i have
never bought a Scott's lawn product
ever! nor will i .
why ? because, yeah you can throw it in an easy spreader and roll that around your lawn....
but what your doing is encouraging
shallow roots for your grass plants... and they're getting their
intravenous fertilizer fix right on the surface plus that chemical fertilizer is screwing up the
ecosystem big time with
run off and killing off all the earthworms.
They are your natural composters that aerate (with their burrows) the lawn which allows for quick drainage when it
pours cats and dogs getting that much needed rain water down to the deeper root zone and increasing organic matter in your lawn's soil.
~ (btw:
wood ashes do the same thing as lime so use it instead of lime....) it's just not as strong....
what you want to do is to encourage root growth and your earthworm population simultaneously!
when your source of maple leaves
(never use
oak as they have a root inhibitor (tanic acid) built right into them)
or any other non oak leaf pile that is fairly dry, you make long wind rows of them across your lawn and run them over with your lawn mower
shredding them into confetti or
worm food.
[Rule of
green thumb]:
feed your worms and let them feed your lawn]
the shredded leaves you spread around to
bare spots (sprinkle with grass seed first) and this encourages worms to make a burrow nearby and then drag the leaf pieces each night directly
into the ground increasing the
organic matter into your lawn.
NOTE:
organic matter or "humus" holds ten times it's weight in water...and Scott's fertilizer can't ever do that.
the other thing is to let your grass stay a little longer than usual by about an inch to help shade the ground thus conserving moisture and smothering out the weeds.
you can always cut it shorter when company is coming... but i
never "
ever" cut my grass
"unless" it's just about to
rain....and as your just finishing mowing..... it should be sprinkling rain already.
I almost sharpen my mower blade every other time i cut too , so each individual blade of grass is cut and
not whacked which cuts down on grass mortality and dehydration.
lastly , if you print out my fishing calender and cut your lawn on the days marked just before it rains p
referably before the full moon it will encourage growth big time...where as if your grass is growing like
way to fast !!cut it on the days that are
not marked to
decrease growth ............so you'll have more time to fish.
btw:
if you frequently see yellow shafted flickers on your lawn
probing it for bugs...
you have grubs as its easier for them to get a meal
there than banging on a tree... so , then you should first treat your lawn for grubs before starting your organic lawn care.
a truly healthy lawn should have night crawlers leaving earthworm casting piles of excreted organic matter on the lawn
each evening.
they have the unique ability to alter the soils ph back to neutral
7.0
in this way.
NATURE NEVER USES LIME 
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