A lush green lawn can dramatically enhance the aesthetic appeal of your home. However, to keep your lawn healthy and green, you need to provide it regular feedings and high-quality fertilizer. When a quality lawn fertilizer is applied at appropriate times, it provides essential nutrients to turf and helps it grow thick and healthy as well as resist pests, weeds, and environmental stresses.
When to Fertilize Lawn
Constant overfeeding is never healthy for a lawn. It doesn’t help your turf grass in any way and can affect the environment adversely. For most lawns, it’s enough to apply lawn fertilizer around once or twice per year so as to keep the grass healthy and green.
The right time for applying lawn fertilizer depends largely on your type of grass, and partly on the climate. Lawn fertilization should be performed during the season your grass grows the most.
What Type of Grass do You Have?
The type of your grass would determine when to fertilize your lawn.
Grass comes in various types, but there are only two main varieties – warm-season grass and cool-season grass. Generally, warm-season grass grows in southern states and cool-season grass grows in northern states.
1. Cool-Season Grasses
Cool-season grass remains green, in general, throughout the year when it grows in transitional and cool areas. The climates that are most suitable for such grasses are the ones with warm (not hot) summers and cold winters. Regions having temperatures within 60-75 degrees Fahrenheit are best for the growth of these grasses. They grow all-round the year, except late-and mid-winter months.
Some of the cool-season grasses are –
- Perennial/annual ryegrass
- Fine/tall fescue
- Kentucky bluegrass
- Bentgrass
When to Fertilize Lawn with Cool-Season Grass
It’s recommended by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service to feed cool-season grass twice during the fall – in November and September – and then during the spring – in April or May – following the first flush of growth.
2.Warm-Season Grasses
Regions having temperatures within 80-95 degrees Fahrenheit suit best for the growth of warm-season grasses. These grasses go dormant or become brown during winter, based on your climate. The dormancy of winter lasts for around 3-5 months.
Some of the warm-season grasses are –
- Centipede
- St. Augustine
- Zoysia
- Buffalo
- Bahia
- Bermuda
When to Fertilize Lawn with Warm-Season Grass
Warm-season grasses should be fed during active periods of growth. However, avoid feeding them in hot midsummer months. The fertilizer should be applied in three phases – first in early spring when the grass begins to green, then in late spring, finally in late summer.
Now that you know the best time to fertilize your lawn, here’s an idea of how to proceed with lawn fertilization.
How to Fertilize Your Lawn
Fertilizing a lawn is a simple process. It usually takes less than 20 minutes to feed a typical subdivision lawn. The steps for fertilizing a lawn are as follows:
1. Water the Lawn
Give your lawn a good watering a few days prior to feeding it. Watering prepares your soil to accept fertilizer.
2. Choose the Best Spreader for Applying Fertilizer
There are two main categories of spreaders – drop and broadcast. Each fertilizer comes with a distinctive spreader setting to allow correct coverage, and your spreader settings should be adjusted accordingly. Look for the correct spreader setting in your fertilizer bag and ensure that you are choosing the right setting for your spreader.
3. Apply Fertilizer Around Perimeter
Applying fertilizer around the perimeter of your lawn first will let you put fertilizer in the remaining area of your lawn without being concerned about missing out any edges.
5. Fill Fertilizer in the Middle
Fill fertilizer in the middle of your lawn by following a mowing pattern – walk back and forth along straight lines and slightly overlap with each pass.
6. Store any Remaining Product
After applying fertilizer to your lawn, return any remaining fertilizer to its bag and store for future applications. Make sure you keep the product in a dry, cool place away from children and pets.
Leave Your Lawn Fertilization to the Experts
If your hectic schedule doesn’t allow you to invest any time to fertilize your lawn, let us handle the work! All American Turf Beauty is a reputed Iowa based lawn care company. Our lawn care professionals understand lawns quite well and know how often to fertilize lawn.
Rely on our expertise for efficient lawn fertilization that results in a lush green, healthy lawn all-round the year. Gives us a call today!
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