Lush, green lawns are, admittedly, a holdover from the 1870s. Their popularity peaked in the United States around 1960. Every suburban dad's ultimate goal was to have the nicest lawn on the block. Our best comprehensive lawn feed from Scott is a triple-action blend, able to fertilize a lawn up to 4,000 square feet while choking out weed growth for 6 weeks.
Scott's a brand I'm familiar with and trust after years of use to maintain the lawn around my childhood home. Some of my earliest memories are of helping my green-thumbed Papa beautify the backyard every summer. Formulas vary, like any other sort of fertilizer; pellets can be distributed via wheeled hoppers, and liquid feed is easily hooked up to your garden hose via a sprayer tank. Take a look below, and you'll find quite a few lawn feed varieties guaranteed to provide a vigorous, verdant yard—grandpa-approved.
Scotts Turf Builder lawn feed
Staff pick
Scotts Turf Builder feed is an easy way to jumpstart your lawn's growth and keep it weed-free and pristine for weeks.
Pros:
- Formulated for bluegrass, fescue, ryegrass, and centipedegrass
- Chokes out new weeds for 6 weeks
- Prevents dandelions and crabgrass
Cons:
- Doesn't contain seeds, you'll need to get those separately
- Use spreader for best results
For a robust, well-rooted, and thriving lawn, Scotts Turf Builder triple-action blend is the right choice when it comes to lawn feed. Designed to be used as part of a seeding system, it's primarily made of fertilizer and serves to strengthen root growth. According to Scotts, it's best for Kentucky Bluegrass, Tall Fescue, Perennial Ryegrass, Centipedegrass, and Fine Fescue seeds. While seed isn't part of the blend, it does include growth inhibitors for dandelions, crabgrass, and the like. It's simplest to use a hopper-style spreader to evenly distribute the feed across your lawn.
Spectracide Weed & Feed lawn feed
Simple spray application
It's a cinch to wipe out unwanted weeds and green up your grass with Spectracide's Weed & Feed—just water thoroughly one to two days beforehand.
Pros:
- Broad-spectrum weed killer
- Fertilizes lawn with 20-percent nitrogen
- Connects to your hose
- No need to premix
Cons:
- Only contains nitrogen fertilizer
- Avoid watering for 24 hours after application
During the growing season, it's imperative to regularly feed your lawn for optimal development. Spectracide targets broadleaf weeds while feeding your yard with a 20-0-0 nitrogen fertilizer blend. For stubborn weed clumps, it can be used as a spot treatment for targeted removal. Spectracide also kills poison ivy and poison oak, making it a valuable buy for folks whose property borders deep woods. Just hook the bottle up to your garden hose, and it'll treat up to 7,200 square feet of grass.
Miracle-Gro water soluble lawn food
Use every four to six weeks
Miracle-Gro is probably the first brand that comes to mind when you're thinking of fertilizer, and their water-soluble lawn food is tried and true.
Pros:
- Fast results
- 1 tablespoon of feed to 1 gallon of water
- Use every four to six weeks
- Nitrogen and iron-rich 30-0-6 blend
Cons:
- Best used with the feeder it's made for
Easy to use, effective, and affordable—those are just a few perks of choosing any Miracle-Gro fertilizer. Their 5-pound lawn food container is formulated for regular usage and instant nutrient uptake. For less mess, I recommend using Miracle-Gro's matching feeder. It attaches to your hose, and just a single tablespoon of feed diluted in 1 gallon of water will nourish 600 square feet of land. Use as directed every four to six weeks like clockwork, and you'll have a springy carpet of grass that the neighbors will envy.
The Andersons Doc's Super Juice lawn feed
Can treat up to 2 acres of land
Doc's Super Juice lawn feed might have a silly name, but it's an accurate one—prepare for the lushest lawn you've grown in years.
Pros:
- 14-2-4 blend ratio
- Complete and balanced fertilizer
- Dilute for 2 acres of coverage
- Nitrogen, phosphate, and iron
Cons:
- Also requires hose-end sprayer, but not brand-specific
Doc's Super Juice is an aptly-named product due to its super-powered growth formula, including nitrogen, phosphate, and iron. Also included is humic acid, sourced from sea kelp for optimal foliar uptake—AKA nutrient absorption via root systems. However, it's sold in a dry mix and will need to be diluted. You can feed up to 3,000 square feet of lawn per cup of dry Super Juice. At full strength, it will treat an acre of land, and if diluted to half strength, two acres. If your backyard's a big one, this is the lawn feed to choose.
Scotts Lawn Care Plan northern small yard lawn feed collection
A beautiful lawn all year round
If you're new to lawn care and live in the Northeast, then run, don't walk, to pick up Scott's four-season lawn feed system.
Pros:
- Lawn care made simple
- SummerGuard includes insect control
- Winterguard boosts root strength
- Weed & feed with fast "green-up"
Cons:
- Costly, but an investment for folks serious about a nice lawn
Scott's system is available in regional blends, and I chose the Northeast one since it's the one I'd need to buy if I had a lawn of my own up here in Zone 7b. All growth stages are covered, within this kit—Turf Builder for early spring; Weed & Feed for late spring, Summerguard feed to drought-proof your lawn and exterminate pests, and Winterguard to strengthen your lawn's root systems through the coldest months of the year. This is another dry blend that is best distributed via a hopper spreader, but you can sprinkle it by hand (wear gloves!) for quicker distribution.
Bottom line
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Lawn maintenance can be a pain, but it doesn't have to be if you think ahead and choose the best lawn feed for your yard. Liquid, powder, pellets, gels—they all work marvelously and are easy to use. Our staff pick from Scotts, a long-venerated company known for their gardening products, makes an effective triple-action lawn feed blend that's step two in the process of seeding a lawn from scratch. Common weeds are stopped before they can sprout, and grass growth is jump-started via a rich micronutrient and essential mineral blend.
If you'd prefer a liquid formula and are new to lawn feeds, opt for Miracle-Gro's super-simple lawn food. You'll pour the correct amount into its matching sprayer, screw the sprayer valve to your garden hose, and water as usual.
But, on the other hand, suppose you have a 1 to 2-acre spread of land covered in sad, straggly grass, and it needs to look healthy—fast. Doc's Super Juice is the formula to choose; it's designed for optimal foliar uptake, meaning that in one to four hours, your grass will actually perk up and look greener.
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