeds are kept at bay. You’d also want to feed it regularly so that you can guarantee it has all the nutrients it needs to flourish.
The first step is knowing why and when to use weed and feed.
In a balcony garden, the amount of soil you’re working with is usually limited, so it’s essential that you manage it well.
First, you need to make sure it has the correct nutrient levels so that it has what it needs to feed the grass. Second, you also need to ensure that you stop any weeds from growing through as soon as possible.
Even if you’ve purchased new sod from the garden center, the soil you use to plant it in may contain weeds.
Weeds will compete for vital nutrients and space needed by your plants, and it won’t take long for weeds to take over a small patch of lawn.
Weed and feed is a popular product that will help to keep weeds at bay and feed your soil with everything it needs for a healthy lawn.
It usually also helps to improve your lawn’s ability to absorb and retain moisture and food.
So, when is the best time to apply weed and feed, and how long should you wait before using it on new sod?
Best Time to Apply Weed and Feed
The best time to apply weed and feed will depend on whether you have pre-emergent or post-emergent herbicides.
Pre-Emergent Weed and Feed
Pre-emergent herbicides are best applied annually before any weeds have started to propagate.
You can use them in the fall or spring during the growing season to stop any weed seeds from germinating.
Pre-emergent herbicides won’t kill any weeds that have already appeared because it works by targeting your future potential weeds.
Post-Emergent Weed and Feed
Post-emergent herbicides are employed to rid your lawn of weeds once they’ve already appeared.
This means that they need to be used when the weeds are growing.
While they’re best used once your weeds have appeared, it has to be early enough in the year for your lawn to benefit from the feed.
So, when is the best time to apply weed and feed? In doing this, keep in mind that timing is everything.
If you treat your lawn too early, you risk missing some weeds. Treat it too late, and your lawn misses out on nutrients.
In the spring or fall is best for most people, depending on where you are in the world.
With post-emergent weed and feed, you also need to identify the weeds you want to kill to guarantee the herbicide you buy can manage the job.
You could try identifying them online or ask at your local garden center.
When to Use Weed and Feed on New Sod
Sod is mature turf that you can buy in rolls to create an instant lawn for yourself. It’s the most popular method of creating a container lawn for your balcony.
Most people won’t need much, so it’s very affordable.
Not to mention, waiting for the grass to grow from seed means having a container of soil sitting on your balcony for an extended period, which can be rather unsightly.
If you’ve recently laid down new sod, then timing becomes crucial when deciding when to apply weed and feed.
Fresh sod is vulnerable and needs a few weeks to root down into the soil you’ve laid it on and to spread out and grow.
The herbicides contained in weed and feed could inhibit or prevent your sod from doing this, so you should wait at least three weeks before treating your new lawn.
In the three week waiting period, you can pull any weeds out by hand.
Conclusion
Deciding when to apply weed and feed will depend on what kind of herbicide it contains, as well as where you are in the world.
Although both types of treatment are best used in the fall and springtime, you need to pick one that suits your current weed situation the best.
You need to remember that pre-emergent herbicides are used to stop weed seeds from germinating, so it will not kill any existing weeds.
Post-emergent herbicides, on the other hand, should be employed if the weeds have already arrived.
Exact dates are tricky to pin down because, as we mentioned previously, it will depend on the growing seasons of the area you live in.
As a general rule of thumb, pre-emergent weed and feed is best used in early spring, usually around mid-February to early March.
Post-emergent weed and feed will be slightly later, usually late March to April.