A luscious healthy green lawn is the dream of any homeowner with a lawn. Fertilizing your lawn plays a vital role in keeping your lawn looking greener. To keep your lawn from wilting and turning brown, having a proper fertilizing schedule is of utmost importance.
If you notice your lawn turning yellow or the leaves becoming weaker, it is a sign that your lawn might be lacking nutrients. Iron and nitrogen are key elements that are required for keeping a lawn greener throughout the months.
Not every lawn is the same, the requirements are different for every lawn. The nutrient requirements are also different for every type of grass. To make your lawn look greener and healthy over the months, you need to provide the specific nutrients required by the grass.
- Types of Grass in Your Lawn
Although every grass in the world will require certain components to thrive and be healthy, like potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus, and water. Some grasses would require less watering and maintenance as compared to others.
The most common choice of grasses for lawns are Bermuda grass, Zoysia grass, Kentucky bluegrass, tall or red fescue, or perennial ryegrass. All of these grasses will require some mixture of the essential nutrients that most lawn fertilizers generally contain. Be sure to ask your local gardening store before picking up the next bag of fertilizer.
- Nutrient Content In your Soil
If you are one of those lucky people who already have nutrient-rich soil with the correct pH balance, your lawn might require lesser amounts of fertilizer than your counterparts. It is always the best idea to have the pH of your soil tested before deciding on the fertilizer. In case you provide excessive nutrients through fertilizer in nutrient-rich soil, it can damage your lawn.
Alkaline soil will require a fertilizer that can help eliminate iron chlorosis. Whereas, a neutral soil might require a nutrient-rich fertilizer that can boost the grass healths and curb deficiencies, mainly iron.
- Using Cost-Effective Alternatives
Organic fertilizers include manure, vegetable peels, and decomposable kitchen waste, fish by-products, and so on. They are natural and cost-effective as they mostly consist of waste products from your kitchen. Being organic, they do not have any chemical content and are pocket-friendly as well.
- When to Fertilize
Although there are various types of grass, every grass requires fertilization multiple times throughout the year. It is however important to note that warm-season grass like zoysia, centipede, and Bermuda requires fertilizer 2-4 times a year, especially at the start of spring and during the end of summer. Whereas cool-season grasses like fescue, ryegrass, and Kentucky bluegrass require fertilization when the grass starts to come back from winter dormancy and at the start of fall. Just keep in mind not to fertilize them during the warmest summer months.
A healthy green lawn is a sight to behold. Healthier the lawn, the greener it looks. As every living organism needs food and nutrition to be healthy, your lawn needs nutritious fertilizer to keep the emerald green aura. A well-feed piece of a lawn will always look healthy and greener throughout the seasons. So, be sure what to get based on your grass types and soil to ensure you have a perfect fertilizing plan for a greener lawn.
