Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Best time to fertilize your lawn
Although most plants are shutting down right now, your lawn continues to actively grow, if it’s had water!
Fall is the time when lawn grasses use their energy to spread and develop deeper root systems instead of above ground blades. The best time to fertilize your lawn is, generally, now to late October.
I will share how to do this now, but remind you that many of us are still in a drought and fertilizer COULD be too much. If you’re lawn is dormant, do NOT fertilize this year. If it’s green, then go ahead.
Using a slow release nitrogen fertilizer, the actively growing plants will use some of the nutrients now and save the unused nitrogen in the frozen soil over the winter. As soon as the ground thaws, the grass starts to grow. NOTE: I just found that the information regarding winterizing lawn fertilizer has been changed! SO, my radio show says DON’T use it BUT, I’ve since learned you can IF your lawn has been cared for during the drought.
Always follow directions on the package and consider spot treating rather than blanketing your entire lawn with more chemical. Rather than raking those leaves, mow ‘em over and over and over and leave ‘em on the lawn for extra nitrogen.
You can also put them in your compost pile, which is my intent.
