Feed
Your Lawn!
Your lawn is one of the hardest working sections of your garden. Not only
does it provide a green base for the borders and beds, it's a place to relax
and play on. The children may think of it more as a soccer pitch than your
pride and joy.
We expect it to look green and healthy yet many people do no more than mow
it once or twice a week and wonder why it looks so pale and yellow, if not
brown and dead!
The trick to a healthy lawn is to feed the lawn correctly.
Correct Lawn Feeding with Fertilizer
In the spring and summer when the lawn is growing strongly it is producing
a lot of leaf growth. The main fertilizer you need for leaf growth is nitrogen
as covered in NPK Fertilizers. So go for a spring and summer propriety fertilizer
made up with a high level of nitrogen.
How to Fertilize
Apply carefully according to the instructions. For a small lawn, the best
way is to use a soluble fertilizer watered on with a can. With large lawns
you can buy a spreader quite cheaply and use a powdered fertilizer.
Apply the Right Amount of Lawn Fertilizer
Don't be tempted to apply too much fertilizer in one go, read the instructions
carefully and double check before applying.
If you do apply too much then you are likely to get fertilizer burn and kill
off your grass rather than help it grow.
If, like me, you realise you have misread the instructions and applied 10
times the amount of lawn fertilizer than you should have, you may be able to
save the day. Get the hosepipe out and water the grass thoroughly. Give it
a really good soaking and there's a good chance you can wash most of the fertiliser
further down into the soil and rescue the situation. It worked for me.
Apply Lawn Fertilizer Regularly
Don't just apply a lawn fertilizer once in the spring. Use the recommended
amount each month to ensure a consistent amount of feed is available for your
lawn. You don't just have one meal a year and neither does your lawn.
Fall Lawn Fertilizer
In the fall and winter your lawn will slow its growth and not need so much
nitrogen but it will still need feeding and you should look for a fertilizer
mix high in Phosphorus, the P in NPK fertilizers.
Phosphorus promotes root growth and this is the time you want your lawn to
establish a good root structure to prepare for next year's growth. A lawn with
a good root structure will also resist drought an disease better.
So, keep your lawn fed regularly with the right type and amount of fertiliser
and the kids will have a great soccer pitch for the summer. A well fed lawn also
competes better with the weeds, so that's another benefit.
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