Necessary Nutrients In Fertilizer
The main three nutrients plants require are nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. With these three nutrients, plants produce amino acids, cell membranes, and ions that are necessary for metabolism. Without fertilizer, these nutrients can only be obtained through the death of another plant its crazy, we know. That dead plant recycles its nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium into the soil for the plants around it to soak up. But who wants a combination of dead and thriving plants on their lawn? With the right fertilizer in your lawn care regimen, you can have a lawn full of lush, fed plants.
Cost Of Diy Fertilizers
This one might be more challenging to calculate, because there are many different brands and types of fertilizers, and you cant simply buy a bag of fertilizer that will be the exact amount you need for your lawn.
According to Costowl.com, a bag of fertilizer could set you back $6 to $26 depending on the pounds per bag and type of nutrients included, a walk-behind broadcast spreader could cost anywhere from $100 to $300, and a hand spreader goes for $10 to $75.
In the end, DIY always shakes out as more budget-friendly. But that doesnt necessarily mean its more cost-effective. If you do a bad job or dont get the results you want, thats money down the drain.
Recap: Lawn Fertilizer Dos And Don’ts
- Use test results to choose the right fertilizer.
- Spend time accurately measuring the size of your lawn.
- Try an organic during the hot summer months.
- Buy a quality spreader that best fits your needs.
- Accurately calibrate your spreader to make sure you apply the right amount.
- Keep your spreader well maintained.
- Keep records of what and how much you apply and when you apply it.
Dont:
- Test your soil after you have fertilized.
- Guess on how much fertilizer you need and what setting you use.
- Apply fertilizer in hot, humid weather.
- Apply fertilizer near water features, on hard surfaces or on frozen ground.
- Use phosphorus unless your soil test indicates a deficiency.
- Apply more than four times a year.
- Use liquid fertilizers on your lawn.
- Use a drop spreader in big lawns.
- Bag your clippings.
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Keep The Lawn Watered
Watering the Lawn
Depending on the temperature, water your grass two to three times a week during the warmer months. In colder times, once or twice a week should do. Make sure when you make water that you do so profoundly. This will aid the root system of the lawn to develop deeper roots. By giving your lawn light doses of water, you run the chance of developing lawn roots and shallow infiltrating weeds. In periods of heavy rainfall, you can reduce the water, and in times of drought, you may need to increase its frequency. By overwatering your lawn, you will deplete the nutrients and open the grass for a weed invasion.
Cil Golf Green Fertilizer
Golf Green fertilizer is a reputable brand that has many different synthetic fertilizer, organic fertilizer and garden mix products. They have a variety of products for trees, plants, shrubs, and gardening. CIL Golf Green has high quality fertilizers with a mixture of micro nutrients to help balance the lawn.
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What Are The Fertilizer Products That Professional Lawn Care Companies Use
Great question, and probably most of you just skipped to come to this part of the article! These are some of the secrets of the big lawn care companies, but we are willing to share them with you. There is a big difference between the DIY fertilizers vs. the professional grade fertilizer. Many of them are high quality micronutrients and have a slow release nitrogen component that is designed to give your lawn a green look for a longer period. We do recommend using a high quality spreader, such as Lesco 80lb, Scotts Elite Spreader or Chapin. While we cannot release what Yard Dawgs uses as it is a custom blended fertilizer, we do have some awesome recommendations for professional grade fertilizer and lawn care products that you can buy here in Alberta. Here are the top 3 stores that carry professional grade lawn fertilizers.
Types Of Fertilizer Spreaders
Those are the products. But what about the equipment? You can spread your fertilizer using multiple types of tools. Heres a breakdown.
- Hand-held spreaders: Best for small lawns, hand-held spreaders are powered by a crank or battery and spread fertilizer while you walk.
- Broadcast/rotary spreaders:These are the most common. As you push a broadcast spreader, it releases the fertilizer in an overlapping pattern across a broad swath of grass. Theyre best for medium and large lawns, because they allow you to spread a lot of fertilizer in a short amount of time. Pull-behind spreaders are a subset of broadcast spreaders that you pull instead of push.
- Drop spreaders: These spreaders are better for precision, especially if you have tighter turns or sophisticated landscaping. Instead of spreading the fertilizer ahead, drop spreaders drop the fertilizer directly beneath them as you push.
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Homemade Liquid Lawn Fertilizer
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If you’re an avid do-it-yourselfer, you’ll love that homemade, liquid lawn fertilizer offers a straightforward and inexpensive option to keep your grass healthy. Liquid fertilizers get to the roots of the grass quickly and are absorbed easily. You have options when it comes to making the fertilizer, with more or less effort depending on the method you choose.
How Can The Prices For A Professional Lawn Service And Scotts 4
To be clear, the prices are not exactly the same. Some of the Scotts services are more expensive and some are less than a lawn care company would charge. However, in the end, you will see theres not much of a difference.
Three things make this possible :
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An Efficient Route is Very Important
The postal system is a great example of an efficient route. If someone decides to mail a letter across the country by DIY, do you think they could drive it to California for the price of a stamp? Of course not.
So how does the post office do it? They have the routes lawn care companies can only dream of they have every single house which allows for highly efficient routes.
Route efficiency is, by far, the most important piece of the puzzle. A lawn care company needs to have a lot of customers in an area to make this work but when they do, they can be very efficient.
Heres an example:
- Lets say we have 20 customers within a 2-3 block area of a neighborhood, once we get to the neighborhood, we will have very little travel time between homes.
- If, on average, it takes 15 minutes to service each lawn, it will take about 5 ½ 6 hours to complete all 20 lawns.
- Conversely, if we had 15 minutes of drive time between each job, it would take about 9 10 hours to do the 20 jobs.
- Purchase materials in bulk
This is pretty simple, we are purchasing in bulk. We get tractor trailer loads of fertilizer and other materials which means we are paying less than the retail price.
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Do It Yourself Lawn Treatment
We all have dream of healthy, green and fascinating looking lawn. Nothing can be more mind relaxing than a lush, beautiful and vibrant lawn when you are leaving your home for errand or coming home from a hard day of work. But you cant realize this dream of great looking lawn without investing your time and effort in it.
Despite of proper watering, mowing and making lot of sun available to your lawn even a great looking lawn is not guaranteed because there are lot of things nature do against it such as disease, weeds growth and fungi etc. that have the potential of making your lawn unappealing and can waste all your hard work.
When the natural bad things such as pests and wees attack on your lawn then you have two choices either hire a professional lawn care provider or opt for DIY .
You can save substantial amount of money by eliminating pesky weeds & lawn invasions with DIY methods. If you choose quality lawn care products you can easily eliminate these unwanted things from your lawn.
Do It Yourself Lawn Treatment With Confidence!
It is not difficult to have a healthy and weed free lawn without hiring professional lawn care provider. With help of following 4 steps process you can easily give your lawn a dreamed look.
Your Lawn Type and Maintenance Plan
In this guide we divided this care and maintenance schedules into two types according to your lawn geographical location
Warm season grasses
- South Carolina
Aeration
A Simple Lawn Maintenance Schedule 10 Steps A Lush Lawn
Some articles will lead you to believe that you need to spend lots of money and follow a super complicated plan to achieve a great-looking lawn. While those plans undoubtedly work, most people dont need something so in depth.
With a little planning, and some local knowledge you can have a great looking lawn with a minimal amount of planning and effort.
In this guide, we will give you a lawn maintenance schedule with only 10 simple steps.
Disclosure:It is important you understand that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and comparisons. All opinions are our own we pride ourselves on keeping our articles fair and balanced. For more info see our disclosure statement.
In This Article:
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Types Of Lawn Fertilizer
Lawns need fertilization because over time, grass may suck all the nutrients out of the soil. The right type of fertilizer for your lawn can restore it to its green glory. The main nutrients in fertilizer are nitrogen , phosphorus , and potassium .
The NPK value shows the percentages of each nutrient in the fertilizer. For example, a fertilizer with an NPK value of 18-20-10 is 18% nitrogen, 20% phosphorus, and 10% potassium.
Different fertilizers release these nutrients at different rates and have their own benefits and disadvantages. Here are the main types of fertilizer.
Affordable Pest Control Solutions
DoMyOwn.com is based on the principle of saving you money. Our average customers easily save up to 70% vs. hiring an exterminator! Our goal is to provide you with the most up-to-date, easy to use pest management solutions on the market that professional pest control companies and exterminators use, but at a fraction of the cost. We have the most current selection of professional grade traps, baits, sprays, insecticide, rodenticides, and other supplies you need to get rid of any type of pest, including professional products for rodent control and roach control and all crawling insects. We even carry glyphosate herbicide and a wide selection of natural and organic pest control products for some non-toxic, environmental methods of control!
Why buy the expensive name brands when you can buy the same pesticide active ingredients and insecticide and do it yourself for significantly less? Did you know that the average cost to hire an exterminator to do a general spray treatment around the outside of your home is about $70 per application, but that you can buy a bottle of Talstar or Bifen IT, and do it yourself for around $4 per application? That’s a lot of money back in your pocket! So whether spraying, baiting, dusting, spreading, fogging, or misting, doing your own pest control is the way to go, especially since we will help you find the right chemicals and supplies for the pest you are dealing with.
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Professional Lawn Care Vs Do It Yourself: Which Is Best For You
The do-it-yourself craze is huge these days, and so tempting.
As you gaze out at your lawn, it looks pretty simple. Mow it once a week, give it plenty of water and a dose of fertilizer a few times a year and it should be lush, green and healthy, right?
How hard could it be?
Harder than you think.
A healthy lawn takes a lot of work. It needs proper mowing and fertilizing. Then theres aeration, de-thatching, weed control, pest control, soil analysis.
Organic Lawn Care Schedule
In March or as soon as the ground thaws enough for you to dig 4-6 inches deep, get your soil tested. A good lawn has at least 6 inches of soil.
While you can pick up your own soil test kit in the store, its much more accurate if you get it done by your local extension office. If you find your soils pH is below 6.0 add garden lime but if its above 7.0 add garden sulfur. The experts at your local extension office will also be able to guide you in amending your soil and which grass or plants to grow. So dont be afraid to ask!
March or early spring is also a great time to clean up from winter by raking away dead leaves and branches. Learn how to use these in your compost pile here! Lastly, aerate your lawn. This allows water, nutrients and air to get to the grass roots after the snow has compacted your lawn tightly down over the winter.
Its a common myth that you should mow your grass very short so that it will take longer to grow back. But this actually isnt true and will only weaken your lawn and invite weeds to grow. When you cut your lawn short, the grass blades just grow back faster in order to do photosynthesis for the roots. Ideally, for cool-season grasses set your mower blades 3.5-4 inches high and for warm-season grass set your mower lower to 2.5-3 inches.
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Beer Ammonia And Shampoo
Unusual as the combination sounds, beer, ammonia and baby shampoo make for an effecitve lawn fertilizer. The beer supplies nutrients and bacteria ammonia, nitrogen and baby shampoo increases soil absorption. You can apply it to your lawn every two weeks during the growing season. To make the mixture:
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Pour 1 can of beer, 1 cup of ammonia and 1 cup of
non-antibacterial baby shampoo into a bucket. Make the mixture outdoors so the ammonia fumes can dissipate. This mix covers an average-size lawn. * Spray the mixture using a sprayer that adds water while it sprays, spreading a light coating evenly over your lawn, and avoiding spraying any one area for too long.
Lawn Care Equipment Hassles
Professional lawn care services use professional-grade equipment. Few homeowners invest in all the equipment needed to properly care for a healthy lawn. Maybe you borrow a spreader from a neighbor, rent a sprayer from the place down the street, drag your aging mower from the back of the garage, season after season.
And once you borrow or rent your spreader and sprayer, are you sure youre calibrating them correctly to accurately apply your products?
Don’t forget maintenance costs. Mowers need occasional tune-ups and oil changes. Mower and weed eater blades need sharpening. At Lawn Buddies, we use professional-grade equipment and we keep it expertly maintained saving you the hassle.
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Pros & Cons Of Fertilizer Services
Pros:
Saves time and energy: Hiring a professional service saves you time and effort. Instead of toiling away in your yard, you can spend time with your family, on hobbies, or anything you want. Diagnostics: A professional service can perform a high-quality soil test to diagnose any issues your lawn may have. That way, you can have the best fertilizing strategy and not waste any time with guesswork. Avoids confusion: Product labels can be very confusing, breaking down the values of various elements. Professionals know the ins and outs of all the products and can apply everything efficiently and correctly. Consistent schedule: If you hire professionals, they can develop the ideal fertilization schedule for your lawn, so you dont have to puzzle over the best time of year or weather and growing conditions. Professional-grade products and equipment: Professionals have access to tools and fertilizers you may not be able to get as a homeowner.
Guarantee and better results: If you tackle this on your own, you risk getting poor results. Professionals do this for a living, and have the experience to fertilize the right way every time. Many service providers even offer guarantees to ensure your satisfaction.
Cons:
More expensive:Even though DIY means purchasing products and tools, it often comes out cheaper than hiring a professional service.
Risk with company: If you dont do your research, you might end up with a company that doesnt deliver what it promises.
What Does Grass Fertilizer Do
Most people know their lawns need fertilizer, but dont feel bad if youre not sure exactly what fertilizer does for your lawn. Here at Simple Lawn Solutions, well break it down for you. Fertilizer is, essentially, food for your lawn. It provides nutrients for your lawn to continue to be fertile, so your lawn, plants, and flowers will grow.
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Lawn Fertilizer Service Vs Diy
Now youve got a good idea of the types of fertilizers available, how to spread them, and when to spread them. If that info seemed overwhelming, it might be a sign that hiring a professional lawn fertilizer service is the way to go.
Lets take a look at some pros and cons of hiring a professional lawn fertilizer service versus doing this the DIY way.
