Lawn fertilizers are essential for a perfect lush yard. Have you put down your fall application yet? I’m planning to apply my fertilizer this weekend.
Getting up to speed, I must admit that this is the first year I’ve handled my lawn maintenance entirely myself. When I moved into my home, the lawn and landscaping consisted of more weeds than anything else. I was led to believe that the liquid lawn fertilizer the pros apply is a bit more potent and let’s face it – I really needed professional help to get the desirable green grass I have now.
But this year, since my lawn is finally under control, I’ve decided to handle it on my own. After asking a few landscapers for their tips and advice, the conclusion was that it’s not that hard to take care of. The products are readily available and frankly every bit as good as what the pros use. Plus, if you’re into the whole organic thing, it’s easier to buy these products off the shelf than it is to find a pro that uses them.
The numbers you see describing fertilizer (they look like this: 10-10-10) describe the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, respectively. To keep things simple, a healthy lawn needs all of these nutrients to grow and fend off problems.
Correct ratios vary and it’s hard to be an expert at this ourselves. Thankfully, the fertilizer companies are. This is why I’ve determined that starting off, it’s important to stick to a predetermined and premixed system of applications. Scotts is one popular and readily available brand of fertilizer that offers systems based on your area and lawn type.
If you’re like me in the Midwest, I experience four different seasons. Corresponding with the seasons, I’m applying four applications yearly with a basic spreader that I purchased at my home store. Setting the spread rate according to the directions with the fertilizer is easy and covering the whole yard takes even less time than an average mowing. Of course, if you don’t need the weed control to keep things in check (I do because my neighbor’s weeds are constantly trying to take my lawn over) you can just pull the pesky ones by hand and apply a growth formula instead.
Whether choosing organic lawn fertilizer, liquid lawn fertilizer, or granules, it’s easy to achieve the perfect green yard with lawn fertilizers.