There's no doubt that lawns need fertilizer, but it's easy to make mistakes, like applying the wrong nutrients or fertilizing at the wrong time. If you fertilize your lawn when it doesn't need it, you're essentially throwing money away, so it's essential to apply fertilizers at the right time, and use no more than necessary.
How often is too often?
The last thing your lawn needs is constant overfeeding. It does nothing to benefit your turf grass, and can be damaging to the environment. For most lawns, applying fertilizer once or twice a year is enough to keep your grass green and healthy. Precisely when you apply fertilizer depends partly on your climate, but mostly on the type of grass you have. The key is to fertilize during the season when your grass is doing the most growing.
Cool-Season Grasses
Cool-season grasses include many of the common turf grass varieties, such as Kentucky blue grass, perennial rye grass, bent grass, tall fescue and fine fescue. These types of grass grow most vigorously in winter, so they should be fertilized in fall. You can fertilize again in late spring to early summer, but only if your lawn looks like it needs it. A healthy lawn generally doesn't need a second round of fertilizer.
Considerations
Once you've narrowed it down to the right time of year to apply fertilizer, it's also important to choose the right day. The best time to fertilize is the day after a hard rain or a significant watering. Check the weather forecast and avoid applying fertilizer right before a rainstorm, as a heavy downpour can cause many of the nutrients to leach out of the soil before the grass can use them. For best results, use a slow-release fertilizer, which provides better nutrition in the long run. After applying fertilizer, gently water your lawn just enough to wash the fertilizer off the leaves and into the soil.
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