Fertilizing Your Lawn, what’s in a number?

Posted by on Nov 10, 2012 in Fertiliser, Lawn Care, News, Organic LawnCare | Comments Off on Fertilizing Your Lawn, what’s in a number?

Fertilizing Your Lawn, what’s in a number?

Fertilizing your lawn is the step in your lawn care that is critical. The fertilizer provides the nutrients for your turf to prevail throughout the season. We will walk you through the process and explain it in detail so that you can understand the process a little more.

In order to be healthy and grow, you need to feed it the right nutrients. Taking a soil test is the first measure in determining what nutrients your lawn is lacking. Once you have a soil sample taken an accredited lab. will measure the soil for the nutrients. Based on this, you can calculate what nutrient and teh correct quantity is needed for your specific lawn. At V.I.P. Home & Yard, we start every Spring taking soil samples of our customers lawns and designing a lawn care program for each clients lawn. You doctor would not prescribe a medication with a test, lawn care is no different. The Spray N/ Go companies have been applying generic fertilizers for each and every lawn which is flawed. It does makes an assumption that each customers soil is the SAME. This is not the case.
There are guidelines you can follow.

Your fertilizer program should be matched to:

  • Your grass type (cool season or warm season grass)
  • The composition of your soil
  • Where you live and the weather conditions
  • Your lawn care maintenance preference (low maintenance, moderate maintenance or high maintenance).

Understanding Fertilizer Numbers

Fertilizer contains 3 key ingredients:

        • Nitrogen
        • Phosphorus
        • Potassium
          On the fertilizer package you will see it listed as 3 numbers separated by dashes. For example, the package may show 30-3-3. The first number (30) is the level of nitrogen. Nitrogen is listed first since it is the most beneficial of the nutrients. The second number (3) is the level of phosphorus. The last number (3) is the level of potassium.

Undestaning the numbers

 

Fertilizing Your Lawn – The Optimal Time

The best time to fertilize your lawn is during it’s active growth stage. During this period, your lawn will receive the full benefit of the nutrients. The active growth stage begins at different times depending on your grass type (cool season or warm season).

Cool Season Grasses

The two prime times to fertilize your lawn are in the Spring and Fall.

When you fertilize in early Spring, you can use a quick start fertilizer. It will encourage fast growth. Typically you use a high first number which is Nitrogen. Depending on the amount of nitrogen needed, if found lacking, we use a fast release nitrogen souce to get the grass blades awoken after winter dormancy and start growing. Think of it as breakfast after a long sleep. The turf needs a booster to get it going.

If you fertilize your lawn in late Spring be sure to use a slow-release fertilizer. It will help the grass survive the stress on it during the Summer. Using a quick release fertilizer in late Spring is not a good idea. The fast growth will make it very difficult for your lawn to survive the summer stress.

Fertilize in the summer with a balanced fertilizer that has all three numbers the same like a 10-10-10.

Fertilizing your lawn in the early Fall will allow it to grow for a longer period into the cold weather. The fertilizer will stimulate your lawn to thicken and assists the grass in storing carbohydrates. This allows the grass to survive the winter and get off to a good start in the Spring.

Fertilizing your lawn in the late fall before freezing should be done with root development in mind and not growth which is the first number N for Nitrogen.

Fertilizing Your Lawn – Knowing Your Fertilizer Options

It is easy to become confused when shopping for fertilizer. It comes in many forms, formulas and brands. There are 3 general classes of fertilizer.

Soluble Synthetic Fertilizer

Also known as “quick release” fertilizer it is typically made with

  • Sulfate
  • Ammonium Nitrate
  • Ammonium
  • Urea

It is quick to dissolve in water and green up your lawn. This is the least expensive type of fertilizer.

Slow-Release Fertilizer

Also known as “controlled-release” or “time-released” fertilizers. The nutrients are spoon fed so the grass has steady, controlled growth. Slow release products include:

  • Methylene Urea
  • Urea Formaldehyde
  • Sulfur Coated Urea (SCU)
  • Polymercoated Urea (PCU)
  • Isobutyline Diurea (IBDU)

Organic Lawn Fertilizer

Organic grass fertilizer is made from recycled agricultural and plant waste. It is granular and can be applied the same way as regular fertilizers. It adds organic matter back into your soil which is beneficial in so many ways.

 

Fertilizing Your Lawn – Why You Should Use Grass Clippings on Your Lawn

Grass clippings are an inexpensive way (they are free) to add organic matter back into your soil. They actually disappear and decompose in a few days. If you use a mulching blade on your mower they disappear even faster.

You can get approximately 1/3 of your fertilizer needs from leaving the grass clippings on the lawn and it is free. The best part is they do not cause thatch as chemical fertilizers do when used in excess. On my own lawn, I only bag the clippings 5-7 times a year (2-3 times in the Spring and 3-4 times in the Fall).

Even if you decide not to leave the grass clippings on the lawn, dump them into your composting bin for later use. I cannot stress enough the benefits your lawn will receive by adding organic matter to it.