Fertilizer 101: The Why, What, How, and When to Fertilize Your Lawn - Engledow Group (2024)

FAQs

Fertilizer 101: The Why, What, How, and When to Fertilize Your Lawn - Engledow Group? ›

When you should fertilize your lawn often depends on the amount of time and money you want to spend on your lawn. Purdue University's Department of Agronomy recommends a light fertilization in spring and early summer and a heavy application in the fall.

“If your lawn looks thin, late summer and early fall is usually the best time to feed roots more than leaves,” says Rossi. If you only fertilize once a year, do it in September using fall fertilizer. Most high-quality fertilizers contain slow-release nitrogen, which promotes growth in the spring.

Best case scenario, this is the standard schedule your lawn needs: Mid to end of APRIL – spring fertilizer – 32-0-6 slow release (fast acting) Early to mid JUNE (6 weeks later) – early summer fertilizer – 25-0-5 – 50% slow release. Mid to late JULY (6 weeks later) – late summer fertilizer – 25-0-5 – 50% slow release.

You should split your spring applications of fertilizer into two parts: once in early spring and again in late spring. Before you begin applying, note that you need to wait until soil temperatures have reached 45ºF, as this is a key indicator that cool-season grass has emerged from dormancy.

Timing is crucial when it comes to lawn care. The best time to apply 10-10-10 fertilizer to your lawn depends on the type of grass and the climate. Warm-Season Grass: Apply in late spring or early summer. Cool-Season Grass: Best applied in fall or early spring.

Technically, you can apply fertilizer to wet grass but it is not advisable. Although some fertilizers benefit from slightly moist grass, if your lawn is too wet, it will fail to properly absorb the nutrients. This includes both granular and liquid fertilizer products.

Apply the fertilizer before seeding. When is the best time to plant a new lawn? Spring and fall are the best times to plant a new lawn. Do I really need to water the areas where I have planted grass seed to have it grow?

The best schedule for your lawn largely depends on the type of grass you have. Use fertilizer and preemergent weed control and mow your lawn once a week in the spring. In the summer, maintain a mowing schedule, leave grass clippings on the lawn and adjust your watering schedule.

The best fertilizer ratios for summer are 6-0-0, 15-0-8, and 10-0-4. These ratios will keep your grass strong and healthy while avoiding fertilizer burn in the heat. 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.

How to tell if a lawn needs fertilizer? ›

Signs your lawn needs fertilizer include discoloration, slow growth, weeds and pests, and thinning and bare spots. If any of these symptoms appear in your grass, check what nutrients your lawn is missing with a soil test.

If you live in an area where grass goes brown during the summer, you'll want to avoid fertilizing it while it's dormant. As for the deepest winter months, there's no benefit to feeding your lawn at that time of the year in most areas of the country, as the grass is dormant from the cold weather.

Before applying fertilizer to the lawn, it's important to mow it first to clear away any thatch. This allows the fertilizer to make better contact with the soil. When the spring fertilizer makes better contact with the soil, it will be absorbed more easily by the roots of your grass.

At Master Lawn, we typically say to wait 24 hours before watering your lawn after fertilizing. But it is important to make sure that it does receive a good watering session soon after that 24 hour waiting period. Watering helps the fertilizer to activate and to break down and begin feeding nutrients to the lawn.

Don't Fertilize Your Lawn Before Heavy Rain

Heavy rain results in nutrient runoff, which means the fertilizer treatments will be washed away. Water is generally a good thing when it comes to fertilization because it helps break down the nutrients from the treatments so they can be absorbed by the soil.

13-13-13 fertilizer is great for the lawn. The granules are slow release and do not place the lawn on steroids! Great product been using it for years with abundant success! Great basic fertilizer for my yard, trees and shrubs.

Fertilize during the spring and fall. For cool-season grasses, only minimum amounts of nitrogen should be applied in the summer. Potassium is more important than nitrogen for shaded lawns and it should be maximized as it makes turf more tolerant to shade.

While it might be tempting to fertilize your lawn right after sowing new seeds, it's wise to keep these two tasks separate. Seeds and young sprouts are much more fragile compared to fully established turf, and fertilizer treatments could be too strong for their delicate growth.