It’s that time of year again – time to fertilize your lawn to help it come back healthy and green in the spring. Fertilizing your lawn is a relatively straightforward process. The biggest obstacle you face is to understand what type of fertilizer to use on your lawn, which — spoiler alert — is largely a personal preference. Here’s an easy guide to help you!
Grass Fertilizer Nutrients: The Breakdown
The turfgrass growing in your lawn is a heavy feeder. It requires regular feeding and moisture in order to be at its best. Grass gets extra nutrients from water and air, but it is beneficial to get in supplemental applications on the regular – just like fertilizer.
The main nutrients your lawn needs are phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium. These are marked on fertilizer bags as N-P-K. Nitrogen helps to promote color and foliar growth, while phosphorus is best to encourage root growth, establishment, and flowering. Potassium enhances the ability of the grass to utilize nitrogen. All three are very important – and important to apply in the proper amounts.
How do you know which nutrient combination is best for your lawn? You should start with a soil test so you can find out the ratios required to restore balance to your grass. Soil tests are available at your local gardening store.
Also make sure you take note of other factors that impact the type of fertilizer you need, such as:
- Warm or cool season grass
- Soil pH
- Timing of feeding in your climate zone
Types of Lawn Fertilizer
When you use fertilizer on your lawn, it’s an effective way to help prevent pest damage and disease. It also helps to minimize maintenance. The big question remains: What types of fertilizer should you use? Consider these factors:
- Time-release fertilizers – These are good for feeding the lawn over several months and to prevent you from trying to remember to feed it again later in the season.
- Gradual release fertilizer – Allows the roots to use the nutrients gradually, preventing the elements from getting leached away by the soil. It’s easy to apply and reduces the chance that you’ll burn your lawn – which is not a good look!
- Granular fertilizers – These can be slow release or time-release, but either way is easy to apply and therefore incredibly popular.
- Water soluble or liquid fertilizer – These are spread using a hose. They’re quick and effective and will introduce important nutrients quickly to the roots.
You can choose which type to use on your lawn – it’s really a matter of what works best for you. Any way you choose, the grass is still getting what it needs.
So, there you have it! Now you can go forth with the knowledge you need to keep your grass healthy and fed this winter. Just remember, it’s all about timing! Check out our other posts to find out when you should be fertilizing your lawn!
