Fertilising your lawn the right way

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Melissa - Lawn Care Support Blogs

Regular application of fertiliser is a fantastic way to ensure that your lawn is kept in great shape and luckily it’s an easy (and effective) process. Why fertilise? It’s the best way to keep your lawn healthy and prepared to deal with everything Mother Nature throws at it, including changes in temperature.

There are many different types of fertilisers available but as a general rule, you spread the fertiliser evenly over the entire lawn. Make sure that no one spot receives too much or you will run the risk of ‘burning’ your lawn.

Unless you are using a hose-applied fertiliser all fertilisers will site on the blades of the grass and the soil until it is dissolved. For this reason, we suggest always watering the fertiliser in thoroughly after application or applying when a decent amount of rain in imminent. The water or rain will dissolve the fertiliser and make sure that all the nutrients pass down into the soil.

What happens next?

Well your job is pretty much over but just so that you know. Once passed below the ground the soil’s micro-organisms will further break down the fertiliser into compounds that the grass plants can use. Then the grass roots take the nutrients up through the roots towards the vascular system and to the leaves.

From here the leaves still need to convert the compounds into energy. For this process they need sun – the sun as an energy form will break the nutrients down into carbohydrates which are then stored back in the crown of the plants, the roots, the stolons and the rhizomes.

So by you taking a little time to spread around some fertiliser and water it in (if rain isn’t on the horizon), you are providing your lawn with the required nutrient stores to endure periods of drought and help it grow and thrive.

When should you fertilise?

Harden Park Lawns recommends that you apply fertiliser during early Spring, Summer and again in Autumn – this is give a boost when the growing phase begins, when periods of high temperature and possibly little rain occur, and when the lawn is preparing to go into its dormant phase but when it still needs to remain healthy to ward off pests and disease.

In tropical regions you should avoid fertilising just before or during the wet season – aim to do it well before – or the nutrients may just be washed away.

Harden Park Lawns are here to provide fertilising advice and you can get your fertiliser from us too.