Jim, I am guessing that they have changed their recommendation not for the sake of the grass, but rather for politically-motivated and not-well-thought-out environmental "concerns" that affect maybe 5% of all real estate - those properties bordering or very close to stagnant or extremely slow running water. Suffolk County, NY (on LI) has just banned the late fall feeding, effective next year, mostly for political reasons as far as I can tell, since that island (where I grew up) is nothing but a mountain of sand plus a few scattered glacial erratics, here and there. I suspect something similar is going on where you are. A full app in mid-Feb sounds a little extreme, to the point where it may even hurt the grass by encouraging topgrowth too soon, leading to failure in summer. Maybe that recommendation is intended to make up for the lost late fall feedings which are apparently politically unpopular now, but that doesn't make the recommendation any more right as far as your grass is concerned. And nevermind that a late winter-early spring feeding is much more likely to leach out without any effect on the grass than a late fall feeding, though I guess we are not supposed to notice that. ;-) Anyway, hard to say what to do other than to obey any laws, but seriously read between the lines of all of these "recommendations." If still allowed in your area, I would favor a late fall fertilizing over one in early spring by a big, big margin. Paul

The general recommendation is 1-lb. Nitrogen per 1000sqft. There has been a ton of discussion about this on the main lawn care page, take a look.

Hopefully your water situation is better than mine, and you can water in the fert good as soon as you apply it. If you haven't put any fert out yet, you need a complete fertilizer in Sep/Oct and another in late Nov. The link below might help, but that's with plenty of watering capabilities. I'm under water restrictions and about to go to no watering at all, so I'm not sure what I can do at this time without rain...it's a wait and see situation now. Here is a link that might be useful: NCSU link

I am naturally concerned about the tree, I would not want to do anything to harm it. It is a large red oak. What I am wanting to grow healthier and larger is the variety of plants I have planted under it. I have a Lilly of the Nile, some Spider plants, Mother in Law's Tongues (I cannot remember plants actual names, the old fashioned ones my mother taught me are the ones that stuck) Dutchman's Pipes, some flowerless purple Cannas...I am experimenting to see what will grow best and so far nothing but the Spider plants do very well. I want to improve the soil without ripping out everything and digging it up. I try to keep pine straw and dead leaves on it. I want to put something on the surface that will help the plants and not harm the tree. Is this just wishfull thinking?