The Basics of Fertilizing

FERTILIZING YOUR LAWN

Adding fertilizers to your lawn care routine is crucial for maintaining plant health and achieving a lush, green lawn. Fertilizers provide essential nutrients that enable proper plant growth and help improve the overall health and appearance of your lawn. In this article, we'll explore the benefits of fertilizing, whether to DIY or hire a professional, steps to fertilizing your lawn, finding the right fertilizer, calculating application rates, using a spreader, when to fertilize, and watering in fertilizer applications.

‍Benefits of Fertilizing

Fertilizers play a vital role in lawn care by providing essential nutrients that plants need to thrive. A healthy lawn not only looks beautiful but also offers environmental benefits such as cooling the environment, controlling allergens, preventing soil erosion, and providing recreational areas.

DIY or Hire a Company?

When it comes to fertilizing your lawn, you have the option to either do it yourself or hire a professional lawn care company. While hiring a company may seem convenient, DIY lawn care allows you to tailor your fertilization program to your lawn's specific needs. Additionally, DIY lawn care will be much more cost-effective in the long run.

I’m not here to knock on lawn care companies, rather teach you that you can do it yourself.  I’ve personally had my fair share of negative experiences with lawn care companies where I will forever be a DIY’er - Primarily for one reason: No one will be more committed to the return on investment that you put into your yard than you will.  The seasonal employee fertilizing your lawn simply won’t put the same care into it as you will - Costing you in the long run.  

Steps to Fertilizing Your Lawn

1. Finding the Right Fertilizer

Conduct a soil test to determine your lawn's nutrient needs. This will give you a snapshot of your soil’s pH levels, nutrient levels, and more to help you select the appropriate fertilizer for your lawn.

2. Calculating the Amount of Fertilizer Needed

Measure your lawn to determine its total area. This will help you calculate the amount of fertilizer needed for proper coverage. 

3. Finding a Good Fertilizer Spreader

Invest in a quality spreader for even distribution of fertilizer across your lawn. If you’re going the DIY route, it is a good idea to invest in a good spreader.  You don’t necessarily need the most expensive one on the market, but you certainly want to avoid the least expensive on on the market.  This is one of those areas where you get what you pay for.  Consider factors like hopper size, pneumatic tires, accuracy with spreader settings.  

4. Calculating Application Rates

Many homeowners skip important steps when fertilizing their lawns, leading to wasted money and over-application of fertilizer. Bag labels often claim to cover a certain square footage, but this can be misleading. The actual coverage depends on your soil test results, spreader settings, and the nutrient makeup of the fertilizer, especially the Nitrogen content.

Fertilizers contain various nutrients crucial for plant health. The main nutrients are Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K). Nitrogen is particularly important for lawn health and needs regular application.

Understanding fertilizer labels is key. They display the N-P-K ratio (represented by 3 numbers on the bag “1-2-3”), indicating the percentage of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium in the product. For example, a 50-pound bag with a 16-4-8 ratio contains 16% Nitrogen (N), 4% Phosphorous (P), and 8% Potassium (K).  This will translate to 8 pounds of Nitrogen (N), 2 pounds of Phosphorus (P), and 4 pounds of Potassium (K) inside of the bag.  

To determine how much fertilizer to apply, consider factors like grass type, water availability, and local environment. Generally, cool season grasses need 3-4 pounds of Nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per year, with a maximum amount of 1 pound of Nitrogen (N) per each application.

*Remember: It’s important to measure your lawn and break it up into 1,000 sq. ft. sections.

An easy line to memorize to help master this equation is “What We Want, What We Have, What We Need” 

• What We Want: The desired amount of nutrient we want to apply (in this case, 1 lbs of Nitrogen)
• What We Have: The % of desired nutrient inside of the bag (in this case, a 50 lbs bag of fertilizer, containing 16% of Nitrogen)
• What We Need: How much of physical product to apply per 1,000 sq. ft. (in this case, the amont of fertilizer in lbs. to apply to each 1,000 sq. ft. section of our lawn) 

So, instead of applying all 50 lbs. of the fertilizer bag to your lawn, you followed what you soil test recommended and only applied 37.5 lbs of product to your lawn.  

If you take this over an entire season with the same application rate, you saved and entire 50 lbs. bag worth of fertilizer and money that you would have otherwise used without calculating this step.  

5. Using the Right Fertilizer Spreader Settings

Once you've measured your lawn, it's time to prepare to apply the fertilizer. Before you start, familiarize yourself with how your spreader works by reading the owner's manual. 

Instead of pouring all the fertilizer at once, start with the amount needed to cover a 1,000 sq. ft. area. Identify the boundaries of this area using your property diagram. 

Plan your path, walking in a North/South then East/West pattern for even coverage. Start with a low spreader setting and make a pass or two to gauge how much fertilizer is being applied. Adjust the setting as needed. 

Repeat this process for each section until you've applied the recommended amount of fertilizer. It's okay if it takes some practice to get the hang of it. Keep a record of the spreader settings and create a fertilization log to track your applications.

6. When to Fertilize Your Lawn

Believe it or not, there are specific times of the year when you should and shouldn't fertilize your lawn. We've been focusing on granular fertilizers, not liquids, to keep it simple.

Make sure to know which growing zone you're in; this guide is for cool season grasses. 

In spring, it’s recommended not to fertilize before soil temperatures reach 50-55°F to avoid wasting nutrients. Similarly, it is also not recommended to over fertilize in the spring, as your cool-season grass is in a natural growth stage.  

During summer, cool season grasses slow their growth, so avoid excessive fertilization, especially if your grass is dormant or experiencing extreme heat. 

In fall, as temperatures drop, avoid fertilizing too late in the season. Avoid using any slow-release products in fall to ensure your grass can uptake the nutrients it needs while it still can. 

7. Watering in Fertilizer

Most fertilizers need to be watered in.  The best scenario is to plan out a fertilizer application right before a rainfall to avoid depending on irrigation watering.  There is such thing as too much of a good thing - The same lies true here, avoid fertilizing right before a heavy rainfall to avoid washout.  

If you need to rely on irrigation to water your fertilizer in, refer to the recommendations on the label on watering instructions.  

8. Cleaning Your Spreader:

After each use, clean your spreader to prevent buildup and ensure its longevity.  Rinse with a hose and dry after use.  

By following these steps, you can effectively fertilize your lawn and maintain its health and beauty throughout the year.