Now’s the Time to Feed Your Lawn

 

Fall is a particularly important time to feed your lawn. As the seasons change and temperatures drop, it's time to focus on helping our lawns recover from the stress of summer, while preparing them for the rigors of winter. This is a crucial period for turfgrass management, especially for cool-season grasses, which experience a resurgence in growth during this time. Cool season grasses include Kentucky blue grass, perennial rye and turf-type fescue.

Singly or in combination, these types of grasses make up most of our lawns. Fall fertilizing combined with humates aids in repairing and rejuvenating the turf, leading to improved overall vigor now, as well as preparing the grass for a strong start in spring. In this blog, we'll explore the best fertilizers for fall turfgrass care and how to apply them for greatest effectiveness. 

The important nutrients for feeding fall lawns are Nitrogen and Potassium. The numbers listed reflect the percentage of each element in the bag.  For example, ferti-lome Winterizer contains 25% Nitrogen, therefore a twenty-pound bag contains 5 pounds of Nitrogen.  Since a twenty-pound bag of ferti-lome Winterizer covers 5000 square feet, applied correctly adds one pound of Nitrogen per thousand square feet. Potassium is important because it helps the turfgrass roots absorb and store the fertilizer you apply now.  

If you're looking for an organically based fall fertilizer, then RichLawn Winterizer is your best choice.  Produced locally, Richlawn Winterizer is organically based and has a 15-3-6 formula, again with emphasis on Nitrogen for root feeding and Potassium for nutrient uptake.  This forty-pound bag of Richlawn® Winterizer will cover 6,000 square feet of lawn.  

 Both brands will benefit your lawn now and next spring when the grass emerges from its dormant state and there’s sufficient nutrients in the root system to feed it. Applying a Winterizer fertilizer now means a quicker green-up, stronger top growth early in the spring season and a healthier lawn through the summer.   

 

After applying Winterizer fertilizer, water your lawn thoroughly to help the fertilizer get down to the grass roots.   

 

In addition to feeding your lawn, this is a good time to work on the soil your grass grows in. HuMic contains humate, an organic-based soil conditioner. Humate will improve soil structure and increase nutrient uptake. If you choose to include HuMIc now, the sequence should be to apply HuMic product first, water it in, then apply Winterizer Fertilizer, followed by a thorough watering of the lawn.  

 

Speaking of watering, it’s important to water your lawn through the winter, if we don’t receive sufficient natural moisture.  Every four to five weeks when the temperature is above forty-five degrees, use a simple sprinkler attached to a hose to water your lawn. Water about noon and be sure to remove the hose from the spigot when you’re done watering.  Periodic watering through the winter will also benefit the trees and shrubs planted in or near your lawn. This is especially important where the lawn and trees are surrounded by sidewalks and streets. 

After the stresses of summer heat and drought, fall fertilization aids in repairing and rejuvenating the turf, leading to improved overall health.