Lawn fertilization: when and how to do it

Knowing when to fertilize your lawn is just as important, if not more so, than deciding which fertilizer to use. Most experts agree that the best thing for the lawn is to pay it 3 times a year: in spring, autumn and summer, but paying attention in the latter case not to do it in the middle of the hottest weeks of the season, since the ideal is to always avoid extreme temperatures and hot or cold peaks when Pay.

Why is it paid at these three times? In addition to the fact that the lawn, like all plants, needs a good supply of nutrients to develop healthy and beautiful, green and without dry or yellow leaves, giving your lawn these nutrients before and after the difficult seasons will allow it to better resist the inclemencies of both the heat of summer and the cold of winter, staying stronger and healthier.

It is important to respect these fertilization seasons and not skip them regardless of the state of the lawn, since it will need the fertilizer whether it is in optimal conditions or if it has become poor and yellowed. Lawn is a demanding crop, after all, and requires perseverance and care.

The main nutrient that grass needs is nitrogen, although it is far from the only one. When you go to buy the fertilizer or fertilizer for lawns, look at the three numbers that will appear somewhere on the container, these represent the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium that the product contains, in this order. Do not worry if the sum of the percentages does not give a result of 100, because the most normal thing is that the fertilizer contains a good amount of filler material that facilitates the dispersion of the product.

Each type and species of grass has slightly different needs: Be well informed about what the needs of the species of your lawn are and get a suitable fertilizer. Take special care not to overdo it with nitrogen because, although it is an essential nutrient, in excess it can alter the pH of the soil, burn the roots and turn some areas yellow. We recommend you read about this problem in this guide on Yellow grass: causes and how to recover it.

It is also highly recommended to use slow release fertilizerswhich release their nutrients gradually and over a longer period of time, thus absorbing them more effectively for the plant.

We have reached the important point where we talk about how to fertilize the lawn. We give you some advice:

• Distribute the fertilizer for the lawn evenly It is vital to take advantage of its properties properly: if you concentrate it in some areas, it is likely that the grass in these areas will burn, while those that it has not reached will probably be left with less vitality.
• you can try spread the compost by hand trying to do it as regularly as possible, but getting it this way can be quite difficult.
• If you are not sure about doing it by hand and you have a large area to cover, it is best to use a spreader or spreading machine, like the one in the picture. There are many types and a wide range of prices, with the rotary ones being the most common.

Here we indicate some of the most common mistakes when fertilizing the lawn and what to take into account so as not to make them:

• If you are not sure about the quantity, it is preferable that you stay short of payment That you go overboard: the excess of nutrients in plants is much more problematic and dangerous than the punctual lack of them.
• Don’t fertilize if your lawn is yellow or dry from lack of water. Hydrate it first, which is what it needs most, and give it nutrients when it has started to recover.
• Fertilize less in shaded areassince the grass is less active there.
• Do not fill your spreader machine on the same lawn: you will avoid spills and accidents. Also, always sweep or remove excess fertilizer that you drop.

If you stop fertilizing your lawn, the nutrients that the grass needs will be depleted from the soil. This will cause the lawn cover to lose ground to adventitious grasses or weeds, such as dandelions and clovers. In fact, these considered weeds are usually an indicator of a lack of fertilizer in that part of the soil in which they have appeared, since they need fewer nutrients than grass to thrive.

Now that you know all this about fertilizing the lawn, we recommend that you also read this other guide in which we teach you how to plant it well and some of its essential care: How and when to plant the lawn.

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