Nitrogen Organic Matter And A New Lawn
If your lawn is not rich in natural organic matter, nitrogen plays an important role. Landschoot notes, In cases where soils are not amended with compost, nitrogen is almost always needed for rapid establishment.
Our research shows a greater influence of nitrogen compared to phosphorus on the rate of turf establishment, so if you cant use phosphorus , an application of 1 lb. quick-release nitrogen per 1,000 square feet will speed up seedling development.
Summer Fertilization Considerations For Warm Season Lawns
For these grass types, you could go a couple different ways. You would take up the nitrogen and push them hard during summer, or, you could just do more frequent light applications. It really depends how often you want to mow really. Just know, if you want your bermuda, St Augustine or Zoysia to thicken up, push it harder during the summer. I have for sure noticed this season that Bermuda and Zoysia are starting painfully slowly. Now that it looks like we have some heat on the way, now is the time to start pushing.
Apply A Late Season Fertilizer Application
To ensure good winter survival and early-spring green-up, make this fertilizer application when the turf has stopped growing but is still green, usually in mid- to late October. Timing is critical. Fertilizer applied too early will promote succulent growth in the fall that will make the lawn more susceptible to winter injury. Fertilizer applied too late will be of no benefit to the turf. If you make a late-fall fertilizer application, spring fertilization can be delayed until late May to early June. The application rate for this time of the year is the same as for the early fall application .
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Get Your Fertilizer Right Every Time
Theres one way you can get your fertilizer choice right every time: use a professional lawn care service. Lush Lawns 7-step fertilization and weed control program is the staple of the services that we offer.
We offer a 7-application lawn fertilization plan carefully designed to give your SE Michigan lawn the nutrients it needs. If youre interested in learning more about our services, please contact your local Lush Lawn branch, including:
Grand Blanc and the surrounding areas, Rochester Hills, Brighton, and Saginaw.
If you do, then youll know, youre getting the best summer fertilizer for grass every time.
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Avoiding Fertilizer Burn On Grass
If grass displays yellow or brown patches after a fertilizer treatment, there is a good chance the lawn has been scorched by too much fertilizer product.
This is usually easy to determine as the grass will appear damaged instead of just losing its vibrance. Luckily, there are a few easy ways to prevent this from happening.
Using a slow-release fertilizer is arguably the easiest. Following the manufacturers instructions and administering an application when the grass is dry, followed by adequately watering the yard to activate the fertilizer will all help to prevent burn.
If youre using a spreader/granule combination, ensure that your route doesnt have much overlap. Overlapping passes will inevitably overload or saturate certain areas with fertilizer more than others. If your lawn has yellow streaks every few feet, this is most likely what has occurred.
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Do You Need To Fertilize The Grass In The Hot Summer Months
Related Articles
Proper watering and fertilizing of lawn grass can promote healthier turf, with deep roots and a lush feel. Generally, you should not be grass fertilizing in hot weather. Overfertilizing can lead to the need to mow more often, and fertilizing at the wrong time can irreversibly damage your lawn. A summer lawn care schedule should mostly focus on watering and mowing as needed.
Tip
In general, fertilizing in hot weather is not recommended.
What Is A Good Starter Fertilizer For Grass Seed And Sod
Starter fertilizers for lawns come in different compositions of the primary nutrients nitrogen , phosphorus , and potassium , or the three numbers listed on the package .
The numbers list the percentage of each nutrient contained in the starter fertilizer for grass. For example, an N-P-K ratio of 10-10-10 contains 10 percent each of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
When it comes to the specific job of each of these primary nutrients in regards to the health of your turf:
- Nitrogen: Is required for satisfactory growth and green coloration.
- Phosphorous: Plays an important role in various growth processes including good root development.
- Potassium: Promotes good disease resistance, tolerance of drought, and winter hardiness in turfgrass.
Some examples of the formulations of common starter fertilizers for lawns are 10-10-10, 20-10-10, and 16-8-8. Penn State Extension notes that analyses of 15-10-10 or 10-6-4 are also acceptable used as starter fertilizers for grass, as they also promote good early growth and grass development.
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Caring For Your Lawn In Summer
Have you fertilized your lawn since the beginning of the year? If youve done it only once in spring, your lawn is hungry and needs to eat. During the growing season of March through November, it should be fed four times to help it resist insects, heat and drought conditions.
Jonathan Greens Green-Up Lawn Fertilizer offers outstanding performance. It can be used on all types of turf grass and will consistently feed the lawn for up to three months. It is not affected by excessive rainfall and will yield a rich-green color within 7 to 10 days after application. Spread this product a day or two after mowing and when the lawn is dry.
A gentler fertilizer option during the hot, dry summer is Jonathan Greens Organic Lawn Food. This complex, fully organic lawn fertilizer will provide excellent nutrition for your lawn for 8 to 10 weeks. It can be used on established and newly seeded lawns or when sodding. It helps to rejuvenate thin, stressed lawns by adding complex, all-organic high-quality food-grade ingredients, such as feather meal, blood and bone meals, wheat shorts and molasses, that help improve soil structure and the soils water holding capacity.
Apply Jonathan Green Grub and Insect Control which contains Imidacloprid and Lambda-cyhalothrin technology to control over 25 lawn pests, including grubs and surface feeding insects.
Why Fertilize Your Lawn
Fertilizing your lawn gives it the chance to maintain density, enhances its green color, and encourages growth. Fertilizer can also encourage recovery from turf damage and seasonal turf stresses .
Unfertilized lawns will gradually lose density. When that happens, undesirable grasses and broadleaf weeds start to grow. The risk for soil erosion also increases.
And malnourished turfgrasses are more prone to damage from diseases and insects the damage is more noticeable and recovery takes longer.
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Avoid Burning Your Lawn
When choosing lawn fertilizer, you must make sure you have the right mix. Years ago, people used primarily liquid, synthetic, fast-release, and agriculture-grade fertilizers on their lawns.
The idea behind quick-release fertilizer is to give your lawn a quick boost by releasing nutrients into the soil almost instantly . But these products often applied too much nitrogen at one time, and the microbes in the soil couldnt break it all down and the excess nitrogen often dried out grass blades and causes a burned look on the lawn.
For cool-season grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, and fine fescue turfgrasses commonly used in Michigan, the quick release will not be applied during the summer months. Thats because synthetic fertilizer thats not watered into the lawn completely will cause stress and often result in lawn burn.
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Abc Can Keep Your Grass Healthy And Looking Great
Every lawn is different, and sometimes it takes a professionals help to keep your grass looking its best during the hot Texas summer. At ABC Home & Commercial Services, we can set up a maintenance schedule that keeps your lawn healthynot just through the summer, but year-round. We do everything from regular mowing, to fertilizing to ensuring your sprinklers are working as efficiently as possible. With ABCs help, you can enjoy a lawn thats the envy of the neighborhood without lifting a finger.
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When Should I Fertilize My Lawn
How and when to fertilize a new lawn? Fertilize in early fall with a regular lawn fertilizer, such as 21714 or 32816, from late August through late September, depending on location. Fertilize your lawn in mid to late fall with overwintering fertilizer anytime from mid-October to late November, depending on latitude.
Keeping It Green In July
Your lawn needs a whole lot of love for it to look the way you want it to. In Ontario, green grass does not just happen, it needs constant lawn care attention and maintenance for it to achieve a luscious green hue. This article is intended for those homeowners with lawns that are already established, and who are looking for a way to keep it looking even better.
The Purpose of Fertilizer
Summer Fertilizer
Summer Fertilizer adds the much needed plant essential nutrients the lawn desires to grow and stay healthy. Without it, the lawn will begin toexperience yellowing or discoloration, slow or uneven growth, or invasive weed infestations could become a problem. Maintaining a balanced fertilizer schedule throughout the season is very important and will ensure the plant gets what it requires to grow healthy especially during the most stressful times of the season.
Fertilizing Your Lawn During the Summer
During the summer your lawn can really start feeling the heat. Drought and heat waves can cause stress and dry spots start to appear. Fertilizing with slow release sources of nitrogen will help avoid any potential for lawn burning and flushes of uneven growth. Slow release fertilizer sources such as Polyon and Duration are specially designed to provide predictable and consistent even feeding that last for months. To complement the enhanced performance, Polyon and Duration are ecology friendly eliminating nitrogen leaching and volatilization.
Mulch Your Clippings
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The Perfect Plus For Summertime Lawn Care
Summer heat poses high levels of stress to your lawn, especially in the dry intermountain climate. Help your turf save water, make the most of each irrigation and/or recover from heat stress by adding a liquid or granular soil wetting product to your summer lawn care program along with IFA Spring & Summer Lawn Food.
Applying Revive or Aqua-Drive to your yard can help your grass make the most of each watering and promote a longer, stronger green through the heat of the summer.
Both Revive and Aqua-Drive are soil treatment products that make it easier for water to move through the soil. This is especially helpful for dense, compacted soil or lawns with heavy thatch since these products increase nutrient accessibility and absorption, as well as help your lawn retain moisture, especially during the dry summer months.
Best Fertilizers For Grass In Summer Reviews
So after working my way through dozens of fertilization products, I have concluded my short list of the best fertilizer for use on lawns during summertime. My preference for summer treatment is by way of a hose-end spray and I like to apply it early morning when cloudy is forecast. This allows me to water it in and get quick results.
However, I also appreciate some of you guys prefer to broadcast granules, so I have included a number of granular products too that I have had great results with too. Just remember to water your lawn after fertilizing with granules.
- Quick and easy to use
- Fast-acting formula
Cons
- Other options might provide more coverage
The Advanced Lawn Food Natural Liquid Fertilizer comes in at the top of my list as the best liquid concentrate fertilizer. When convenience and speed are a top priority, this one nails the brief because it is pre-mixed and the bottle features a hose attachment.
You can use it year-round due to the balanced N-P-K ratio that supports every grass-growing phase. The high nitrogen count encourages growth, while the lesser phosphorus and potassium levels contribute to root development and temperature resistance.
I like the fast-acting nature of this product as I saw noticeable results within a few weeks. This fertilizer also has a seaweed and fish blend to provide additional nutrients to your soil. You can use it on any grass species.
How to Use
Cons
- Requires a broadcaster
How to Use
Cons
- Lower nitrogen to reduce root scorching risk
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Are There Circumstances Where You Shouldnt Use A Starter Fertilizer
- You should not use starter fertilizer in areas where you cannot control runoff. Nitrogen and phosphorus from indiscriminate use of fertilizers have caused such great environmental concerns that about half the states in the U.S. have imposed regulations on fertilizer use.
- Dont use starter fertilizer if your soil test shows its not needed. Instead, apply 1-2 inches of organic fertilizer, such as a biosolids fertilizer or manure-based compost, and work into the soil before establishing your new turf. These amendments contain significant amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus to get your new lawn off to a healthy start.
Pro Tip: Its common for homeowners to apply lawn fertilizer, depending on where they live, in the spring, but not before the grass greens up.
Once your healthy lawn has been established, fertilize every six to eight weeks. The best time is late spring for warm-season grasses and fall for cool-season grasses .
Follow good lawn care maintenance such as aeration and mowing heights to keep your lawn healthy and beautiful.
Should I Fertilize The Lawn Before Or After It Rains
The best time to fertilize is just before the rain, which will hopefully last long but not too long so it soaks into the soil and washes very little. Do not fertilize your lawn when it is wet, but after that it will become sunny and dry and could catch fire.
Vigoro Vs ScottsIs Vigoro Fertilizer as good as Scotts?Vigoro had very similar results to Scotts on weeds and is much better for weed prevention than weed control. The particle size of Vigoro Weed and Feed is quite large and takes longer to decompose and be absorbed by weeds.Is Scotts fertilizer good?SUMMER PROTECTION WITH INSECT CONTROL SCOTTS TURF BUILDER This is a good fertilizer for other seasonal fertilizers when insects are a problem. This food strengthens the grass against drough
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Best Fertilizer Number To Use On Your Lawn In The Summer
Before you get any further in your search for the best fertilizer ratio for your summer turf, you must make sure that you know the type of grass you have. A cool season grass like Kentucky Bluegrass cannot be fertilized in the summer. Something like Bermudagrass or St.Augustine can be fertilized in the summer.
Even when fertilizing in the summer months, you will have to be careful to use a more mild fertilizer with slow-release nitrogen. Fertilizing incorrectly and with the wrong formula can quickly burn out your summer turf.
Typical summer grass fertilizer numbers include:
Best Fertilizer for Garden in the Summer
The 20-5-20 fertilizer tends to be the best bet for the garden in the summer. Ensure that you are fertilizing before it rains so that the fertilizer can absorb properly and make its way into the soil. Its typically best to save fertilization for the early part of the summer when possible.
Best Fertilizer for Trees and Shrubs in the Summer
The trees and shrubs in your yard can be fertilized in the early summer. However, if it gets towards the late summer and you have still not fertilized, it makes sense to skip it and wait for the fall. The 16-8-8 is good for early summer fertilization for trees and shrubs.
Best Fertilizer Number To Use On Your Lawn In The Fall
If you remember correctly, we recommend that you do not fertilize your cool season grasses in the summer as they wont handle it all that well. The fall is when you should leave your warm-season grasses alone.
The key here is to use a lower Nitrogen ratio the last thing you want is to have Nitrogen trying to work when temperatures get too cold for the grass to grow. This will stress the lawn and can create bare spots on your turf.
The best fertilizer number to use on your lawn in the early Fall include:
The 20-0-5 is very commonly sold in stores for fall fertilizer, but you should test your soil before applying this much nitrogen in the late fall. Fall fertilization aims to ensure your grass is healthy enough to make it through the winter.
Best Fertilizer for Garden in the Fall
The best fertilizer for your garden in the Fall is a 24-4-12. This is a much higher Nitrogen percentage than earlier in the year, and it ensures that your plants will stay alive throughout the winter months. At this time of year, make sure that you are not giving garden plants too much fertilizer. Forcing them to grow faster when the temperatures are not conducive to growth can strain the plant.
Best Fertilizer for Trees and Shrubs in the Fall
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How Many Times A Year Should You Fertilize Your Lawn
A full feeding is recommended at least 5-6 times per year. You want to feed your lawn when its growing most rapidly. However, you should base the frequency on your climate and the type of grass you have. For example, cool season grasses can be fertilized in late spring, but only if necessary.
Can I fertilize my lawn in June?
Timing: Apply summer lawn fertilizer once between June and August, 6 to 8 weeks after the late spring feeding. Apply the Summer product now to help make the most of each watering and encourage deep root growth.
Is it too cold to fertilize lawn?
The primary growing period for cool-season grasses is during the spring and fall, when average temperatures are between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. To ensure optimal health, fertilize heavily in the fall and lightly in early spring.
Should you fertilize before or after rain?
Ideally, you should aim to fertilize about two days after rain or watering, and when the next heavy rainfall is at least two days away. It can be helpful to have some rain before and after fertilizing. Rain a couple of days before fertilizing keeps your yard moist and the turf healthy, receptive to the nutrients.
Can I fertilize my lawn in July?
Provided you have fertilised in Autumn and have your lawn well prepared for winter, your lawn can go without fertilising again until spring. In some warmer states you might want to look at doing another application after about 8 weeks, usually around July.
