Landscaping Lawn Fertilizer - How to Fertilize Your Lawn
Fertilizer and water are the most important chemicals you’ll need for a healthy lawn.
These are the two things you can contribute to your lawn. Everything else it needs is provided by nature. Depending on your geographical location and soil quality, these can also be supplied by different sources.
Most of the mistakes people make with their lawn is not knowing how much of each of
these to apply. Here are some ways to avoid making these common mistakes.
Commercial fertilizers, such as Scotts, provide easy to follow directions for use on the
packages of their products. Always begin by reading the directions given.
Next, you should factor into those directions certain details of your particular application.
The weather forecast for the day of application and the two days after is important to
consider. Some fertilizer mixtures require some light watering after they’ve been applied. Others
must not be watered at all or they will be diluted or washed away.
For the best results, apply Spring fertilizer as early in the season as the weather allows.
Obviously you will have to wait until the snow melts, but be sure to do it soon after. There are
many advantages to getting an early start on feeding your lawn.
If you already have new seed that you put down in the fall, getting the fertilizer in early
will help it germinate faster. This will help the grass get a head start on weeds and crabgrass
and other plants that will be competing for space in your lawn. You can also get the upper
hand on insects, as most fertilizers will contain some type of insect repelling agent.
Lawns can be literally destroyed by insects, such as Japanese Beetle grubs. When these
insects are still in the larval stage, they will feed on the roots of the new grass and destroy
them from the ground up. This area of your lawn will be lost to you for at least a year if it is
not stopped early enough.
Since the damage is being done underground, it will not show up on your lawn until late
Spring or early Summer. At this point, it’s too late to get it to come back by the end of the
season. Your lawn may not fully recover for two or three years. Do some preventative
maintenance by putting down grub killing fertilizer as a precaution. These are commonly known
as pre-emergent herbicides.
Like anything else, it is possible to over-fertilize your lawn. Burning may occur if applied
during hot weather or if applied to often. Fertilizing gives your lawn the correct amounts of
nitrogen, phosphorous and other nutrients. Some areas already have enough of these in the
soil naturally, so adding fertilizer will give the lawn too much of these. This is often as
dangerous as getting too little.
The pH level of your soil is an important factor to consider. This determines your lawn’s
degree of acidity or alkalinity. A neutral pH level is recommended, similar to that of water. An
excess of moss and the like will occur if acidity is too high. Water absorption will be abnormal if
the level is too alkaline.
Regular fertilizing will give your lawn the nutrients it needs, as well as control weeds and insects.
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