Spray now. Wait 2-3 days then cut grass. Looks high.

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Most sources suggest midday as the best time, the leaves are dry and the plant is actively growing. But I don't think timing with herbicide matters too much.

On a separate note. Your grass seems to have very yellow and in some cases dead tips, has it had any fertilizer?

 

No fertilizer, do I spray the weeds first then hit it with fertilizer? Looking into getting a soil test.

 

hit it with speedzone, skip the tenacity. Do it now, cut in 2 days. Spray again in 3(?) weeks per the label. That will cover most of the weeds in the lawn. I think I see violets there and they are a pain and will need something with triclopyr. Grassy weeds won't be touched by either speedzone or triclopyr. And as noted, its probably worth a 1/2 lb of nitrogen if you haven't put any down yet this spring. Its about the right time for that for you.

 

Should I spray first then fertilize?

 

Those pictures look like speedwell to me, not clover.
Nevertheless the advice above here is sound.

 

I don't see any speedwell there (believe me, corn speedwell and I are acquainted!). And on second look I'm not sure that's violet either. The leaves aren't pointy enough for violet. Either way, the same advice applies.

 

Looking for advice here on an attack plan for this lawn. I’m up for the effort and expense. In grow zone 6b in the north east.

I have clover and dandelion and purple flowers all over. Also struggle with some serious water retention in a few spots. Lawn gets a lot of sun.

When is the ideal time to spray for weeds? I have purchased tenacity and speed zone and have yet to spray. Weather is staying below 70 most days, still getting rain a few times a week.

If now is a good time,what would be next steps? Thanks!

Are you planning a over seed or Renovation this fall?

If not
Maybe a good feeding with pre emergent now and then again later fir the fall germinating weeds?

i have been fighting 2k ft at a time over a few years to get my 18k ft2 pretty weed free.

of course knowing what you have will better help with when and what to apply.

you have to start somewhere

so find a product that list the weeds you can actually ID and follow the directions. Some take a good while to show any results.

Just remember for all the weeds you kill your exposing more places for other seeds to germinate. Why I ask about your plans and pre emergents.

I have been almost dandelion free since applying pre emergent end of summer: since dandelion germinate in the fall

3-4” cut height will help keep weeds down also.

 

If I kill of these weeds do I need to seed right away so the patches don’t get filled back up with weeds? Or will fertilizer spread the grass into those patches where the weeds used to be?

 

To add , I had a battle with speedwell

any herbicide i have tried , even round up takes a long time to be effective. It just took persistent applications and pre emergent and hand pulling to get it .
As you get ride of some of the easier weeds to control you can focus on the others
I never noticed all the nutsedge in my lawn until I removed many others.
That to was a bit tough round up for lawns did the trick on that.

 

Thank you!

 

To add , I had a battle with speedwell

any herbicide i have tried , even round up takes a long time to be effective. It just took persistent applications and pre emergent and hand pulling to get it .
As you get ride of some of the easier weeds to control you can focus on the others
I never noticed all the nutsedge in my lawn until I removed many others.
That to was a bit tough round up for lawns did the trick on that.

I had a lot of it (corn specifically) before I took over my own lawn care. My house was a foreclosure and flip so nothing happened for 2 years while the bank and developer had it other than cutting. Given the stories we've heard of the previous owners I don't think they did anything for a while before it either, probably a couple years. I had ALL of the usual weeds for the north east. Just the ones that I had with 10% coverage or more in my yard-

Japanese stiltgrass
Corn speedwell
Poa annua
POA triv
Nutsedge
Spotted spurge
Clover
Crabgrass
Hairy Bittercress
Dandelions

I was 70-80% weeds when I took it over it was so bad. Had I know better I would have renovated from the start. The stiltgrass was the worst and probably covered 30-40% of my yard. Acclaim sorted that with a couple applications and scotts weed and feed sorted most of the other broadleaf but speedwell stuck around. Last year I use triclopyr on top of 3-way and that sorted a LOT of the speedwell. Hand pulling helped a lot too combined with spraying what remained. Nutsedge was easy with some sedgehammer spot sprayed.

The POA remains...

If I kill of these weeds do I need to seed right away so the patches don’t get filled back up with weeds? Or will fertilizer spread the grass into those patches where the weeds used to be?

I would plan a fall seeding

I'd spray the weeds, wait 3 days then mow, wait 2 days then fertilize. That way the weeds will be pretty dead before you fertilize so they don't steal nutrients.

Soil test is always good but to me that just looks like a lack of nitrogen. I'd put on some quick release nitrogen to start with (be careful not to over apply). In general you don't want to add too much nitrogen going into summer but for you it may be worth doing slow release all the way through June too. Especially as you're in 6b so it shouldn't be too hot (cross fingers).

TuffRider- What these guys said. Spray the weeds, give it a couple days, mow, and fertilize. No need to seed right away. Do it in the fall.

 

I had a lot of it (corn specifically) before I took over my own lawn care. My house was a foreclosure and flip so nothing happened for 2 years while the bank and developer had it other than cutting. Given the stories we've heard of the previous owners I don't think they did anything for a while before it either, probably a couple years. I had ALL of the usual weeds for the north east. Just the ones that I had with 10% coverage or more in my yard-

Japanese stiltgrass
Corn speedwell
Poa annua
POA triv
Nutsedge
Spotted spurge
Clover
Crabgrass
Hairy Bittercress
Dandelions

I was 70-80% weeds when I took it over it was so bad. Had I know better I would have renovated from the start. The stiltgrass was the worst and probably covered 30-40% of my yard. Acclaim sorted that with a couple applications and scotts weed and feed sorted most of the other broadleaf but speedwell stuck around. Last year I use triclopyr on top of 3-way and that sorted a LOT of the speedwell. Hand pulling helped a lot too combined with spraying what remained. Nutsedge was easy with some sedgehammer spot sprayed.

The POA remains...







TuffRider- What these guys said. Spray the weeds, give it a couple days, mow, and fertilize. No need to seed right away. Do it in the fall.

Absolutely if I had the money, I would’ve done a complete nuke and Reno years and years ago. The money I saved by getting rid of my Lawn Care service back in 2018 has long been absorbed by the increases of everything else. I need to plan anything above and beyond feeding Carefully. This year is budget is extremely thin and my saving grace was stocking up on some fertilizer last year.