Going Through the Motions: Weed Killing Isn't an Exact Science

The great experiment begins...

I drove up to my buddy Jeff's house last Tuesday and picked up his fertilizer/weed-killer spreader. It's a Scott's Drop Spreader. This seemed like an appropriate choice because I was putting down Scott's Turf Builder With Plus 2 Weed Control. It's engineered -- according to its marketing claptrap -- to kill dandelions and other broad-leaf weeds.

We'll see.

I am in no way interested in the Turf Builder aspect of this product. I have very little turf, and only some sort of Divine Intervention or $3,000 worth of topsoil and sod is going to make grass grow on the moonscape that is my lawn.

Using a shotgun, I could fire seeds into the red clay that surrounds my house, and they would just bounce off, lie on the surface and wait to be plucked up by opportunist birds. It would be like throwing a golf against concrete.

No, I spent nearly $50 for the weed killing properties of this product.

I followed the directions to the letter. They told me to put the product down on a moist lawn followed by at least 24 rainless hours.

I rolled the stuff onto the lawn after Thursday night's rain stopped on Friday morning. It's now late afternoon on Saturday. There hasn't been any rain since I put down the weed killer and there isn't expected to be any rain over the next two or three days.

I set the opening for dispensing the weed killer to 51/2, as instructed on the bag.

Despite doing everything according to the directions, I remain skeptical. I just don't think this stuff is going to work. I doubt the dandelions are trembling in their green roots.

Spreading it was more difficult than I anticipated. There is barely a flat spot in my yard. Pushing the spreader meant slogging uphill for half the passes. It's a big yard. Because my mower is self-propelled, I hadn't even considered how much work pushing the spreader was going to be.

The entire process took about an hour.

So, now I'm in wait-and-see mode. Here's a shot of some of the dandelions I am battling.

I'll take another photo of the same spot next week when I file a full report here on the success of the mission.

I am not filled with optimism.