Fertilizer For Lawn
A rich, attractive, green lawn depends on applying the correct fertilizer at the proper time. This book will teach you when and how to apply lawn fertilizer and identify the best one for your yard.
Understanding fertilizer labels
All lawn fertilizers list their three main ingredients on the package in this order: nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (N-P-K).
Fertilizers for other plants may contain various components in different doses. For optimum effects, use fertilizer, especially for grass.
The N-P-K displays weighted percentages of each of the three nutrients. One often used all-purpose fertilizer is 10-10-10. The bag thus shows an N-P-K ratio of 10 percent nitrogen, 10 percent phosphorous, and 10 percent potassium. Among the remaining elements, other nutrients and fillers exist.
- Nitrogen (N) encourages lush, green colours and fast development. Phosphorus (P) promotes good root systems.
- Phosphorous (P) helps develop healthy root systems. For this reason, starter lawn fertilizers have a high phosphorus count; fertilizers for an established lawn have quite a modest count.
- Potassium (K) improves the overall health of your grass and helps it handle cold or drought and fight off diseases.
Types of Fertilizers
Granular, liquid, organic, and synthetic fertilizers are the four basic forms available.
Each person should produce a unique outcome for their grass.
One of the greatest lawn care or fertilizer products for your situation could also help to stop undesired pests or development. These consist of:
- Pre-emergent weed management, also known as “weed & feed,” nutrients for your grass that help ward against weeds. They help the grass’s roots grow stronger and more broadly.
- Quick-greening fertilizers for use on existing lawns. Their nitrogen-heavy composition gives a worn-out lawn a stunning green hue.
- Fertilizers killing moss without harming the surrounding grass are under the control of moss and fungi.
- Though some are granular, most lawn weed herbicides come in liquid form. Depending on the kind, a lawn weed killer can destroy black clover, chickweed, crabgrass, and other typical undesired lawn development.
- Products for lawn insect management that may be used in either growing or dormant seasons can help reduce dangerous pests, including ticks, fleas and ants. Use them in a broadcast or rotary spreader.
- Eliminate any growth in places you want free of plants and grass by using weed and grass killers. Usually, they have somewhat quick acting times.
Apply fertilizer in overlapping patterns to guarantee you cover the whole grass. Make one full vertical sweep across your grass then another horizontal one.
To lower the likelihood of leaf burn, fertilize just when the grass is dry; then, water your lawn completely so the nutrients sink into the ground.
Before stowing your spreader, clean it to help prevent chemical and dirt accumulation.
Usually from the North, cool-season grass grows quickly in the spring and autumn. Many cool-season grass varieties turn brown during very hot summer months. Cool-season grass seed is best planted in late summer or early autumn.
To choose the best lawn fertilizer for your yard, identify your type of grass. Though much of the year they grow actively, warm-season grasses such as Bahia, Bermuda, centipede, St. Augustine, and zoysia require some more care than cool-season types.
Unlike warm-season types, the cool-season grasses fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, and rye grow and spread more slowly. Usually semi-dormant in the summer, you fertilize them simply twice a year—once at the beginning of spring and again at the beginning of autumn.
Overseeding will help you revitalize your summer grass as well. In the North, cool-season grasses can be overseeded in spring and autumn. That window opens somewhat later in the South. Warm-season grasses can be overseeded from late spring to mid-summer. Find out more about overseeding your grass.
When To Fertilize the Lawn
Fall is the ideal time to feed your lawn as grass is storing nutrients and developing during that season. But the kind of grass you have and the kind of fertilizer you are using will determine your lawn fertilization calendar.
Early autumn brings colder temperatures with plenty of rain and warm soil, which makes the ideal habitat for grass to grow strong roots and seeds to germinate.
Around Labor Day, apply slow-release fertilizer high in nitrogen to feed your grass and supply necessary nutrients for the next spring.
The next most crucial period of time to fertilize your grass is spring. Hungry and eager for consumption, spring grasses come alive. Once again, fertilize your lawn as soon as the dormant grass turns at least fifty per cent green.
Heat, dryness, insects, and more foot activity make summer challenging for lawns. Starting summer with slow-release fertilizer feeding your lawn can assist to maintain its greenness and vitality all through the season. Cool-season grasses don’t require this.
If summertime bug issues in your yard call for a fertilizer with pest control, then think about utilizing it.
Start spring, summer, and fall with a slow-release, high-nitrogen fertilizer applied every 90 to 120 days. Spread all-purpose fertilizer every six to eight weeks.
How To Fertilize the Lawn
Look at the local weather forecast before fertilizing. Just before a day of consistent rain, arrange to fertilize. You will conserve water and have a well-fed lawn.
Making little holes in your lawn using an aerator before you fertilize can help fertilizer and water reach the plant roots more readily.
Usually classed as granular, water-soluble, organic, fertilizers are applied to your lawn using walk-behind, portable, drop or liquid spreaders.
Recall that every eight steps is about equivalent to ten feet when deciding how much fertilizer to apply to your grass. Consider your lawn’s dimensions in relation to those of a tennis court, which is 78 feet long and 36 feet broad.
It divides your grass into readily quantifiable pieces. Roughly sketch your yard and then divide it into a few big squares, rectangles, circles and triangles.
- Measure the width and length of a square or rectangle, then multiply those two figures to get your area.
- For circles, multiply by 3.14 after determining half the distance across the centre first.
- Measure the base and height of a triangle; multiply the two values, then divide by two.
- Once you have the regions identified for every form, add the areas to determine the size of your grass.
Apply fertilizer to your lawn with broadcast, portable drop spreaders.
Find instructions on the label for the ideal spreader settings on most fertilizers.
Eliminate ugly weeds without damaging your lawn using pre-emergent, quick-release weed control (or weed and feed) fertilizer. If you intend to reset your grass in the same season, steer clear of utilizing weed and feed. Usually, you may safely apply weed and feed in the spring and overseed in the autumn.
Fertilizer Solutions for Common Lawn Problems
Apart from enhancing the vivid green hue of your lawn and promoting healthy development, the finest fertilizer for grass may assist in weed control and moss and bug prevention. Certain organic fertilizers or lawn foods lack other qualities. Search for fertilizers that would:
- Kill common weeds
- Kill crabgrass
- Control moss
- Kill insects, pests and grubs
- Improve lackluster color
Lastly, use our grass seed calculator to determine how much fertilizer you need. Whether you call in lawn care professionals or do it yourself, fertilizing your lawn may be a straightforward, approximately seasonal operation, provided you match the right fertilizer to your grass. Are you seeking a particular good or service?
