You want to get some fertilizer on there before the winter comes for good, a good balance of Nitrogent, Potassium and Phosphorous. This keeps nutrients at the top of the soil until the deep thaw in Spring, and it then gives the grass an early kick. Then a mid spring application with a high Nitrogen count for a strong greeny look. After that, you should fertilize at least one more time mid-summer, balanced mineral load. If you don't mind mowing, you can fertilize as often as every 6 weeks...but I wouldn't go any more frequent than that, otherwise you'll saturate the soil and are at high risk of burning the turf.
Manual reel grass cutters are the best, as it slices the blades of grass. Whereas gas mowers hack the grass, and unless the blade is sharp, it often does a rough cut on the blade and you can see dead turf tips. I run a gas mower now because I have a walkout basement, and the self propelled feature is worth risking the dead tips.
Every handheld fertilizer spreader I've ever used is garbage. I just do it by hand (be careful doing it by hand, it's easy to burn the turf...I've had lots of practice). The best spreaders are the push-behind ones, because you get enough weight into spinning the dispenser out of the hopper.
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Originally Posted by nismodrifter
