He just said weed and feed. I text him after our conversation to ask him to warn me before spraying but he must not have seen the text as when I was pulling up from picking up my daughter his wife was already spraying the front of the neighbors yard. She was using a hose and a container of something. I was mainly concerned about an area over the fence of my veggie garden that is a side yard for the other unit. I asked him in my text not to spray that area but I'm not sure if they did or not as he never replied. Ugh. I will be looking for signs of herbicide damage. .. Good thing I have back ups. Along that fence I have tomatillos and tomatoes planted, but I only planted half of my starts. Would herbicide affect garlic as well?

dchall... Yes... I know and have read all about the cons of W&F but I'm not sure what else to do. I live in the burbs with the lawn the size of a postage stamp and all I want it a nice lawn that doesn't break the bank and I don't have to drive all over town looking for specific products that I have no clue how to use... LOL If there are alternatives I can use that I can find at Home Depot, Lowes or WM.. then I'm all for it. Gas is $4 a gallon and I keep telling myself "It shouldn't be this hard or complicated. To answer your questions I haven't even turned on my sprinklers yet as mother nature has taken care of the watering needs so far this season. With TX being TX... I'm sure we'll be in a combo heat/drought wave soon enough and I know not to over water and let the grass tell me when it needs watering. Right now my mower is set one up from the lowest setting. If I take it down to the lowest setting.. I'll be hitting dirt in some places. Grass type... I'm assuming it's typical Bermuda... like I said I live in one of the new subdivisons that pop up overnight so I'm sure the builders just put in basic bermuda. I also wanted to say.. if my posts come off as mean or offensive... that's not my intention. Just getting really frustrated with this lawn thing. One person says the Scotts 4 step plan... another call it the devil...

Way to go lamcon. The Weed Hound is a GREAT tool! I wish I had stock in that company. I used to do everything wrong, too. Then I started reading here and, after a few hundred posts of people having success with this or that technique, I came to realize that the cultural practices of "proper" watering and mowing are really the main part of turf care. I just never knew what "proper" was. I thought I knew from reading all the books and magazines but they were mostly wrong and/or confusing. It is as simple as 1-2-3. Here is the 1-2-3 of lawn care that I have learned here. Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an hour in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. Mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. Bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses are the most dense when mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. Dense grass shades out weeds and uses less water when tall. Dense grass feeds the deep roots you're developing in 1 above. Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. I fertilize on the federal holidays because they are easy to remember. Using chemical fertilizers in the north you can fertilize on Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. Since I use organic and I live in the south, I start on Washington's Birthday and also fertilize on the 4th of July. But don't ever apply chemical ferts in the heat of summer...only organic.

The best weed control is proper cultural practices. The most important thing is having the correct grass for the situation. If you have a full sun grass planted in the shade, then no amount of care will prevent the grass from getting thin and weeds popping up. Assuming your lawn is appropriate for the location, then it comes down to caring for the lawn with proper watering, then mowing, then fertilizer. Here are the basics. Basics of Lawn Care After reading numerous books and magazines on lawn care, caring for lawns at seven houses in my life, and reading numerous forums where real people write in to discuss their successes and failures, I have decided to side with the real people and dispense with the book and magazine authors. I don't know what star their planet rotates around but it's not mine. With that in mind, here is the collected wisdom of the Internet savvy homeowners and lawn care professionals summarized in a few words. If you follow the advice here you will have conquered at least 50% of all lawn problems. Once you have these three elements mastered, then you can worry about weeds (if you have any), dog spots, and striping your lawn. But if you are not doing these three things, they will be the first three things suggested for you to correct. 1. Watering Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an inch in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. If that does not work, then you might have to water more than once per week during the summer's hottest period. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. You will have to learn to judge when to water your own lawn. If you live in El Paso your watering will be different than if you live in Vermont. Adjust your watering to your type of grass, temperature, humidity, wind, and soil type. It is worth noting that this technique is used successfully by professionals in Phoenix, so...just sayin.' The other factors make a difference. If you normally water 1 inch per week and you get 1/2 inch of rain, then adjust and water only 1/2 inch that week. 2. Mowing Every week mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses will become the most dense when they are mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. In fact there are special mowers that can mow these grasses down to 1/16 inch. Dense grass shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and uses less water than thin grass. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush. 3. Fertilizing Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Follow the directions on the bag and do not overdo it (unless you use organics in which case you may overdo it without fear of hurting anything). At this point you do not have to worry about weed and feed products - remember at this point you are just trying to grow grass, not perfect it. Besides once you are doing these three things correctly, your weed problems should go away without herbicide.