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When Not To Fertilize Lawn

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Organic Lawn Fertilizer Is Better Than Synthetic

Lawn Care Tips : How to Fertilize a Lawn

Many people are conditioned to believe the word organic automatically equates to better, but this isnt necessarily true with fertilizers. With fertilization, the plant uses the nitrogen from the product by converting it . While synthetic can be converted more quickly, thats not necessarily a bad thing.

Organic fertilizer tends to break down slower and thats not necessarily bad either. It all depends on the program and what your lawn care company is doing. A good lawn care company will know what product is best for your needs and may even use a combination of both types of fertilizer.

How Often To Fertilize Lawn

Over-fertilizing is a thing. If once a year is right for your lawn, stick with that and dont get carried away. Fertilizer can be a valuable tool to keep a lawn healthy, dense and looking great, but it can also create environmental concerns if not used responsibly. Follow the label instructions on your fertilizer as each product has unique specifications and needs.

How Long Does It Take Fertilizer To Burn Grass

These burns can appear 1-2 days after fertilizer application but may take as long as 2 weeks to appear. After fertilization, water your lawn regularly and monitor grass conditions. Fertilizer burns may appear in as little as 1 day or up to 2 weeks after you spread fertilizer.

If youre watering your grass properly, but its pale green or yellow instead of dark green, your turf is most likely nutrient deficient. Yellow lawns generally lack key nutrients such as iron and nitrogen. Chlorophyll fails to be produced when there is a lack of iron in the turf.

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What Are The Requirements Of Fertilization

The amount of fertilizer that you should apply will largely depend on the climate and the grass type that you have. In understanding the right amount to pour will help you in getting the best results from the fertilizer you use.

Some soils will respond to this better than others. The grass that grows in the shade will be more succulent, and it will have less of a root system than the other types. Lets say that you have one of the turf grasses, and it grows on a sandier soil.

In these cases, you will need to apply nitrogen more often than with the other. When you mow the lawn, do you also remove the grass clippings?

Grass clippings will have between three to four percent nitrogen, and this gets recycled through the soil using the grass clippings. In the end, it can ultimately lead to a greener and healthier looking lawn.

Impact Of Fertilizing Lawn After The Rain

Best Time to Fertilize Lawn Before or After Rain?

It is beneficial to fertilize after the rain too. Undoubtedly, it increases the effectiveness of the fertilizer. The potency of your applied fertilizer will be at its best when you apply after a heavy downpour.

So, it ensures the optimal growth of lawn grasses and you will end up with a lush greenery garden.

And more importantly, there is no chance of washing off the fertilizer from the garden. So, there is no risk of polluting the water in your community too.

But it comes with some disadvantages too. You will be losing the natural way of getting the fertilizer into the soil opportunity.

Even if you use the sprinkler or manual watering, you cant get the appropriate coverage of your land. Unintentionally, you will skip some areas. Besides, it will take a more manual endeavor to ensure the lush greenery of your lawn.

Whats The Best Time To Fertilize Lawn Before Or After Rain?

Lets first recap what it takes to have a healthy and green lawn. Its actually a combination of the right elements that you have to apply at the right time. This is what you need:

  • Right amount of water spread evenly throughout the lawn.
  • Proper access to the sunlight.
  • Of course, oxygen and carbon dioxide.
  • Lastly but most importantly, the roots of your plants need the right nutrients at the right time.

It may sound tempting to take the advantage of heavy rainfall for seamless fertilization. It undoubtedly helps to disperse the fertilizer across your lawn evenly.

This is how you should do it.

FAQs

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How Do You Fertilize Your Lawn With Beer

In grass, magnesium sulfate serves as a source of chlorophyll and seed development as a result of the salts. In order to make your grass greener, healthier, and more chlorophyll-rich, adding Epsom salt to the beer fertilizer is the way to go. Dissolve 1 cup of Epsom salt in 2 cups of water and stir it gently into the beer mixture.

What Can Be Used As Lawn Fertilizer

An example of a balanced food is 10-10-10, which contains phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen in equal measure. Foliar growth and color are enhanced by nitrogen. A fertile environment is necessary for root growth and early establishment of flowers. By supplying potassium to lawns, the nitrogen can be used more effectively by the plants.

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All Fertilizers Are Created Equal

All lawn care programs are not the same and thats often because of the differences in products being used. Just like anything else in life, there are many different products to choose from at a very wide range in cost. Some products that cost more, also perform better.

If youre comparing two different lawn care programs and one costs more, they may be using better products. At Joshua Tree, we also use biostimulant additives with our lawn fertilizing program. Biostimulants are organic materials, that when applied in small quantities, enhance plant growth and development. This is an added benefit that gives you extra value out of your investment in a healthy, green lawn.

Start Going Over The Lawn

How To Fertilize The Lawn | Apply Lawn Fertilizer

Go over the perimeters of your turf to cover everything. Then, move the spreader along in orderly rows across the turf. The rows can overlap slightly to make sure everything gets covered.

If you use a drop spreader, close the hopper at the end of each pass so you dont dump fertilizer at the edges of your lawn.

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Feeding The Lawn In The Summer And Fall

Warm-season grasses thrive in the heat of the summer and can be fertilized throughout the growing season. However, cool-season grasses are in a survival mode during the heat of the summer. Refrain from applying fertilizer to a lawn in mid- or late-summer if you live in a climate where cool-season grasses are in your lawn seed mix. A cool-season lawn should need nothing other than water and pest management until September.

Most lawn experts recommend a mild dose of a “turf-builder” fertilizer formulation in the early- to mid-fall, while the turf still has several weeks of active growth before dormancy. This application will help build robust root systems going into winter and restart the growing cycle in the spring. You are not looking to return your lawn to the green of summer. Heading into winter, you can expect a natural slowdown of your lawn’s growth and the loss of its green luster.

Is It Too Cold To Fertilize Lawn

When the lawn is not active, you should not fertilize it. When its too hot or too cold, the lawngrass can go quiet. You want to make sure that your air temperatures dont get too high at the cool end of the spectrum.

If you have a lawn that has been dormant for a long period of time, it may be time to start fertilizing it again. If youre not sure, check with your local county Extension office.

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Best Times To Fertilize A Lawn

The right time to fertilize your lawn is influenced by the type of grass you have. Much of the country has either cool-season or warm-season grass, with some areas combining the two types for a more versatile lawn. Its important to identify your grass type and plan your lawn care schedule around its needs. Below is a quick overview of which seasons are best for fertilization based on your lawn type.

When To Fertilize Warm

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When to fertilize depends on what kind of grass you have. You want to time fertilizing so it occurs just before grass enters its peak growing phase. If you live in southern areas where lawns feature warm-season grasses, fertilize turf in late spring or early summer, just before grass kicks into high gear. Make a second application in late summer. If your warm-season lawn goes dormant in winter, don’t fertilize after the first of September.

Warm season grass types include bahia, Bermuda, St. Augustine, centipede and zoysia. Warm season grasses typically thrive in frost-free areas and grow best at temps of 75 degrees to 90 degrees.

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Cool Season Vs Warm Season Grass

Warm season grasses thrive in warm-weather regions, such as the southern United States. It’s best to feed warm season grasses in warm weather as they grow most actively during the heat of summer.

Popular warm season grasses include:

  • St. Augustine: Broad dark green blades with a rounded tip
  • Zoysia: Prickly, stiff and narrow blades form a carpet-like lawn
  • Centipede: Pointed blades with a notch that grows to be dense and soft

Cool season grasses do best where there are extreme temperature fluctuations, such as those in the North, Northeast and Pacific Northwest.

In the North, where cool-season grass types are popular, lawns need to be fed four times a year with each feeding six to eight weeks apart. If your lawn is still green and actively growing in the summer, you can continue to feed it throughout the summer months at the same rate. However, if your grass turns brown during summer heat and drought, temporarily stop feeding until it starts to grow and turn green again in the early fall.

Popular cool seaon grasses include:

  • Kentucky Bluegrass: V-shaped with pointed blades, dark green and soft
  • Perennial Ryegrass: Pointed blades with visible veins
  • Tall Fescue: Dark green, coarse, wide pointed blades with visible veins

Make your lawn fertilizer project easier, with the right products and tools. Find what you need. Use The Home Depot Mobile App to locate products and check inventory. We’ll take you to the exact aisle and bay.

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How Soon Can I Fertilize My Lawn

The warmer spring days have sprung and the grass is beginning to green up, so when should you apply fertilizer? Dont get caught up in the early spring fever rush, because fertilizing too soon can be a waste of time. Fertilizer is generally composed of three different nutrients: nitrogen , phosphorus and potassium . The recommended rate for spring fertilizer is 1lb of nitrogen per 1000 square feet. Different blends and products determine how long the application will last, how often it needs to be applied, and even how to apply it .

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When To Fertilize The Lawn In Spring And Fall

You should eliminate fertilize your lawn in early spring because plants apply their energy into root development in early spring. If you fertilize too early, the energy will diver into leaf development too early. So, for getting the best results you should apply fertilizer in late spring. And in the fall, experts consulted to apply fertilizer in the early to mid-fall because its the running growth time of plants.

How Soon You Can Fertilize After Seeding Your Lawn

Why you need to Fertilize your Lawn. Unlimited Landscaping Video Blog

Its not always after seeding that you should apply fertilizerthe best time to fertilize is right before or during the seeding process. Use a starter fertilizer with quick-release nitrogen since that will give the seeds a nutritional boost. When you make fertilizer a part of the seeding process, your grass will grow quicker and is more likely to end up healthy and lush.

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When To Fertilize A Lawn

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When your lawn is looking a little shabby, you may be tempted to throw some fertilizer on it. But when, how, and at what time you fertilize your lawn requires some careful consideration.

The best time of day to fertilize a lawn is morning because that’s when the temperature is cooler and the grass is moist with dew. Heat and dryness are your enemies when fertilizing your lawn. Even without hot temperatures, applying chemical fertilizers to grass exposes it to the danger of burning. Plus fertilizer should be watered immediately into the soil, and this task is easier to perform on a lawn already moist. The exception is with “weed and feed” products, which you don’t want to water in immediately: You want the herbicidal component to maintain contact with the weeds for a period of time.

Whats In Your Lawn Fertilizer

Fertilizer for lawns has three key macronutrients to feed your lawn: nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, or NPK. The proportion of each nutrient is usually marked on the bag with these letters.

Nitrogen is the component that makes your lawn grow, while phosphorous and potassium help strengthen the roots and cell walls of the grass.

The amount of nitrogen you need depends on your soil and grass type. Apply the right amount and youll get healthy green grass. Too heavy on the nitrogen and youll need to mow all the time, and the grass may not be strong or green.

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How To Apply Lawn Fertilizer

There are several ways to apply lawn fertilizer. Using a spreader provides more even coverage than fertilizing by hand. Hand fertilizing often results in burns where the fertilizer is concentrated and pale areas that dont get as much fertilizer as they should.

Broadcast or rotary spreaders are easy to use and dont cause striping like drop spreaders. The advantage to drop spreaders is that there is no chance of overthrow getting fertilizer on streets, sidewalks, or driveways. With a drop spreader, you have to make two trips over the lawn at right angles. For example, if you make your first trip over the lawn in a north-south direction, the second trip should run east to west.

After applying the fertilizer, water the lawn thoroughly. Watering rinses the fertilizer off the grass blades so that they wont burn, and it allows the fertilizer to sink down into the soil so it can get to work. Keep kids and pets off the lawn for the amount of time recommended on the label, which is usually 24 to 48 hours.

How Often To Fertilize Your Lawn

Fertilizing Your Lawn in the Fall

Everyone wants to see their lawn green all over the year. By proper application of fertilizer, one can get that dream lawn. Fertilizer gives additional nutrients to the lawn and keeps it green and healthy. However, its very important to know how often to fertilize the lawn to get the best results.

Not only how many times but also need to know the exact time to apply fertilizer for the positive results. The use of improper fertilizer can be caused to your grass damage and loss of money.

The way to identify how often to fertilize lawns

There are some important factors that help to know how often to fertilize lawns. These include:

  • Application times of lawn fertilizer
  • Used fertilizer type
  • How frequently you water your lawn

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When Do I Fertilize My Lawn In The Spring

Your lawn should be ready for fertilizer by late spring when the grass is actively growing and needs additional nutritive fuel. Waiting until late spring ensures that the fertilizer is used for leaf growth and does not detract from grass root development, the focus of the grasss energy in early spring. Grasses that leaf before their roots are developed are likely to erode and leave your lawn patchy.

Signs Your Lawn Needs Fertilizing

Figuring when to fertilize your lawn may seem like a guessing game, but your grass is giving you visual clues all the time about what it needs. The following signs that it may be time to fertilize your lawn may seem obvious, but its important not to overlook them.

  • Slower growth: If you know its growing season for your type of grass, it might be a sign you need lawn fertilizer.
  • Blades are turning yellow: Some grasses can turn yellow or brown from too little watering, but it may also be a sign the grass is missing some nutrients, specifically phosphorous.
  • Changing seasons: If you know the growing season is around the corner, it may be time to fertilize. Typically, spring is the time for that first feeding.

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When Should I Fertilize My Lawn In Spring And Fall

As well as knowing how often to apply fertilizer, its also key to know when to apply the fertilizer. To answer this question, it is recommended that you should always follow the instructions found on the label of your chosen fertilizer. However, following the general tips below will help you decide when to fertilize the lawn:

  • Apply when the grass is actively growing.
  • Apply when the soil is damp and the grass is dry.
  • Apply when the grass is frost-free.
  • Dont mow the lawn 3 days before or after applying the fertilizer.

Applying fertilizer outside of the period stated on the instructions as well as the guide above will run the risk of damaging your lawn so it is important to pay attention to this.

Dont apply fertilizers to your lawn during the winter months as the grass is dormant and will not achieve any better results. Applying fertilizer in the winter will increase the chance of polluting waterways by excessive run-off of the nutrients into nearby streams.

How To Deal With Weeds

How To Fertilize Your Lawn | The Home Depot

There are three things you can do when it comes to a weed infestation.

First, deal with the ones you see and do so from the root.

Second, when you cannot remove them entirely, cut off their head that will make them weak enough to buy you some time.

Third, make sure you are not helping them grow water and fertilize around your lawn and plants only, never around weeds.

Can you help me with my weeds problem?

Of course, we can! We know how to get rid of your weed problem once and for all and take care of your lawn in the process!

We are more than happy to take care of it all for you weeds, fertilizer, and everything else you need!

If you have any questions or doubts, dont hesitate to contact us. We are happy to help!

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