If you are environmentally conscious, have children or pets, then choose a pre-emergent fertilizer that contains corn gluten. Common chemically based fertilizers will give you a quick fix in the short term - it's like giving your lawn a sugar rush but it makes your lawn weaker. We prefer the environmentally friendly nutrients from a corn gluten-based product which will penetrate at a much slower rate and release the nutrients slowly for about 6 - 8 weeks.
If your goal is to have a weed free lawn, then feed it nutrients two or three times a year, seed it, cut high and leave your clippings on the lawn when mowing. All of these are standard practices for us!
….Now if only they made a product to get rid of the stink bugs that have been plaguing our gardens and homes!