Fertilizing your lawn is just as important as fertilizing your prized begonias or prolific pepper plants. Feeding your lawn requires specially designed formulas and application methods to keep it healthy and strong. In addition to making your lawn the envy of the neighborhood, proper lawn care can prevent pesky weeds from popping up and ruining that manicured look.
The easiest, most efficient way to meet your lawn’s nutritional needs is with a slow-release fertilizer. As the name implies, these formulas release their nutrients slowly over time so that your lawn is receiving continual nutritional boosts. If you’re giving your lawn adequate nutrition you’ll notice bare spots filling in and very few weeds sprouting. If weeds are a chronic problem in your little corner of paradise, try a weed-and-feed formula that will kill the weeds as it nourishes your lawn. Getting rid of the little beasties is especially important because they steal essential nutrition from your grass plants.
The formula and application timetable for fertilizing your lawn varies depending on where you live. But generally you’ll want to apply a fertilizer with crabgrass controlling elements in early spring, a slow-release fertilizer in mid-summer to carry your lawn through the hotter months and a winterizing formula in the fall to protect your lawn through the colder months and encourage strong root growth so that you’ll have a more lush, greener lawn come the following spring.
Read the fertilizer bag recommendations and instructions carefully and apply it as directed to avoid damaging your lawn. More is not better with fertilizer and herbicides. Make sure the fertilizer you’re choosing is appropriate for the type of lawn you have. Once you’ve decided on the right product, evenly distribute it over your lawn with a broadcast spreader. Don’t load the spreader on the lawn or you might dump too much fertilizer on one area and kill that patch of grass. Be sure to note whether or not the product manufacturer recommends watering the fertilizer in once it’s applied. Feed your lawn right and you’ll be rewarded with a lush, green carpet of healthy, hardy grass.