What is the best way to fertilise your lawn?
There are a few things you can do with lawn fertilizer to create a strong, healthy lawn that resists weeds and illness. With these tips on when to fertilize your lawn, you can have the yard you've always wanted!
When should you fertilize your lawn? If you only fertilize your lawn once a year, do so around the weekend. That's when your lawn is starving and will respond best to the nutrients you provide it. Fertilizing now will assist replenish food supplies after a long, difficult year of growth and before the onset of winter's severity.

Apply just enough fertilizer in the spring to help your lawn green-up. It will suffice to use around half of the customary amount. Even if you don't fertilize, your lawn will grow swiftly as soon as the temperature rises consistently. Have you ever noticed how quickly grass grows in late spring and early summer? Why fertilize at this time to encourage even more growth?
Fertilizers can be a useful tool for keeping a lawn healthy, dense, and attractive, but it can also be harmful to the environment if not utilized properly.
Fertilizers can be a useful tool for keeping a lawn healthy, dense, and attractive, but they can also be harmful to the environment if not utilized properly. When it comes to fertilizing, I see far too many folks who aren't paying attention. They're either in a rush or don't give a damn. They believe that the small amount of fertilizer washed off your lawn and into the street makes no difference. But what if this was shared by all of your neighbors? Or, even worse, every lawn owner in your community? We can benefit the environment not only by using less fertilizer but also by ensuring that it stays where it belongs.
Never use fertilizer close to wetlands, rivers, streams, lakes, or ponds. We're attempting to cultivate lawn grasses rather than aquatic weeds. Excessive weed growth and algae blooms will result from high nutrient loading in these types of water features. That is something that no one desires. When applying fertilizer, keep at least 6 to 8 feet away from water.
Fertilizing your lawn in a variety of ways:
- Using a Rotary Spreader or a Broadcast Spreader
- Making Use of a Drop Spreader
- Spreading Broadcasts with a Handheld Broadcast Spreader
- Using a Pre-Calibrated, Battery-Powered Handheld Spreader
- Water and Fertilizer
- Grasscycling
- Aeration of the soil
When feeding larger lawn areas, a broadcast or rotary spreader is ideal. Make sure the hopper is nearer before filling it. It's a good idea to fill it on a tarp so that any spilled fertilizer can be quickly collected. Apply fertilizer to the lawn's perimeter first, then go back and forth across the turf in an orderly way. To ensure that you cover the entire grass equally with fertilizer, slightly overlap application strips.
For precise fertilizer distribution, use a drop spreader. To achieve appropriate coverage, overlap slightly on each pass, and remember to close the hopper when you reach the end of a pass. A drop spreader is more expensive, but if you have a standard suburban-sized lawn, it's well worth the expense. If you accidentally pour fertilizer on your lawn, gather what you can and scatter any remaining fertilizer as far as possible using a stiff broom. Water it in well, then do it again a few days later to aid in the movement of nitrogen through the soil and out of the root zone of the lawn.
For fertilizing small lawn areas, a handheld broadcast spreader is ideal. With each pass, make sure to walk evenly and slowly, and slightly overlap distribution patterns. When you have shady spots in your lawn that demand a different fertilizer rate than the bright portions, a tiny spreader like this comes in handy. Some lawn fertilizers include a herbicide in addition to lawn nourishment. These weed-and-feed lawn care products are applied using a lawn spreader and are advertised as weed-and-feed lawn care products.
For small yards, handheld, pre-calibrated, battery-powered spreaders make application a breeze. To fertilize your lawn, simply turn on a switch and begin walking. This sort of handheld spreader is ideal for tiny yards or locations where a standard push lawn spreader would be difficult to manage, such as slopes.
Water your grass thoroughly for a day or two before applying fertilizer. Apply fertilizer when the grass has dried. Then re-water lightly. This second watering is crucial because it removes fertilizer from grass blades and deposits it in the soil. You can also apply fertilizer between rainstorms to allow rain to wash fertilizer into the soil. When grass has browned or wilted due to a lack of moisture, don't fertilize it during a drought.
Grasscycling is the practice of leaving grass clippings on the lawn after they have been trimmed. These clippings can meet up to 25% of your lawn's fertilization requirements, saving you both time and money. Three to four pounds of nitrogen can be obtained from a hundred pounds of lawn clippings. An average half-acre lawn in a temperate zone like Pennsylvania produces more than three tonnes of grass clippings each year, thus grasscycling can help your lawn thrive. To grasscycle, you don't need a special mulching mower, but you might want to replace your current mower blade with a mulching blade, which cuts grass into smaller bits that decompose faster.
If you're going to aerate your lawn, fertilize it afterward. Soil aeration, which exposes the root zone of grass plants by creating physical holes in the soil, is beneficial to lawns. These holes provide direct access to grassroots water, fertilizer, and air. Use a core aerator, which takes actual dirt plugs from the grass, for the finest aeration (shown below). If you rent this machine, be aware that it is hefty and will require a strong pair of arms (if not two).
When Should Warm-Season Grasses Be Fertilized?
The timing of fertilization is determined by the type of grass you have. Fertilizing should be done immediately before the grass reaches its peak growth period. If you reside in the south and your lawn is made up of warm-season grasses, fertilize it in the late spring or early summer, just before the grass begins to grow rapidly. Late in the summer, submit a second application. After the first of September, if your warm-season grass goes dormant in the winter, don't fertilize it.
When Should Cool-Season Grasses Be Fertilized?
In the early fall, fertilize cool-season grasses. The term "winterize fertilizer" is frequently used to describe these fertilizers. Cool-season grasses, according to many lawn care pros, may get by with only one fertilizer application each year, in the fall. The spring green-up is accelerated thanks to the fall feeding. Fertilize in October or November in most areas where cool-season grasses flourish. Make treatments before the entrance of cold weather causes the grass to yellow. To find out the best time to plant in your area, contact your local extension office or a reputable garden center.
Fescue, bluegrass, and perennial ryegrass are examples of cool-season grasses. In locations with chilly winters, cool season grasses thrive at temperatures of 60 to 75 degrees (roughly Zones 5 and colder).
Compost is used as a fertilizer
Many people are experimenting with organic lawn care. One alternative for environmentally responsible lawn maintenance is to fertilize turf using compost. The nitrogen that compost provides to a lawn is slowly absorbed by grassroots, preventing severe nitrogen leaching. Excess lawn fertilization is a major contributor to groundwater contamination, and it is now prohibited in several states and municipalities. To learn about any unique standards for your area, contact your local extension office or a respected garden center.
When Should You Use Compost?
Compost not only feeds the grass but also helps to create and nourish the soil. Compost is made up of microorganisms, micronutrients, and organic matter, all of which help to replenish your lawn's soil and promote a healthy subsurface habitat. When is it appropriate to use compost? Spread a thin layer of fertilizer over lawns in the early spring to encourage rapid growth. Spread compost after aerating to improve soil and give roots a boost whenever you want to aerate. Applying compost before overseeding thin turf is also an excellent idea. Add a shovelful of compost to grass in numerous locations.
Sweep up and collect any fertilizer that remains on hard surfaces, such as your driveway, sidewalk, or street, after you've finished fertilizing. Rains will eventually wash fertilizer into water features and storm drains if it is left on these surfaces.
Fertilizer should never be applied on frozen ground. If you're impatient to apply your crabgrass preventer in the spring, this can easily happen. It's too early to apply a crabgrass preventer if the ground is still frozen. In a nutshell, be a decent steward of the environment.