How To Best Fertilize Your Lawn

Types Of Fertilizer To Use On Lawns

Here are the basic types of fertilizer to use on lawns:

Slow-release You dont have to use slow release fertilizers as often, but they are usually more expensive.

Fast-release You get quick results with a fast-release fertilizer, but you have to apply them in smaller amounts and more frequently. You can burn your lawn with a fast-release fertilizer if you use too much.

Weed and feed Try to identify your weeds before using a weed and feed product and make sure your weed is listed on the product label. Take special care around trees, shrubs, and garden plants.

Organic materials such as compost and manure The essential nutrients arent as concentrated in these types of materials, so you have to use a lot. Compost or dry manure before applying it to the lawn, and be aware that some manures, particularly horse manure, may contain weed seeds.

Liquid fertilizers These arent recommended because they are hard to apply evenly and require frequent applications.

Four Tips For Fertilizing Your Lawn

Regular fertilizing is essential to help your lawn maintain its health and appearance. Grasses are asked to survive in particularly competitive conditions. Most evolved on ranges and prairies, and now they are grown under more stressful conditions, including poor urban soils and mowing. They have to compete with other grasses, shrubs, and even large trees for water and nutrients. And one of their natural sources of nitrogen, grass clippings, is often removed.

If you are trying to become a savvy weekend fertilizer, here are four tips from the pros to keep your grass healthy, looking good, and ready to help protect the environment.

Use the right kind of fertilizer. Youll find lots of choices of fertilizers to use on your lawn. Look for ones that contain Slow Release Nitrogen. You should be able to find this on the label on the bag, in the section that reads Guaranteed Minimum Analysis. As a general rule, the more Slow Release, the better. This helps feed the grass evenly, minimizes growth flushes that can make mowing difficult, and also minimizes the potential for nutrients to leave your lawn prematurely.

Less Grass Fertilizer More Even Distribution

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Dial back the rate of lawn fertilizer applications to 1/2, then make two passes with your spreader at right angles.

I bet at least 3 out of every 5 homeowners use way more lawn fertilizer than they should.

Many retailers promote a four-step lawn fertilizer schedule for homeowners. Fertilizing more than four times a year is overkill. In fact, most homeowners could get by with two every year. You can cut back on the amount of grass fertilizer you need by knowing when to fertilize lawn based on time of year. More on that later.

If you apply too much lawn fertilizer, especially in sandy soils, a good share of it will leach through the soil and make its way into our precious groundwater, lakes, streams and wetlands. Lawn grasses only need a certain amount of food. More isnt always better.

Unlike us humans, lawn grasses dont know how to stop eating when theyre full! This luxury consumption of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium actually makes the lawn grasses weak and more susceptible to disease. Excessive grass fertilizer will create too much thatch, which will ultimately choke out your lawn. Too much lawn fertilizer also means youll be mowing far more often than necessary. Too much mowing means excessive soil compaction, exhaust and noise pollution and excessive wear and tear on your mower.

When it comes to a lawn fertilizer schedule, applying more than four times a year is a waste. Save time and money by being more judicious in your use of lawn fertilizer.

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The Ultimate Fertilizer Guide

A bright, vibrant backyard is the kind of place where the best memories are made.

When you picture kids or grandkids chasing each other across the lawn, or friends gathering around a picnic table beside a patio grill, chances are that the grass you picture all around them is full, abundant, and as rich as the relationships themselves.

Moments like those are the reason you strive to take care of your lawn and make your yard such a welcoming space.

Every homeowner with space for a lawn wants a yard full of lush, green grass. However, not everyone knows how to apply fertilizer to get those results. Lots of questions about fertilizer come up every year:

• When should I fertilize my lawn
• What types of fertilizer should I use?
• How long should I stay off the grass after fertilizing?

This guide is here to help answer those questions.

What Is Starter Fertilizer

Starter fertilizers are usually labeled with the word “starter.” Descriptions also might include “turf builder.” These products have the higher amounts of nutrients a new lawn requires and may feature a quick release nitrogen to encourage rapid growth.

The formulas are a balanced blend of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium such as an NPK 10-10-10. A blend slightly higher in either nitrogen or phosphorous such as 20-10-10 or 5-10-5 is also acceptable. If you start with sod, choose a fertilizer with a higher percentage of nutrients, such as a 16-16-16.

What formula to use and how much to apply is determined by the condition of your soil, so having the results of a soil test in hand can remove a lot of guesswork.

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What Happens If You Over

Whatever you do, dont throw caution to wind and fertilize your lawn just because you can. When using synthetic fertilizers, over-fertilization can actually do more damage than if you didnt fertilize at all. Greensphere explains that too much fertilizer will cause a growth spurt which the root system of your lawn just cant keep up with that means your grass will struggle to take in the water and nutrients it requires.

Over-fertilization will also increase the nitrogen and salt levels in the soil to the point where it can kill the grass. The result is yellowing patches of dead grass across your lawn, aka fertilizer burn. If youre guilty of over-fertilizing and the damage is already done, you will need to give your lawn time for the soil levels to recover. But, there are steps you can take to help things along.

According to The Spruce , you should first remove any excess fertilizer as soon as possible and distribute what remains across your lawn. Then saturate your yard with water to dilute it apply about an inch a day for a week, or until you see your grass is recovering. Any areas of dead grass will also need reseeding once the soil has regained its levels you can use a soil test kit to keep an eye on its progress during this time. Check our guide on how to plant grass seed for more details on this.

How Often Should I Fertilize My Lawn

There is no doubt that lawns need fertilizer, but mistakes are easy to make, such as applying the wrong nutrients or fertilizing at the wrong time. If you fertilize your lawn when it is not needed, you are wasting money and you could risk overfertilizing. It is better to use the services of an expert, such as Verture.

The lawn can only absorb a certain amount of nutrients at a time. Depending on the growth cycle of the turf, fertilizers are applied several times during the year, but in small doses. In this way, the plant receives, at the right time and in sufficient quantity, the nutrients it needs without causing damage to the environment.

If fertilization is required, the amount of annual fertilizer should be divided into three or more applications, twice in the spring and once in the fall.

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Price And Delivery Time

The cost of the best home lawn fertilizer is a critical consideration during the purchasing process. However, although some best home lawn fertilizer are pricey due to their quality or functionality, others are not. To avoid overcharging, it is essential to pay attention to these factors. In addition, the product’s arrival time is critical, and it should be as brief as possible.

Are There Are Alternatives To Chemical Lawn Fertilizers

There are organic alternatives to chemical lawn fertilizers but if you want to use a really sustainable approach, one way to feed a lawn is through mulching. Paul Hicks, Product Manager at STIHL , says: ‘One way to achieve a lush lawn is through regular fertilizing, however this doesnt just mean using chemical treatments as mulching is a great natural alternative. Mulching is basically the process of cutting the grass and chopping the clippings into tiny pieces, with one pass of the mower. These clippings are then returned to the turf containing all the essential nutrients the lawn needs for healthy growth.

‘Mulching can be achieved by using a special mower that has been designed to mulch. These mowers are often not able to collect grass and instead, they have a special profile in the cutter deck and a specially designed blade.

‘However, there are some mowers out there that offer the best of both worlds and can collect the clippings in a grass box but can also be converted into a mulching mower with an accessory kit.

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After Using Lawn Fertiliser

Many fertilisers work on a slow-release principle and continue to feed your lawn for weeks and months after application. Most lawn fertilisers are safe and you can use or walk on your lawn almost immediately after application. You should however check that the fertilisers used are safe for use around pets and animals. We would advise that you do not mow your lawn straight after an application as this can stop the feed from settling properly. Ideally you should wait for at least three days before mowing.

How Do I Know If My Lawn Needs Fertilizer

You might notice one of these common signs when a lawn is starved of nutrients:

• Overgrowth of weeds

Keep in mind that some of these signs just as easily could be due to other causes, such as plant diseases, overwatering, or underwatering. Rule those out first otherwise, you risk overfertilizing your lawn, which can lead to weed growth, or the discoloration and excessive drying known as fertilizer burn.

The best way to determine if you need fertilizer is to test your soil. Soil testing kits are available at most hardware or lawn and garden stores and can tell you which nutrients your soil needs.

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When To Feed A New Lawn

A second application of starter fertilizer is recommended once the seed has germinated or, if you’ve chosen sod, once the sod has rooted in. You can test by grasping a handful of the sodded grass and giving it a gentle tug. If it remains in place and doesn’t pull up this mean roots are establishing. The nutrient needs differ slightly for a newly seeded lawn versus a sodded lawn after the grass is up and growing.

When And How To Fertilize Your Lawn

In some ways, lawns are a lot like people. Operating at the peak of beauty and performance requires a good diet and proper care. Lush, thick, green lawns depend on properly timed, properly balanced nutrition to look and grow their best. Understanding when and how to fertilize your lawn can help you and your grass stand out from the rest.

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The Best Time Of Day To Fertilize Your Lawn

Robin Gentry / EyeEm / Getty Images

When you start your list for annual yard and garden maintenance chores, fertilizing the lawn should be on it, right alongside mowing and trimming. But did you know the lawn will receive greater benefit if you fertilize at the right time of day? Depending on the fertilizer you choose, along with your type of grass and climate, there are some do’s and don’t’s when it comes to greening up the turf.

Recap: Lawn Fertilizer Dos And Donts

• 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:

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What To Consider Before Buying The Best Lawn Fertilizer Spreaders

Even deciding on an insignificant purchase can make you feel like choosing between the red pill or the blue one. But is the headache really worth it? Online shopping was meant to make our experience simpler, easier and enjoyable. But in reality it is quite easy to get confused on the decision which one to buy?

This is where our efforts come in! This list of lawn fertilizer spreaders will surely save you valuable time and effort. However another question remains, what makes our compilation the best? Or on what basis you should trust this lawn fertilizer spreaders list.

Is it virtually possible to know every detail of a product for making a perfect purchase? The answer is definitely NO, its not! Then how do you make the correct decision while buying lawn fertilizer spreaders? Well, the complexity of selecting a single product from a sea of them can be simplified taking into consideration a few key metrics regarding the product.

We feed thousands of data to our AI regarding these products through advanced algorithms. Based on the relevant data i.e. brand, features, specs, ratings and reviews and many others a list of best lawn fertilizer spreaders has been prepared by the AI.

State Laws About Fertilizing Lawns

Maryland protects the Chesapeake Bay from pollution by setting a cutoff date for fertilizing lawns: There is no lawn fertilizing allowed between November 16 and March 1. Many states limit phosphorus in lawn fertilizers, to cut down on the phosphorus algae bloom that pollutes streams, rivers and lakes.

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How Does A Fertilizer Spreader Work

Whether you choose a broadcast or drop spreader, their modes of operation are fairly similar. At the core of each machine is a hopper that contains adjustable holes at its base.

The spreaders handlebar is fitted with a gauge that lets you set the size of the holes. This ensures that the right amount of fertilizer is exiting the hopper.

Know Your Zone And Calculate Your Lawn Space

Its important to know your climate zone so that you can choose the right fertilizer for your grass type. Temperature, rain fall, sun exposure and humidity impact how grass will grow in your area.

Once you have identified your climate zone, you can compare different types of grasses to determine the one you have. Read more about the type of grass for your climate zone.

When fertilizing your lawn, you first determine how much fertilizer you need to properly feed your lawn. To do this, you’ll need to calculate the square footage of your lawn space. You dont need to measure areas without grass, such as flower beds and walkways. A measuring wheel makes measuring your lawn easier.

If your lawn is rectangular, multiply the length and width to get the total square footage. If you have an irregularly shaped lawn, or one containing a lot of islands, divide the space into rectangular sections. Multiply the length and width of each section, then add up the sums to get the total square footage.

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Earthway Even Spread 2150

Best Commercial Spreader

Are you a professional landscaper looking for a commercial spreader? Or maybe you just want to upgrade your fertilizing game. Either way, check out the Earthway Even Spread 2150 model.

Regarded as the Lamborghini of rotary spreaders, this unit is chock full of features that make it fit for commercial applications.

Heres a closer look at its features:

Design

One of the most attractive traits of this spreader is its sturdy construction. It contains a heavy-duty steel frame to provide maximum durability.

This bad boy is also fitted with widespread 13-inch pneumatic tires. The advantage of having pneumatic tires on board is that theyre able to absorb the unevenness of any terrain. Thanks to this, you can enjoy a smooth operation.

The handle on this spreader boasts a killer design, and its one of the main reasons why we recommend it for commercial operators.

For one, it assumes a T shape, resulting in even weight distribution. Secondly, you can set it in one of two positions depending on your height. Both of these features help you push the spreader for extended periods without getting overly fatigued.

Performance

This piece of equipment certainly lives up to its name. It uses Earthways patented three-hole drop system that provides a very uniform spread pattern.

Assembly

I also like that the spreader comes with detailed instructions on how to put it together. However, be ready to spend a considerable amount of time assembling it.

Countyline Fs Fertilizer Spreader/seeder

Best 3-Point Tractor Spreader

Have a lot of ground to cover and looking for a 3-point tractor spreader to use with your tractors PTO hitch?

Whether youre spreading fertilizer, lime, or seed to your property, the CountyLine FS model is a great option.

Hopper capacity

If theres one thing that makes the CountyLine FS worth investing in, its the hopper. It has a staggering 850-lb. capacity., which is 17 times more than what you get from a standard spreader.

With such a generous capacity, it is no wonder its spread pattern is also unique. Most spreaders offer a measly 5-foot spreading width. But this one offers a 46-foot spreading width.

Compatibility

Wondering whether the spreader is compatible with your lawn tractor? Well, it probably is thanks to its reversible lift arm pins. The pins have a universal design, allowing you to attach the spreader to just about any tractor.

Durability

Another factor that CountyLine took into consideration is durability. As such, this spreader includes galvanized fins to prevent corrosion.

CountyLine FS Fertilizer Spreader Specifications

• Galvanized fins are resistant to corrosion
• Has a large spread width of 46 feet
• Lift arm pins make the spreader compatible with different size tractors

My Final Take-Away: If youre looking for a spreader that can attach to your lawn tractor, the CountyLine FS PTO fertilizer spreader is just what you need. It has a 3-point PTO hitch system that provides a seamless attachment to any tractor.

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