Spring Fertilizing Tips

Thinking about using a fertilizer program this year?

Here are a few tips to get you started this spring.

• Know the big three!  We you get your bag of fertilizer home to start your application, you will notice a set of three numbers in bold across the front of the bag.  (ex. 19-0-0)  These numbers represent the amount of Nitrogen-Phosphourus-Potassium present in each bag.  These are the core nutrients your turf is looking for after a long winter of dormancy.  If there was no fertilizing done in the previous fall, it may be a good idea to do an application of starter fertilizer.  Starter fertilizer will usually have all three nutrients present, which will jump start your lawn with solid growth and green.  However, there is very little pre-emergent defense (crab grass prevention) present in those bags.
• Keep your Nitrogen in line.  Dependent on your turf condition, this will vary from lawn to lawn.  The general rule is one pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet.  This will give your turf a lot of green right away, but when the growth is that quick you may be sacrificing your root system.  Fast growth may block some grasses from getting their share of nutrients.  In the spring, you may want to split that up into a few applications.  Doing two applications of 1/2 pound per 1,000 square feet will give you a slower release, and allow for better opportunity of uniform growth.  This is especially helpful if no fertilizing was done in the previous fall.
• Not all weeds are created equal.  Weed free lawns begin in the spring.  That being said, most homeowners will come across those pesky weeds that just wont go away with your pre and post emergent herbicide applications.  When you do come across this issue, we recommend you contact a professional to apply herbicides that specialize in certain weeds.  While most of the herbicides are available to the public, the cost of these can be expensive.  Most of the time these weeds can be taken care of with very few applications, so a homeowner may end up with an expensive bottle that you may have only used a few ounces from.