Feeding Your Lawn; Knowing what it needs, and when
How’s your lawn looking? If yours is looking less than its best, it may benefit from some extra feeding. Feeding your lawn with fertiliser will help stronger and thicker grass to grow. As well as making your lawn look better, this can also protect it from moss, weeds and lawn diseases, as these are all more common in lawns with weak and patchy grass.
What are the signs that my lawn needs feeding?
As you might expect, a lawn that could benefit from an application of fertiliser generally looks unhealthy. An unhealthy-looking lawn might have brown or yellow patches of grass, or have bald or thin patches. You may also notice that your grass doesn’t grow as quickly as it used to.
Yellow grass or brown grass
A lack of particular nutrients in the soil can lead to grass turning yellow or brown. However this is not the only cause of discoloured grass. Lawn pests, diseases or waterlogging can cause yellow or brown patches on your lawn. Brown patches may also be caused by anything from tree roots under your lawn or even animals urinating on the grass. As the causes can be so varied, it’s worth speaking to a lawncare professional to determine what is causing the problems in your lawn. They will also be able to analyse your problem andidentify which nutrients may need to be added to the soil.
Slow-growing grass
A lack of phosphorus in the soil could lead to your grass not growing as it should. You may also see bald patches in the lawn, as grass density decreases. Again though bald patches can have other causes, as well as diseases and pests, it may be that the bald area gets a lot of wear. You may also see bare patches if you have left lawn clippings on the lawn after mowing, as these can smother the grass below. A professional lawn assessment will be able to find out the cause of your slow growing grass or bald patches
What nutrients does my lawn need?
Different nutrients benefit your lawn in different ways and your grass needs different levels of each nutrient. While some of these may only be needed in tiny amounts, and there will rarely be deficiencies, others can be used up quickly and will need replacing. Poor soil can be lacking in important nutrientsand you will need to regularly take steps to improve the quality of the soil your grass is growing in.
Some of the nutrients your lawn needs include: –
Nitrogen – which helps grass grow strongly and quickly
Potassium – which helps your grass resist disease and drought
Phosphorus – which helps roots stay healthy
Iron – which is present in chlorophyll, and helps your grass look green
Calcium – which strengthens cell walls and helps your lawn access the nutrients in the soil
Sulphur – which activates enzymes in the grass
Magnesium – which the grass in your lawn uses during photosynthesis
As you can imagine with such a variety of nutrients needed for grass to flourish, understanding which to feed to your lawn, and when is important.
When should I treat my lawn with a fertiliser?
Lawns can be fed throughout the year. However, the type of fertiliser used will be different depending on the time of year. In spring, your lawn needs ‘waking up’ from the cold winter weather and to be given a boost for the rest of the year. Fertilisers used over the summer months maintain the nutrients that the lawn needs, but they are also designed to reduce the risk of the treatment scorching the lawn.
Later in the year, fertilisers are used that prepare the grass for the winter. Strengthening the roots and helping your lawn survive the colder weather. Of course, all of these treatments take into account the individual circumstances of your particular lawn, and are tweaked to ensure they are applied at the best time for you.
All Green Lawn Treatments year-round treatments ensure that your lawn gets exactly what it needs at exactly the right time. We also combine these fertiliser treatments with other treatments such as weed control.
If you think your lawn would benefit from a fertiliser treatment from All Green Lawn treatments, contact us today.