Your lawn needs to be cared for all year round to ensure that it’s healthy and at its best. Fertilizing is an excellent way to keep your grass lush and free of pests and disease, so let’s explore a few tips for doing it right.
Five Fertilizing Tips for a Healthier Lawn
1. What to Do Before Fertilizing
If you’re new to fertilizing or just want to make sure you’re approaching it correctly, it’s important to note that some preparation needs to be done first. Preparing your lawn for fertilizer ensures that it’s evenly and effectively fertilized, so you can avoid issues and have a uniformly green and lush lawn. Mow your lawn a few days before you plan to fertilize. This helps the fertilizer penetrate through the soil rather than getting stuck on the thick grass. Mowing is important to do when preparing for fertilizing each time.
Once a year, or the first time you fertilize, further preparation is necessary. After you’ve mowed, you need to prepare the soil and thatch layers for fertilizing. Dethatching and aerating your lawn ensures that the lawn fertilizer properly penetrates the soil and delivers nutrients to your grass. The process of dethatching removes the layer of dead grass and other organic material on your lawn. While a thin layer of thatch is helpful in providing nutrients and protecting the soil, too much can keep water and fertilizer from getting into the ground. Dethatching can be done with a common rake or specialized thatch rake, but the goal is simply to remove some thatch. Dig a small hole in your lawn to check the thickness of the thatch. If it exceeds ¾ of an inch, it’s time to dethatch the lawn. Once you’ve cleared the thatch from the lawn, the lawn can be aerated. Aeration pierces the soil with small spines that help fertilizer and water reach the roots of the grass. Dethatching and aerating the lawn is extra work that goes a long way to get your grass looking healthy, and it’s best to do it in the spring. If you’ve never done it before, you can do this at any time as long as the grass is growing, and you should plan to do it each spring.
2. Choosing Your Fertilizer Correctly
Fertilizer comes in many forms, so finding the right healthy lawn fertilizer might sound like a daunting prospect. From its physical form, like liquid or granular, to its ingredients, the options can quickly become overwhelming. Each type of fertilizer has different uses, and your lawn’s needs determine which is right for you. Many DIYers choose granular fertilizer for its ease of application, but it’s not as uniform as liquid. If you want to save money and effort on application, granular fertilizers are your best bet. Liquid fertilizers cover better but call for more equipment like a fogger, and they can make a big mess if you’re not careful. Each type of fertilizer for grass will have different uses, like pest and weed control, so take some time to figure out what your lawn needs. One of the key components of any fertilizer is nitrogen, an indispensable ingredient that helps lawns grow healthy and green. High-nitrogen fertilizers are best used on lawns that are older but need a quick boost in terms of color. If you’ve just planted grass, weed and feed fertilizers are better because they prevent weed development while encouraging new growth. Each type of fertilizer has its application, and with a little research, you can find the right product for your grass.
3. Properly Applying Fertilizer
All of the tips on fertilizing your lawn we’ve given you don’t matter if you don’t get the application right, and believe us, there’s a wrong way to fertilize a lawn. Fortunately, applying fertilizer on your lawn can be a breeze if you arm yourself with a bit of knowledge beforehand and get the proper equipment. Fertilizer can be applied by hand or equipment to simplify the job. Handheld dispensers are cheap and effective but will take longer and require more elbow grease to operate. Using a fogger is great, but it can splash on your clothes and home, so practice with it well away from things you don’t want to get fertilizer on. For granular fertilizer, using a pushed or pulled applicator can help spread fertilizer uniformly and is less work, especially if you pull a device with your lawnmower. Follow the manufacturer guidelines on your fertilizer and use the equipment that it indicates, and you’ll be off to a great start.
4. When to Fertilize
Now that you’re aware of how to apply fertilizer and what sort of fertilizer you need, what is the best schedule for lawn fertilization? Most grass in Tennessee is what’s referred to as cool-season grass—most commonly fescue. Cool-season grass should be fertilized in the fall. It’s best to fertilize after the summer but before the weather gets too cold. Cool-season grass grows quickest when temperatures are in the 60s and 70s, making the fall a great time to fertilize. This is because cool-season grass is somewhat dormant in the summer when it’s very hot. Fertilizing after summer and then once again in the spring before temperatures get too warm will help your lawn look lush, thick, and green all year.
5. When You Need Help
All of the lawn fertilizing tips we have for you are dependent on you learning a lot and working hard—but you don’t have to! You can benefit from a properly fertilized and well-groomed lawn without lifting a finger. At The Parke Company, we’ve been helping to maintain and improve Nashville lawns for decades, and we can help you keep your grass properly fertilized. Since you only need to fertilize twice a year, you can bundle that service along with more regular landscaping maintenance. If you aren’t one to go hands-on or you’re just struggling to keep up with your landscaping and everything else going on in your life, don’t worry! We have affordable plans for any budget and can even just perform aeration and fertilization services twice a year for your lawn if that’s all you need.
A well-fertilized lawn is a healthy lawn, and it can really enhance your home’s curb appeal. If you’re looking for some help fertilizing your lawn this year, why not reach out to The Parke Company for a free consultation and estimate for your lawn?