How To Fertilize Your Lawn
Before you fertilize, check your local weather forecast. Plan to fertilize just before a day of light, steady rain. Youll save water and your grass will be well-fed. Using an aerator to make small holes in your lawn before you fertilize can make it easier for fertilizer and water to reach the roots of the grass.
Fertilizers are typically grouped as granular, water-soluble and organic, and you can choose from walk-behind, handheld, drop or liquid spreaders to apply fertilizer to your lawn.
When trying to determine how much fertilizer to use on your lawn, remember that every eight steps is roughly equal to 10 feet. For size reference, compare your lawn to the size of a tennis court, which is 78 feet long and 36 feet wide.
It helps to break up your lawn into easily measurable sections. Sketch out a rough drawing of your yard and break it into a few large squares, rectangles, circles and triangles.
- For squares and rectangles, measure the length and the width, then multiply those two numbers to get your area.
- For circles, measure half the distance across the center of the circle then multiply by 3.14.
- For triangles, measure the base and the height, multiply the two numbers, then divide by two.
- Once you have the areas determined for each shape, add up the areas to get the total area of your lawn.
Choose from broadcast, handheld and drop spreaders to apply fertilizer to your lawn. Find recommendations for the proper spreader settings on the label of most fertilizers.
Choosing The Best Lawn Fertilizer
Your lawn requires three major nutrients to thrive, nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium plus, for turf grasses, between three quarters and one inch of water per week to maintain your lawns green color and to promote healthy growth.
To keep your lawn in tip top condition apply a balanced application of a good lawn fertilizer four times a year in spring, summer, early fall, and just after the first frost. If you are in doubt as to whether your lawn needs fertilizer and how much, obtaining a soil test is a good idea. You can get a soil testing kit at your local Southern States store.
Sometimes your lawn and recently sown grass seed may need extra help to overcome some lawn conditions Southern States has fertilizer to suit your every lawn care need.
What Is Lawn Fertilizer And What Does It Do
Lawn fertilizer is available in either a granular or liquid form which is what makes up the substrate within which the nutrients are held for release into your soils. Basically, fertilizer is food for your lawn to help add additional nutrients for the plant use that may be missing from the soils, or are not in enough abundance to get the results you want.
Fertilizer can come in slow release and quick release versions, as well as have specific nutrient content for your types of grass. It also can be mixed especially for certain times of year. It may also have weed or insect control added in as well, so its important to know a bit about your lawn before deciding what kind of fertilizer you may need. For example, it doesnt hurt to know:
- Is it a cold season or warm season grass?
- What are the watering requirements?
This isnt difficult to figure out as there are many available online identification guides that explain the grasses and what their requirements are. In fact, many fertilizer companies have guides offered online as well to help you choose the best fertilizer for your specific lawn type.
You also may want to take into account what type of soils you have. If you laid turf over caliche , then you will need to be providing the majority of nutrients to your grass to keep it growing until it begins to produce its own. This is also true of sandy soils that often leech, or allow nutrients to pass through quickly.
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How To Choose A Fertilizer
Finding a good fertilizer and knowing how to apply it is very important to ensure wellbeing of your garden and house plants. However, choosing the best fertilizer can be very confusing. Many plants should be fertilized in spring, so this is when many people first encounter the problem of finding the best fertilizer for their plants, though this dilemma may occur at any time of the year.
There are many bags and packages of different types of fertilizers, which can be confusing, especially for the new gardeners. Its understandable you want to make your lawn and your plants look better, but choosing an appropriate fertilizer can be tricky, especially if you dont understand all the technical terms.
When To Use Regular Fertilizer
After two applications of starter, provided the lawn has established, you can begin a schedule of feeding your lawn with regular fertilizer according to your climate, and grass and soil type. How often to fertilize depends on how much time and effort you are able to allocate to lawn maintenance. Some recommendations call for feeding three times annually in early spring, mid-summer, and early fall. Others suggest that fertilizing once in early spring or early fall is sufficient to keep your lawn green and healthy
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Choose The Right Fertilizer:
The two most used fertilizers on lawns are liquid fertilizer and dry granular fertilizers . Both fertilizers have different properties and methods of application. Liquid fertilizer can quickly be implemented and managed with ease by new yard owners compared to granular fertilizers.
However, for some reason, numerous landscapers, demand easy-to-absorb dry granular fertilizer that works regardless of any specific schedule. On the other hand, several horticulturalists prefer liquid fertilizers when they want more nutrients for their lawn to grow more gracefully.
So, before purchasing make sure to get one that comes under your preference.
Garden Rich Plant Starter 3
This starter blend promotes root growth while helping transplanted crops feel at home in their new environment. In addition, its a great fertilizer to jumpstart your gardens early development before packing in other essential nutrients later in the season.
- Features & Benefits
- 3% nitrogen, 10% phosphorus, 3% potassium
- Lightweight blend that doesnt overdo the nutrients, making it great for soil that isnt nutrient-deficient
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How Often Use Grass Fertilizer
Fertilize lawn how often and when? This problem is troubled by many people.
First, you have to know that the lawn can be divided into two different types: Cool-Season Grasses and Warm-Season Grasses.
Cool-Season GrassesCool-season grasses include Kentucky blue grass, perennial rye grass, bent grass, tall fescue and fine fescue. These types of grass grow most vigorously in winter, so they should be fertilized in fall.
Warm-Season Grasses
Get The Right Lawn Fertilizer For Your Lawn
Now that you know how to pick the right lawn fertilizer, you should be able to create a healthy, beautiful yard that will be the envy of your neighbors! That said, it takes effort to create the perfect lawn. If you want the best for your yard, youll want to call up the pros for help.
Green Lawn has helped homeowners just like you to achieve their dream lawn. We have years of experience in lawn care, and we offer plenty of services to satisfy your needs, from lawn care, to weed control, shrub care, and more.
Ready to make your lawn look amazing? Reach out to us to learn more or to schedule an appointment. Well help make your home beautiful!
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Lawn Fertilizer Nutrients: How To Choose Which You Need
You should address fertilizing as feeding your soils, rather than feeding your plants . Healthy soils equal healthy plants. Poor soils will reflect in your lawn not looking as healthy as you would expect. Plus, adding too much of one nutrient can also become problematic.
The best way to determine your soil needs is to run a quick soil test. This is especially true if you have been struggling with your lawn needs and have not been able to find much to work for you.
Although optional, these are often very inexpensive, or even free, and provide a nutrient breakdown of your soil sample to give you an idea of what you are lacking and will need to provide. Many times they are offered through your local extension services or USDA office. At the very least you have the information on hand if ever needed.
How To Apply Fertilizer
Fertilizer comes in two forms – liquid and granular. Both are equally effective at fertilizing lawns, however they both have their pros and cons.
Liquid fertilizers work fast, as the fertilizer is quickly absorbed into the roots of the turf. However, liquid fertilizer needs to be applied more frequently and there is a higher chance of burning the lawn if you apply too much fertilizer.
Granular fertilizers are slower to absorb into the soil and roots, meaning it will take longer to improve the health of plants and grass. But, granular fertilizers do not need to be applied as often and there is less chance of burning the lawn.
Liquid fertilizers are often mixed with water in a hand pump sprayer or backpack sprayer, then sprayed onto lawns. Some liquid fertilizers can even be attached to a hose for easy application.
Granular fertilizers are applied to lawns and plant beds with a granular spreader. The lawn should be damp before applying the granules and then watered after the granules have been spread to activate the granules. Be careful not to apply granules in the full summer sun as that can cause fertilizer burn to the lawn.
Learn how to mix and apply liquids and granules in our helpful guide here. For all fertilizers, be sure to read the label of the bottle or bag to ensure the fertilizer is compatible with your grass type and to learn how much to use at a time. Remember, more fertilizer than recommended does not mean faster results.
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Characteristics Of Nitrogen Fertilizers For Home Lawns
Nitrogen Type| 1. More uniform grass growth
2. Not likely to burn grass 3. Losses through soil or air less likely |
1. May not work on cold soil 2. Most are expensive 3. May not see quick color change in grass |
In addition, a variety of special lawn fertilizers may be found. Winterizer fertilizers are typically high in potassium, and although advertised for fall application can be applied in spring as well. Potassium is used all year by grasses, and is involved in heat and cold tolerance, disease resistance, and other stress tolerances. Weed and feed products contain a broadleaf weed killer for weeds such as dandelions others contain a preemergence herbicide to control crabgrass . Lawn starter products, typically high in phosphorus, are intended for newly seeded lawns and freshly laid sod.
There are a variety of organic sources of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium available to the homeowner. As mentioned earlier most organic fertilizers are derived from plant or animal sources. Plant sources would include alafalfa and cottonseed meal and seaweed. Examples of animal sources would include bone meal and the manures from chickens, cows and horses. Yet another source comes directly from mother nature in the form of rock phosphate for a source of phosphorus and green sand for a source of potassium. Find and use products that are locally available whenever possible to keep the input costs down.
In this section : Planting and Maintenance
How To Choose Lawn Fertilizers
There are a few important points to think about when choosing lawn fertilizers.
Lawn fertilizer consists of Nitrogen , phosphorus , and potassium . These three nutrients your garden needs the most. But remember, dont overdose. Too much nitrogen can cause extreme growth, leading to massive problems.
If you take a look at the fertilizer bag, you will see three numbers. These are percents of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The first number is for nitrogen, the second for phosphorus and the third for potassium.
For Example take a look at this lawn fertilizer You will see numbers on the package 10,0 and 6. It means 10% of the full weight is nitrogen, 0% phosphorus, and 6% potassium.
Important! Check what kind of nitrogen is used in the product. Nitrogen can consist of fast-release or controlled-release nitrogen. Check this table for advantages and disadvantages.
| Nitrogen Type | |
| 3. Dont lose through soil or air. | 1. Is working bad at cold soil2. Expensive3. Slow color change. |
There are many types of lawn fertilizers. There is a particular lawn fertilizer for winter or fall. They are made for winter/and falls because of their high potassium structure. I dont think that there is any obstacle not to using it in the spring too.
Potassium helps for heat and cold tolerance, resistance to diseases and of course stress release. If you have new or freshly laid sod, I suggest starter products. They will help the grass to grow and will kill all harmful weeds.
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The Best Time To Use Lawn Fertilizer
Much like choosing the right fertilizer for your lawn, the best time to fertilize your lawn depends on a number of factors. In addition to factors like grass type or climate, your specific lawn may need more or fewer fertilizer applications than your neighbors. Testing your soil once or twice a year can help you determine if you need to do another fertilizer application. Additionally, if your grass is yellowing, a pale green color, or not growing, it may be time to apply some lawn fertilizer.
| Ideal grass temperature | |
|
Early summerYou can add a second application in August to promote healthy growth before these varieties go partially dormant in the winter months. |
What Tools Do I Need For Lawn Care
Glad you asked! Aside from lawn-care products like fertilizers, if youre going to strive for a beautiful lawn, you need to have a well-stocked tool shed.
This article offers an essential lawn-care tool guide for all the gear and equipment you need as well as the stuff you dont. Head on over to find out if youre missing something crucial.
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Is It Ok To Put Fertilizer On Wet Grass
Every product label fertilizer has its own application method. If the lawn gets soaked before application, there is nothing to worry about because some fertilizer labels in the market demand wet lawn before their application on them.
However, Its not ideal to put fertilizer on a wet garden. The main thing that the gardener should focus on is that the soil should not come in contact with the soak garden during leaf development, as this may cause burning. For best results, wait until the grass is dry before applying fertilizer.
When And How Often To Fertilize
The best time to fertilize depends on the type of grass in your lawn, the appearance you want for your lawn, and the region where you live.
Some grass species do well with only low to moderate amounts of applied nitrogen. Other grass species, such as the hybrid bermudagrasses, often require moderate to high levels for acceptable quality. See Table 2 for recommended nitrogen levels for each grass species.
Texas lawns usually need a low rate of nitrogen applied once in the spring and, if needed, once again in the fall no later than 6 weeks before the expected first frost. Its best to split the fertilizer into two smaller applications rather than make one heavy application.
If your lawn management level is moderate or high, you will probably need to make additional nitrogen applications each year. Table 3 lists the recommendations for the number and timing of nitrogen applications for different lawn management levels.
It is best to fertilize grass when it is actively growing and able to take up the fertilizer. The growing season is usually the period between the last spring frost date and first autumn frost date . Longer growing seasons may need more nitrogen fertilizer each year to sustain lawn quality.
The average length of the growing season in Texas varies by climatic region:
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How To Select A Good Fertilizer
To grow properly, all plants need essential nutrients. Those that are typically needed in the greatest amounts are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The best fertilizer for your lawn is one that contains the ratio of these three nutrients needed as indicated by your soil test results.
All fertilizer packages must list three numbers . These numbersknown as the fertilizer analysisrepresent the percentage by weight of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the fertilizer.
Many soils may already have enough phosphorus and potassium. If the soil test finds that your lawn does not need phosphorus and/or potassium, choose a fertilizer that provides only nitrogen. It is best not to apply phosphorus without the aid of a soil test. If you add phosphorus to a lawn that does not need it, the phosphorus levels will build up in the soil to a point that phosphorus could move off the lawn through runoff. This phosphorus may then enter surface waters, where it may lower water quality by contributing to algal blooms and decreased fish habitat.
To calculate the amount of each nutrient supplied in a bag of fertilizer, multiply the percentage in the analysis by the number of pounds in the bag:
Amount of nutrient in the bag = Percentage of that nutrient x Number of pounds in the bag
For example: Lets calculate the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in a 40-pound bag of 16-4-8 fertilizer:
Nitrogen : 16 percent x 40 pounds of fertilizer = 6.4 pounds of nitrogen
