There are some things you can do to make your lawn more resistant to disease and weeds when it comes to fertilizer. You can have the yard you always wanted with proper lawn care and these tips about when and how to save money.
Avoid these top 4 lawn fertilizer mistakes
It’s easy to make mistakes when it comes to lawn fertilizer. Because I have been in the grass industry for many years, I am well-acquainted with this fact. Professional turf managers as well as homeowners make the same four mistakes when feeding their grass. These lawn fertilizer mistakes can be avoided. You’ll love your lawn, and get the best bang for your buck.
Failure to test the soil
By randomly removing 10-12 soil samples from your lawn, you can collect your own samples. The depth should be 3-4 inches. The soil sample should not contain any vegetation or excess root mass. Combine the soil samples. Place about 1 cup of this mixture in a bag. Send the bag to be tested by writing your name.
By randomly removing 10-12 soil samples from your lawn, you can collect your own samples. The depth should be 3-4 inches. The soil sample should not contain any vegetation or excess root mass. Combine the soil samples. Place about 1 cup of this mixture in a bag. Send the bag to be tested by writing your name.
A soil test will usually focus on major nutrients such as phosphorous (required to develop roots well) and potassium (required to address environmental stressors). Your lawn will be affected if your soils lack these essential building blocks.
A soil test will also reveal important information about your soil’s pH. Lawn grasses prefer a pH range between 6.5 and 7.0. The fertilizer you use might not work well if your lawn has a pH too high or low. Lime will be required to “sweeten” soils with low pH values, such as 5.5 and 6.0. To bring soil pH below 7.5, you will need to apply soil sulfur or a lawn fertilizer with sulfur.
It is a good idea to test every year until any issues are resolved. To monitor your soil’s health, you can test your soil every three years if it does not show any problems.
Early spring is the best time to test the soil before it comes out of dormancy. After fertilizing your lawn, don’t take samples. This could lead to inaccurate results. Don’t try to do it yourself kits. These kits may be cheaper, but they don’t provide accurate results. You can get help from your county extension office, reputable gardening center, or university to test your soil and interpret the results. They will also be able to make solid recommendations on how to fix any soil problems.
Too much lawn fertilizer
Reduce the lawn fertilizer application rate to half, then do two passes with the spreader at right angles. A four-step lawn fertilizer program is recommended by many retailers. It is excessive to fertilize more than four times per year. Most homeowners can do it with just two fertilizers per year. Knowing when to fertilize your lawns can help you cut down on how much fertilizer you use. We’ll get to that in a moment.
Applying too much lawn fertilizer to your soil, especially in sandy soils will cause a lot of it to leach through the soil into groundwater, streams, lakes, and wetlands. Lawn grasses need only a limited amount of food. It is not always better to have more.
Fertilizing at the wrong times
Here’s when you should fertilize your lawn. If your lawn fertilizing schedule calls for fertilizing once a year, then apply it around Labor Day. This is when your lawn will be the most hungry and it will respond the best to nutrients. After a stressful year of growth, fertilizing at this time can replenish food reserves and help to prevent winter from setting in.
Apply the second application of lawn fertilizer in October if your lawn fertilizer schedule calls for twice per year. This is like a second helping of food for winter. You can add a third application in the middle to late spring. This can be combined with your crabgrass preservative. If you feel the need to add a fourth application, it can be done mid-summer. Pay attention to the weather when fertilizing your lawn in mid-summer. Your lawn can be damaged if you fertilize in hot and humid weather. Organic fertilizers are an exception. They are more friendly to lawns during the hot summer days.
Apply just enough fertilizer in spring to green your lawn. Only half of the usual amount is needed. Your lawn will grow quickly even without fertilizer as long as the temperature is consistently higher.
Getting careless
While fertilizer is a great tool for keeping a lawn lush, healthy, and dense, it can also pose environmental problems if used improperly.
While fertilizer is a great tool for keeping a lawn lush, healthy, and dense, improperly used can cause environmental problems. Too often, I see people forgetting to fertilize. People are either in a rush or don’t pay attention. They don’t care if a little fertilizer is thrown on your lawn. What if your neighbors believed this too? Worse, what if all your neighbors thought this? We can help the environment by using less fertilizer and we can do more by making sure that it stays where it was intended.
Avoid putting fertilizers in close proximity to water bodies, streams, lakes, or rivers. We are trying to grow lawn grasses and not aquatic weeds. These types of water features can lead to excessive weed growth and even algae blooms. This is not what anyone wants. When applying fertilizer, keep at least 6-8 feet from the water.
Once you are done fertilizing, clean up any remaining fertilizer on your driveway, sidewalk, street, or other hard surfaces. These surfaces will be swept up by the rain and will eventually become storm sewers or water features if fertilizer is not removed.
Frozen ground is not a good place to apply fertilizer. If you are anxious to apply crabgrass preventer, this can happen quickly in spring. It’s not a good idea to apply crabgrass prevention if the ground is frozen. Be a good environmental steward.
Conway Lawn Care Services
Conway, SC 29526
843-353-2259
http://conwaylawncareservices.com/
Service Areas:
Conway, Aynor, Longs, Loris, Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach, Forestbrook