Every spring when you hit up your favorite big box store, there’s always that display of Weed & Feed. As it’s advertised, it seems like a dream come true. Apply one bag to your lawn and with the combination of fertilizer and weed control all in one, you’ll soon be looking at a green, weed-free lawn. 

But hold on! Before you throw a bag or two in your cart, there’s something you should know…

Weed & Feed is the 2-in-one shampoo and conditioner of lawn care. The shampoo/conditioner combo tries to be two things at once but only succeeds at a third: Being both a poor wash AND a poor condition.  In much the same way, Weed & Feed tries to be both fertilizer and herbicide and ends up doing both poorly.

Let us explain why this is the case… 

It’s all in the application

It’s not that it’s trying to do two things at once. AT CFL, our Round 2 treatment actually does three things at once: attacks the unseen seeds of weeds beneath the soil with pre-emergence, kills the visible weeds with post-emergence, and fertilizes the grass we want to grow. But our Round 2 treatment contains a liquid weed control, not a granular product.

Here is the secret: granular weed control applications just don’t work very well.

Weed & Feed granules are small bits of fertilizer (feed) with a coating of post-emergent (weed control). For it to effectively work on weeds, that small granule has to stick to the weed and stay there.

If you’ve ever applied Weed & Feed, either manually or with a spreader, you know how those little granules bounce and scatter as they land. Sometimes the stars align, mostly they don’t. The end result?  Your weeds survive and thrive and the fertilizer actually makes them grow BIGGER.

And then there’s the water issue

Depending on the product itself, you might need to water beforehand. Or afterward. That watering helps the granules stick, and you have to follow the directions on the bag, which can be different for each brand.

Then you play the Weed & Feed lottery. What are the odds of those granules sticking on a weed and being there long enough to be absorbed? 

Pretty low. Not something you want to ever bet on.

Overall, you’re paying a specific price to try and do two things at once, but neither gets done effectively. There are better ways to invest in your lawn (And better things to buy at that big box store.)

That’s why we recommend our post-emergence treatment to our customers. Having a professional application of effective, liquid post-emergence coats the weed with water and herbicide at the same time, giving the herbicide the time it needs to go to work. The weeds don’t stand a chance. 

Contact us today for a customized quote for your lawn!