Snow melted. It was still a little damp, but managed to mow the lower back and the side in order to get the leaves picked up. Got a little bit of clippings from the lower back, but even less from the side. Growth is pretty much over, so that was my sign to put down my final N fertilizer.
Put down final winterizer fertilizer app on the lower back, side, front, (and low input from back neighbor ornamental grass opening to shed to lower back border to near end, which I know is around 3K).
I actually wanted to do this app a little earlier in the year, 1-2 weeks ago, because I have anecdotal evidence that slightly earlier might actually be more effective (plus all the research from turf programs). But I didn't think there was going to be enough rain last week. Didn't want a lot of the N volatilizing away...it's pretty damp and will be windy the next couple of days.
0.2-0.35 inch of rain is expected on the weekend, perfect for watering in.
I used 0.67 lb of N from my standard formula I've been using for years now: Scotts 27-0-2 GreenMax. 0.2 lb of the N will be immediately available from AMS. The rest is urea and methylene urea, and provides a graduated slower release N between now and when the ground freezes in Jan, with a little residual left for Spring greenup. The fast release urea needs to be converted to ammonium via hydrolysis, which takes 1-2 weeks in this weather. The shorter chain, high-activity methylene urea fractions work over the following few weeks. And the longer medium-term and long-term (moderate activity) fractions break down over the next few months, into March, whenever temps rise high enough for bursts of microbial activity during Winter thaws. It's the most effective Winterizer formula I've ever used for my area, which is why I stick with it now (including subjectively better results those with 46-0-0 fast release, time after time). The graduated, temperature dependent release and conservative application rate also ensure that I don't overload my soil with N, or have a lot that gets wasted and runs off, so it's also better environmentally than throwing a full lb of fast release out in cold temps.
Went slightly heavier on the damaged lower side. I removed 8 lbs of fert from my new bag. Had trouble with the Scotts spreader, as usual. Can't wait until I have a better one!
I will likely post last year's experimental data sometime this Winter. It takes a while to sort through.