Steps to Choosing and Using the Best Spring Lawn Care Fertilizer
Spring is a lovely time of year. The birds begin to sing and the flowers begin to bloom. To bad that lawn of yours is still brown and lifeless looking. The good news is that your lawn can easily snap back to life with the right spring lawn care fertilizer and a little bit of TLC. Following a spring lawn care schedule will lead to a green, healthy lawn later in the summer. While fall feeding is all about getting to the roots to promote good health and a robust lawn, spring fertilizing focuses more on providing color and promoting growth. A feeding that is to harsh or heavy this time of year will result in a constant battle over weeds or potential diseases all summer long. So which fertilizer is right for your lawn? Read on for the best tips in getting your grass ready for the summer months ahead.
Fertilize to Meet your Needs
Many people make the mistake of choosing a balanced formula for their spring lawn care fertilizer. This means the compound is made up of equal parts of three key nutrients; nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The problem with this theory is that most lawns are not lacking all of these nutrients in the same amount. The best way to know which nutrients your lawn truly needs is to test your soil and find out what is currently contains. You can do this at home with a kit purchased from your local garden center or you can take it into the neighborhood extension office for a professional evaluation. This test will help you determine which spring lawn care fertilizer will be best for your yard based on the nutrients that are currently lacking from your soil.
How to Spread it
Once you have chosen the best spring lawn care fertilizer to meet the needs of your grass, you will then have to determine the best way to spread that food evenly across the yard. Lawn spreaders can be a homeowner’s best friend because they can offer an even layer of spring lawn care fertilizer in the most efficient way possible. These handheld devices are filled with the food and then carried back and forth across the yard until the complete area is covered. When using a lawn spreader, it is important to maintain a consistent pace that is not too slow and not too fast, to ensure an even, light layer of fertilizer across the entire surface. Many fertilizers will then require a watering down to get the nutrients into the soil where they belong. A few minutes under the sprinkler should do the trick.
Don’t wait until summer to kick that yard work into gear. A healthy dose of the right spring lawn care fertilizer will get your grass on the road to that lush green carpet your family can enjoy all summer long.