How to Choose the Best Fertilizer for Your Lawn?

Posted by Frank Steve on July 22nd, 2019

A green and healthy lawn is a joy to go barefoot and that it complements the landscape. The best lawn fertilizer will promote a healthy lawn and minimize the problems of weeds and pests with a thick mat that resists these problems. There are many types of lawn fertilizers on the market or you can use local methods to improve the vigor of your lawn. The choice of the right foods for the lawn starts with the understanding of the number of lawn fertilizers and with the knowledge of their type of soil and grass.

Oxygen, hydrogen and carbon are the three elements necessary for the growth of the turf but the plants also need other components. However, plants do not need complex compounds, such as vitamins or amino acids, essential in human nutrition, because they synthesize all they need. They only require a dozen chemical elements, which must be presented in a form that the plant can absorb. Choosing a good fertilizer for your plants is not easy when you have no idea what characteristics to look for, so today we want to tell you how to choose a fertilizer to make your garden better.

What to know about fertilizers?

Lawn maintenance is more than cutting, mowing and aerating. The grass is a heavy eater and requires regular moisture to look good. All plants benefit from basic macronutrients and micronutrients. Lawn, in particular, needs additional macronutrients that can come from air and water but are used in such quantity that supplementary applications are beneficial. These main nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and are symbolized in grass foods as N-P-K. A soil test is a great way to decide which of these proportions is needed in the highest amount.

Among the necessary nutrients, air and water provide hydrogen, oxygen and carbon in inexhaustible amounts. Almost all soils contain an abundance of sulfur, calcium, iron and other essential nutrients. Calcium is usually added to the soil, but its primary function is to reduce acidity, not to act as fertilizer in the strict sense. Nitrogen is present in the atmosphere in huge quantities, but plants cannot use it in this way; certain bacteria provide the plants with the necessary nitrogen, which they take from the air and transform it through a series of reactions called "nitrogen fixation". The three elements that must contain almost all fertilizers are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Sometimes, small amounts of some others must be added to these, including boron, copper, and manganese.

How to choose a fertilizer?

When choosing a fertilizer you have to take into account what are the nutrients that your plants need and that are not available in the environment. The best health and vitality of your plants and soil depends on the use of good fertilizer for gardening. The nutrients needed to fertilize soils and plants are divided into three categories:

• Macronutrients: These are the main nutrients that plants need for better resistance and are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

• Secondary nutrients: These are necessary elements but in smaller amounts, such as calcium and magnesium, which are ideal for the growth of plants.

• Micronutrients: To complete the list of nutrients to fertilize plants, we find boron, chlorine, cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel and zinc.

Types of fertilizers:

There are time release fertilizers that are beneficial in feeding the lawn over many months and prevent the gardener from having to remember to feed again in a certain time. The gradual release also allows the roots of plants to harvest the nutrients they need slowly, preventing these necessary elements from leaking to the ground. This type of food is easy to apply and minimizes the possibility of burning the lawn. There are two types, liquid fertilizers that are easily absorbed by the earth and require a more constant application, between two and three weeks.

• Granular fertilizers can be prolonged or slow release. Either way, they are popular because of the ease of application.
• Liquid or water-soluble fertilizers are spread using a hose and provide a quick and effective way to quickly introduce nutrients to the roots of the lawn.

Why Is It Necessary To Fertilize?

Not all soils provide the necessary nutrients to the lawn and those that do, with the passage of time the reserves of nutrients are decreasing. Natural grass is a great consumer of energy and very sensitive to the lack of nutrients. The fertilizers are a fundamental part for the development of the lawn together with good irrigation and a suitable cut. The reasons why it is necessary to fertilize are:

• There are very sandy soils, with very few nutrients and that lose them by the passage of water (washing).

• The continuous mowing to which it is subjected to the lawn makes necessary a correct contribution of nutrients help it recover.

• It helps you recover from trampling and damage caused by diseases, insects and fungi. It strengthens and prevents against the attack of these.

• Stimulates the growth of leaves and roots.

• Replenish the loss of nutrients caused by filtration, volatilization, and removal of cut grass and by the consumption made by the lawn itself.

• It helps to reduce and control weeds.

• A lawn with low nitrogen content develops chlorosis (yellowish color), and it achieves little plant mass and low density.

To obtain a green, dense, healthy and weed-free natural grass lawn you will have to know the nutritional needs of your lawn and apply for a correct fertilization program. For this, you must determine what variety of grass you have, what properties the soil has and when and how fertilizer should be applied. As in irrigation and mowing, proper fertilization is vital to maintain a healthy natural lawn. So an excessive use of fertilizers or an incorrect application can produce the opposite effects to those desired. Pay special attention to the dosage, fertilization season and the handling advice and standards established by the supplier or manufacturer.

Other factors to choose which type of lawn fertilizer to use are the warm or cold season lawn varieties, the pH of the soil, if you prefer organic or synthetic formulas and the opportune time to feed your lawn in your area. You can find the best lawn fertilizer company that offers optimum and customized lawn fertilizer services for your lawn to help you save time and bucks along the way.