Mr. Bear and I are usually "Weekend Warriors" when it comes to keeping up with the house. This past weekend, I was determined to get some fertilizer on our lawn for the spring. We typically don't buy into the hype of new products, but we were at Lowe's a few weeks ago picking up a few things and they had the Scotts® Snap™ Spreader out on display. It was about $20 cheaper than a standard spreader and we purchased 2 accompanying packs of Weed & Feed to cover our lawn. The grand total came in at about $10-$15 less than a standard spreader and weed & feed.
Saturday morning, I woke up and used our weed killer spray on a bunch of weeds in our garden beds that had cropped up in the last week or so with all of the rain we had been getting. They were only expecting a 30% chance of rain on Saturday and we had just had what seemed like a monsoon the day before so I figured it would be the perfect day to fertilize. As soon as I had finished spraying the last set of weeds in the gardens, it began to sprinkle. I didn't know if it was going to be a full-blown rain so I held off on the fertilizer.
I ended up getting out later in the day to spread the fertilizer, and I was actually really happy it rained because I had read several reviews for Scotts that indicated you should start with a soaked lawn. Some even recommended applying with the Snap Spreader in the rain, although I don't like getting soaked on a 45 degree day.
(image courtesy of Dave_HD_OC on the Home Depot community boards)
First, I have to say that the bags that we purchased to go with the spreader were very easy to snap in and get ready for use. My only complaint is that the spreader and bag could use a bit more of actual instructions as to how to use. Maybe our label had fallen off of the spreader, but I didn't find any instructions for use. The setup was pretty intuitive though so even a few pictures to make sure you have the spreader unlocked before trying to put the bag on would probably have sufficed.
Second, spreading was a breeze! You just clamp down on the handle and can adjust how much you are spreading by how quickly you walk behind the spreader. I had to hit the bag of fertilizer a few times because it would get clumped up inside the bag and you could see a deterioration in the amount of fertilizer that was spread. A few taps on the bag with the heel of my hand freed up the clumps.
The spreader has a feature they call EdgeGuard. that essentially sprays the fertilizer to the left so that a straight line can be created along the right side of the spreader. This is supposed to be used when walking along the edges of your lawn. I wish this feature had been controllable. It was great when walking along beds, sidewalks and the driveway, but it was annoying to figure out if a portion of the lawn had already been covered when going back and forth.
Overall, I was able to fertilize in about 15 minutes on our 1/3 of an acre with about 1 bag of their weed & feed.
All in all, I really liked the spreader, especially not having to deal with dumping the fertilizer into the hopper of the spreader. I usually find the bags to be awkward in size and weight and end up dumping part of the product on the ground. This spreader was easy to use and it was very easy to control when the spreader actually dispersed product. I also liked the shape of the spreader (being on 2 wheels in a "dolly" format instead of the traditional). As a shorter female, I was able to see where it was spreading much easier than the standard spreader. Finally, I liked that the fertilizer was all encapsulated in the sealed bags and I didn't have to touch any of it.
It does create a lot more packaging than the standard spreader, but for me it was so much more convenient.
I am still waiting to see the results of the fertilizer itself, so I'll have to update the post in a few days. I hope everyone is getting in the swing of spring like I am!
-Danielle
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