Tips & Advice

Fertilizing

The rule of fertilizing is that it is better to spread a little often rather than a lot infrequently. The best time to spread the first fertilizer is when the grass starts to wake in the spring. It normally takes a week or two before the fertilizer is absorbed by the grass. Another thing to bear in mind is that the ground should be moist when you spread fertilizer. The fertilizer needs moisture to become available to the grass. The grass should be fertilized three or four times a year, depending on how long the season is. You should avoid fertilizing just before dry periods or too late in the season. An NPK fertilizer with a high nitrogen content is appropriate. The nitrogen should be of both nitrate type and ammonium type. The former is more quick-acting and the latter takes more time to become available to the grass. Fertilizing makes the grass more competitive against weeds and moss. It is a common misapprehension that you have to cut the grass more often if you fertilize it. The truth is that you have to mow the lawn almost as often if you don’t fertilize it, but you will be cutting more weeds instead.