Question
I'm getting ready for spring cleaning and would like to know if you can give me instructions re pre-emergent to control weeds for summer.  when is it too early? what kinds are currently available that are the 'best'?  or should we just fertilize, if so what should we use?

Answer
Depending on where you are growing your lawn, you would put down any product with Corn Gluten Meal.  It must go on a DRY surface and it must be put down when the yellow Forsythia opens in your community.  Too late, and the weed seeds will have germinated.

There is nothing like Corn Gluten Meal to halt germination of seeds in the spring.  NOTHING!

So I consider this the "best".

You don't have to fertilize once you've put down CGM.  As it decomposes all spring and summer, it will enrich your turfsoil with all kinds of soil-building nutrients, building a great growing medium for your lawn.

You can purchase it from Gardens Alive! (www.gardensalive.com) and scores of other retailers.  It won't be on the shelf at Home Depot or Lowes -- someday they will get with the program but not this spring.  Find it on your local garden center shelves to avoid hefty shipping charges.  This stuff is patent-protected, licensed to a limited number of suppliers for their preemergents, and boy does it work.

If you want to add more fertilizer, try Milorganite on for size.  It is a slow-release pelletized Nitrogen fertilizer not endorsed by everyone, but so far I can't find much not to like about it.  Beats anything you'll see made by those big multinational conglomerate corporations that make synthetic fertilizers that I cannot name here.

Any more questions, I'm here.