When Should I Start Thinking About Fertilization?

While fertilizing your lawn might seem like a simple task, there is a lot that goes into doing it right. Ensuring you are using the right blend, timing it just right and using the appropriate amount is key to a successful spring fertilizer application. Many homeowners opt to hire a lawn care company to spare themselves from having to worry about it. One of the most common questions that homeowners have is: when is the right time to apply spring fertilizer?

When Is the Right Time to Apply Spring Fertilizer?

The exact time will vary from year to year and will depend on where you live. The best time typically ranges anywhere between March-April depending on how mild or harsh your winter is. The number one indicator that it is time to fertilize your lawn is when the grass begins to green up and starts actively growing. Fertilizing your lawn before the start of the growing season is a mistake that many homeowners make. If your turf is not physiologically ready to use the nutrients it receives, then the fertilizer will not be as effective. Instead of fertilizing in early spring, wait until soil temperatures rise and growing conditions are more favorable.

 

 

Why Should You Fertilize Your Lawn In the Spring?

Many homeowners know that it is common practice to fertilize in the spring, but many don’t understand why. Fertilizer acts as food for your lawn and has many essential nutrients such as phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium. Each of these elements provides specific benefits for your lawn: 

• Phosphorus is needed for cell division and the growth of new plant tissue and is important for establishing new grass.
• Nitrogen is a component of protein, which is essential for all plant growth .
• Potassium helps increase winter hardiness, disease and drought resistance in plants.

It’s important to choose the right blend of fertilizer depending on what you are trying to accomplish. If you are at your local home & garden center, you will notice 3 numbers of the fertilizer bags – these numbers represent the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N-P-K), in that order. If you are looking to establish new grass and have done some seeding, choosing a fertilizer higher in phosphorus would be recommended, while fertilizer high in nitrogen is best for an already established lawn. A well-fertilized lawn is extremely important because it is essential to maintaining healthy turf. Your grass will be growing thicker, stronger and will be more resilient against harmful diseases, weed infestations, insect damage, and drought stress.

 

Weed Man’s Fertilizer Program

Here at Weed Man, we use only the highest quality products specifically developed for home lawns. We use an exclusive blend of fertilizer that contains a smaller percentage of fast-release properties that are immediately available to feed the plant and larger quantities of slow-release nitrogen that will continually feed your lawn over time.

If you ever have questions regarding the fertilization of your lawn, do not hesitate to contact your local Weed Man. We would be more than happy to help!