How Do I Make My Lawn Greener?
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It is spring, the flowers are in bloom and, darn it, the lawn needs cutting. Some lawns will look better than others, and some will not look good at all. Proper lawn care can be a year round chore, but here are a few hints and tips about making it a little easier, in the spring at least.
If you want your lawn to grow well, you’ll need to fertilize it. But if you don’t fertilize correctly, you can do more harm than good. That’s because lawn fertilizers are high in nitrogen, which can burn the grass if applied improperly.
The three numbers (e.g., 10-10-10 or 20-5-10) on the front of any balanced fertilizer package stand for the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium in the mix — always in that order. Nitrogen is needed for green leafy top growth, but if you use more than you need or apply it on a hot summer day without watering it in, the lawn may be damaged.
To apply the proper amount of fertilizer to a turf area, use a broadcast or drop spreader. If you tend to overlap when using a broadcast spreader, your lawn will acquire a green striped effect. If that’s the case, consider a drop spreader, which makes it much easier to see where you’ve already applied fertilizer.
Several types of fertilizers are available for lawns. Starter fertilizer is designed for new lawns and has a little less nitrogen and some phosphorous to get the roots off to a good start. Some products are pure turf-grass fertilizers; others incorporate broadleaf weed killer. If you have only a small area to fertilize, you can mix dry fertilizer with water and apply the solution with a sprayer. This method of fertilizing is called foliar feeding.
Always wash out the sprayer over turf or soil — never over concrete. The fertilizer or herbicide may run off the concrete area and into storm drains, which lead directly to creeks, bays, and rivers.
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[tags]fertilizer, lawn, garden, turf, soil[/tags]
One Comment
jonathan roberts
March 4th, 2009
at 2:33pm
I have ‘burned’ my lawn in the past. I have had the recently lovely ‘chore’ of the first cut. and the grass seems to be fine apart from the moss that we have never had, basicly, slopping garden, the length of which is about 80ft, the moss mostly at the bottom of the garden……..please tell me how do I treat it properly. When i met my wife it was a lawn with a concrete path in the middle. I have spent almost £10,000 to get it perfect, and to have it ruined by moss? is heartbreaking.
Please help if you can?
I will send photos of the garden at it’s best or after you help
Joer.