Homeowners, gardeners and landscape architects all know the importance a healthy lawn has on the overall appearance and quality of their spaces. To keep their grasses beautifully colored, a specially formulated fertilizer is specifically fed to their grasses. This provides the plants with necessary nutrients and water storage, which is mandatory for continued growth during the different months.
Grass fertilizers are specifically formulated to help maintain a healthy balance of nutrients and water storage that grasses need to properly develop. These fertilizers are split into three main categories where they work to meet the needs of those particular plants: warm season, cool season and seedling fertilizers. Knowing the type of grasses in one's lawn is important to protect and maintain beautifully designed landscapes.
Blue grasses and rye grasses are examples of cold season grasses that do well in temperate climates. They require fertilization during the cool months, just before and after winter sets in. Mid-spring feedings on these grasses help promote thicker, greener foliage that many gardeners prefer. They also require one to two light feedings of fertilizer in the early fall to keep the production of roots active without encouraging top growth, which can be dangerous when frosts begin.
Some grasses, like Bermuda grass, start developing in late spring and early summer months. During this period, they need fertilization to help increase the production of foliage and root growth. Each species requires a different amount of fertilization and it is important for gardeners to research the specific watering schedules and fertilizer types that their grasses require before planting. Although warm grasses go dormant during the winter months, lightly feeding these plants once a month while dormant will often allow the warm grasses to prepare for spring warm-up.
Due to the climate of the areas closer to the equator, some lawns are able to stay green all year. This means that the grasses will also require regular feeding throughout the entire year to maintain optimum health and color.
Summer can be a difficult time for gardeners who are unsure about feeding their warm season grasses. Time-release fertilizers help in the management of these grasses and won't damage or burn the grass as long as enough water is available. Before fertilizing, be sure to acknowledge that more maintenance is required to control diseases and the growth of grasses the more often they are fed.
Never fertilize cool grasses during the summer.
Seedlings require a different fertilizer to grow properly. They need high amounts of macronutrients, phosphorus and potassium to properly develop and become rooted. Starter fertilizers need to be worked into the soil to give seedlings a healthy beginning. It is important that gardeners don't use weed fertilizers, which contain chemicals that can kill new grasses before they can establish them within new soils.