There is an art to maintaining a well-manicured, healthy lawn and fertilizer application has an important role in the maintenance routine by providing vital nutrients. Fertilizing a lawn provides thorough nutrition that will create a dense, luxurious “green carpet” (courtesy: agrilifetoday.tamu.edu).
By: John Green, Orange, Texas’ Certified Expert Gardener
Every week I typically begin by stating a few words about our weather patterns and this week is no different- it’s hot and getting hotter…enough already, I’m looking forward to autumn and have started planning the garden layout for crops to plant. Harvesting figs daily (before the birds do it for me) and pears (which are overly abundant-not a complaint). In the vegetable gardens, I’ve removed many summer vegetables from raised beds: tomatoes, pole beans, squash, and cucumbers as they were struggling in the intense heat, but several other vegetables are performing well: eggplant, onions, okra as well as herbs- rosemary and basil which thrive in higher temps.
Before doing anything to the lawn, it is my recommendation to take soil samples and submit them to a soil lab for analysis. Contact the County Extension office in the area for details or visit Texas A&M soil testing lab website: https://soiltesting.tamu.edu/soil-testing/. The cost is minimal, and this is the easiest, most accurate way to determine nutrient deficiencies (nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium) with a report detailing the amount of nutrition required.
Most gardeners apply too much fertilizer when treating the lawn, which is problematic. Fertilizer run-off contributes to river, creek, stream, bayou, and water shed pollution. Excessive fertilizer application from lawn care and farming provides the perfect ‘feeding’ conditions which enable “explosive” algae growth (blooms) that often lead to severe environmental degradation that includes fish kill from algae decomposition which deprives oxygen from water and vastly increases water borne vegetation which blocks water ways. It is important to apply lawn fertilizers correctly by following application directions which are listed on the fertilizer container.
There is an art to maintaining a well-manicured, healthy lawn and fertilizer application has an important role in the maintenance routine by providing vital nutrients. Fertilizing a lawn provides thorough nutrition that will create a dense, luxurious “green carpet”. Applying fertilizer correctly has numerous benefits, such as: increasing the lawns aesthetic (with fewer weeds), increasing the oxygen supply (which creates a cooling effect through reduced carbon dioxide), minimizing erosion, and reducing water shed pollution by reducing nutrient ‘drift’.
Lawns provide ‘clues’ when fertilizer is needed, which we should learn to recognize the signals. Disparate color variations (yellow to pale green), thinning grass or bare areas, and weeds becoming more prolific are each an indicator. Clover is considered an ‘indicator’ weed and signals a nitrogen deficiency.
Watch for these Lawn ‘Signals’:
- Slowed growth during the summer months
- Yellow, pale green, or yellow-green areas covering large areas
- Bare patches with thinning grass areas which are noticeable or are increasing in size
- Weeds are prevalent and weed growth is outpacing the lawns’ growth
- Insect populations are exploding exponentially which is due to diminished lawn health
There is something which I find particularly enjoyable: observing a plush, richly hued green, well-manicured lawn…the ultimate in curb appeal. However, it takes a considerable amount of planning and time to ensure the desired result is attained…meaning that it is simple to overlook a few things. It doesn’t take long for a few ‘minor’ oversights to undermine a lawns’ aesthetic rendering it an eye-sore! These are few of the most common mistakes we make and ways to address them:
Blunt Mower Blades
Let’s face it lawn maintenance can be daunting, especially during the heat-of-the-summer! We often forget the simple but important things, such as sharpening mower blades. Dull blades shred rather than cut grass blades which increases stress & water loss and promotes disease. This is an easy fix- simply create a calendar event which includes mower maintenance and schedule sharpening yearly, preferably during cooler months!
Reactive Lawn Care
Most of us are reactive to lawn care and need to shift to become proactive. As gardeners we need to understand that for lawn care products and treatments to be effective, they must be applied sooner “before” disease and problem areas appear. Reactive lawn care is perilous and can lead to the collapse of a healthy lawn.
Oversaturating Lawns
This includes many gardeners (me included), especially when irrigation systems are at work! Last year we experienced a severe drought and our lawns suffered extensive damage, but we should note that too much water leads to shallow root growth and increases fungal growth (promoting disease). Lawns need at minimum 1 to 3-inches of rainfall or moisture weekly during summer months. Watering deeply but infrequently allows the soil to dry between watering which reduces disease risk and promotes deeper root growth.
Exposed Soil (Bare Spots)
Areas of the lawn where grass has died, leaving behind a bare patch can quickly become a “big deal”. Bare spots in the lawn become welcoming ‘playgrounds’ for weeds, allowing them to quickly germinate without competition from the lawn. This becomes problematic since weeds quickly become pervasive and once established, eradication is cumbersome. Scatter grass seeds to fill in bare spots to minimize weed populations.
Seasonal Maintenance
In SETX, our winter lawn care should include removing excessive leaves (continually) to keep matting and clumping of leaves from occurring. Both will have a detrimental impact on the dormant lawn. We should not be applying any product or seeding the lawn until spring. Autumn is a good time to remove debris and tidy the lawn in preparation for winter.
Feeding Practice:
Good news- the process is simple & straight forward. There are a few practices to follow to prevent over-fertilizing the lawn, beginning with reading the manufacturers’ application directions, following them, and utilizing the correct tool for the job…a spreader.
· The best time of the day to fertilize the lawn is during morning hours when the lawn is hydrated! The second best time
is in the evening and never fertilize during the midday hours to avoid burning the lawn. · Select a fertilizer for the grass type and soil conditions- follow package instructions for the correct application rate- evenly distribute fertilizer across the lawn using a spreader if using a granular fertilizer, then immediately water the lawn after application.
So long for now fellow gardeners! Let’s go out and grow ourselves a greener, more sustainable world, one plant at a time! Thank you for the questions & kind comments. Please continue sending gardening questions to: jongreene57gmail.com
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