Reread the Bermuda Bible. It has the details for fertilizer, when, how much, and how often. It also covers watering and mowing height and frequency. After you fertilize all you have to do is wash the fertilizer off the grass blades and down into the soil. That should be enough water to mostly dissolve the fertilizer. What you don't want to do is let the dry fertilizer sit on the grass until the following day. Problems come right away when dew only partially dissolves the fertilizer and burns the grass blades and roots. I've never seen the Lesco fertilizers recommended in the BB at Lowe's or HD in San Antonio. Austin may be different. Tractor Supply supposedly carries the exact products (never been there). They are all around Austin. Call first. If you want to try to get the same results with organics, try applying corn GLUTEN meal at a rate of 30 pounds per 1,000 square feet every month. The first time I would apply at 10 pounds. Second month at 20 and bump it up to 30 for the third app. Why? Because that will build your soil microbe population and eliminate some of the sour smell of corn decomposition. If you dumped all 30 pounds the first time you may regret it. That smell is to be avoided because it is wasting the valuable nitrogen in the corn gluten meal. Better to bring up the microbes to handle it and avoid the waste.

Using synthetic (like Scott's) fertilizers, hold off until Labor Day. The weather is too warm right now. Organics would be fine and sod is frequently spoon-fed at the farm. Milorganite is a good choice if you absolutely feel you must do something right now (actually, it's good in September and October in Long Island as well). Both have their advantages. Synthetics are easier to use and the bags are smaller. Organics help prep the soil as well as feed the grass--and Milorganite contains a hefty shot of iron to encourage your lawn to turn a very nice green.

It wouldn't make much sense to apply an organic fertilizer that late, since organic fertilizers need microbial activity for the nutrients to become available to the plants. Organic fertilizers can contaminate water, too. P is the biggest problem re: water contamination, but N can be a problem, too, especially in areas with sandy soil.

While Trugreen has a 6-step program, we have a basic 3-step program to which you can add a few things only if you need it. They will apply all 6 regardless of whether you need them and regardless of when you need them. The three steps only apply to chemical fertilizers and are as follows: fertilize on Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. Another problem with Trugreen is they use spray fertilizers. Those are only good for 2 weeks, so unless they come back every 2 weeks, they run out fast. You need pounds of nitrogen on the ground, not fractions of an ounce. When you apply chemicals be sure to read the entire bag first. Use the right setting and apply when the climate is with you. Don't apply in advance of a rainstorm. Apply after the rain storm. If you have weeds in the spring, and I suspect you will (see my previous reply), then do what I said in my previous reply. That would be a step in the early spring. Do not fertilize with chemicals in the early spring no matter how much pressure you get from your partner, neighbors, advertising, etc. If you really want to make this easy, you can go with an organic program. With organics you can throw out all the rules. You don't have to worry about when you apply or how much or whether you applied too much or applied before a storm. There is almost no way to go wrong. In fact as I sit here thinking, I can't think of a way to go wrong...unless you use compost or manure. Otherwise just using organic fertilizer is what I call, "no hassle" lawn care. If you are interested in this low cost, low hassle approach, find the Organic Lawn Care FAQ over in the GW Organic Gardening forum. Come back here and ask your questions after you've read it. Before I went organic I used to fret over my lawn all year every year. Since 2002, life is good. No matter which approach you take, you should water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means start with an inch of water (measured with tuna or cat food cans). Infrequently means you wait until the grass looks thirsty. In the winter it won't ever look thirsty but water monthly anyway just to keep the microbes in the soil moist. In the spring you will be watering monthly for awhile and gradually work your way up to watering every 7 days in the hottest heat of summer. Then as the temps back off you will be watering less and less often. I was watering every 10 days all summer until we had rain about 2 weeks ago. It has cooled off and I have not watered since. We're back into the 90s now so I'm watching it again for signs of drying out. Watering is something Trugreen will not help you with. If you do this wrong, it won't matter who is taking care of your lawn.