For most gardeners, regular mowing and removing unwanted debris plays a significant role in maintaining a desirable lawn appearance.
However, more input is required on your part than merely mowing your lawn, and one sure way to achieve a well-maintained lawn is by applying fertilizer.
The amount of fertilizer you will use on your lawn will be determined by three factors; the quality of fertilizer, amount to use, and the prevailing season. In this post, we have shared detailed tips on how much fertilizer to use on lawn.
So, let’s get started.
Contents
- 3 Steps to Determine How Much Fertilizer to Use on Lawn
- Step 1. Calculate the area of the lawn
- Step 2. Determine how much Nitrogen is in the fertilizer
- Step 3. Determining the amount of fertilizer you need
- How to measure lawn for fertilizer
- How often to fertilize a lawn
- Best lawn fertilizer ratio
- How Much Fertilizer to Use on Lawn (FAQs)
- How long does it take for fertilizer to turn grass green?
- What do you do if you burn your lawn with fertilizer?
- How much should I water my lawn after fertilizing?
- Should I fertilize my lawn before or after mowing?
- Author
3 Steps to Determine How Much Fertilizer to Use on Lawn
Step 1. Calculate the area of the lawn
The area (size) of your lawn will play a key role in determining the amount of fertilizer to use. It’s essential to determine the lawn’s size; the best way to determine the area of your lawn is by multiplying the length and width of the lawn is square or rectangular shaped.
Apply simple geometry to calculate the area of your lawn if it is rectangular shaped. In this case, take the height and multiply it by half the base of the lawn to get the area. You can obtain the area of a circle by factoring in the formulae; pi multiplied by the radius of the circle squared.
For other lawn shapes whose area cannot be directly computed using a formula, it would help subdivide the lawn into recognizable district shapes for easy calculation.
Step 2. Determine how much Nitrogen is in the fertilizer
After determining the lawn area, you should ascertain the Nitrogen composition in your fertilizer and the amount needed for every 1000 sq. feet.
This step should not be difficult because you can quickly point out the percentage composition of Nitrogen in a given bag by checking the Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium formulation (NPK) formulation on the bag containing the fertilizer.
Note that most lawn fertilizers have a high composition of Nitrogen. A label reading as 20-5-10 has 20 percent N, so 100 lb. of that fertilizer contains 20 lb. of N.
Step 3. Determining the amount of fertilizer you need
To determine the quantity of fertilizer you need, you will need to multiply the total square feet of your lawn obtained in step 1 above by the amount of fertilizer needed to achieve the recommended Nitrogen, as seen in step 2 above.
The standard recommendation for your lawn is two lb. of N per 1000 sq. ft.
Also: Growing grass over exposed tree roots
How to measure lawn for fertilizer
The appropriate way to measure your lawn is by considering the shape of your lawn. You will only be able to determine the amount of fertilizer you need for your lawn by computing the area covered by grass in sq. feet.
It would help apply geometrical formulas to determine the area of your lawn, as can be seen in step 1 above. Check out this manual fertilizer density scale.
How often to fertilize a lawn
The recommended frequency for fertilizing your lawn can be anywhere between 5-6 times per year. It would be better to fertilize your grass when its growth rate is at its peak.
However, it would help consider other factors such as the prevailing climatic conditions and the season for better results.
Where to dispose of old fertilizer
Best lawn fertilizer ratio
The standard ratio recommended when fertilizing your lawn is 3-1-2; however, this is not constant because you would need to determine the number of existing soil nutrients to avoid over-fertilizing problems or one fertilizing.
Most fertilizers package their products with a predetermined ratio, so all you need is to apply.
How Much Fertilizer to Use on Lawn (FAQs)
How long does it take for fertilizer to turn grass green?
The effect of fertilizer on grass takes anywhere between one and five days. If you use the best quality fertilizer, you should see results within a day or two.
The effect is a kin to applying excess fertilizer on grass; the type of fertilizer used will also influence the duration taken to realize any changes on grass.
What do you do if you burn your lawn with fertilizer?
Water your lawn with a sufficient amount of water as soon as you spot patches on your grass.
The first sign of excess fertilizer application on grass is the appearance of yellow and brown patches on the grass. This effect can be undone by watering the lawn adequately before the damage becomes permanent.
Chances of your grass experiencing sun damage are high during this phase, so the best time to water the lawn is in the early morning and the evening.
Allow the affected area a few, days and if they are no significant change, uproot the affected patches to allow for new grass growth.
How much should I water my lawn after fertilizing?
The amount of water available beneath the ground on your lawn is directly proportional to the amount of available fertilizer, so the more you water your lawn, the more you must be required to fertilize your lawn.
Be sure to keep a balance between the amount of fertilizer needed and water to achieve consistent growth within your lawn.
You can capitalize on mechanized watering systems, such as the use of a sprinkler to ensure that your lawn is evenly watered. Again, the type of fertilizer used will determine the frequency of watering on the lawn.
Should I fertilize my lawn before or after mowing?
Mowing and raking before fertilizing allow you to get rid of unwanted debris; plus, it will allow faster fertilizer absorption to the ground.
Note that aerating your soil before fertilizing can also help since it lowers its time to absorb the fertilizer.
Fertilizer accelerates the growth of grass and makes it healthier. However, if not done correctly, applying fertilizer to your grass can cause irreversible damages.
So it is better to know how much fertilizer to use on a lawn to achieve the desired growth on your lawn.
The size of the lawn, nitrogen content, and the amount of fertilizer you need play an essential part in determining the amount of fertilizer you need to use o your lawn.
