When Is a Good Time to Use Fertilizer on your Chappaqua or Westchester County, NY Lawn?
A lawn is often a main element of front yard curb appeal and backyard usability. Even after installing a wonderful lawn, maintaining it can be an ongoing task that requires time, attention, expertise, and physical labor. While watering is an essential task for any lawn, fertilizing can be just as important for ensuring its health and longevity. Fertilizers should always be carefully selected and used, or you risk unintentionally damaging the lawn. When is a good time to use fertilizer on your Chappaqua or Westchester County, NY lawn? Read on to find out.
Related: How Fertilization Can Jumpstart Your Landscape for Spring In Fishkill, NY and Poughquag, NY
Late Winter Into Early Spring
Fertilizer is a resource that you don’t want to waste. As the snow finally melts, your entire landscape seems to buzz back into life. The lawn has laid dormant throughout the winter and is ready to start growing rapidly, and it needs the right balance of nutrients to grow robust roots and healthy leaves. Fertilizer should be applied consistently during this time and in a strategic manner. Some patches of your lawn might not have survived winter as well as others, such as those where soil is compacted. Paying special attention to these fragile areas when applying fertilizer in the spring will encourage even growth and a more uniform appearance. Spring fertilizing sets a course for the entire year.
However…before applying fertilizer, it’s important to test the soil to determine existing nutrient levels and prepare the soil with aeration and dethatching to ensure that the fertilizer actually reaches the roots.
And if the lawn is struggling, it’s easy to get over-enthusiastic and apply too much fertilizer. Over-application of fertilizer can cause more harm than good.
Fertilizer is a nitrogen-heavy compound that should be applied in a slow-release format that doesn’t overwhelm the grass plants with an overabundance of nutrients. In its concentrated state, fertilizer can create chemical burns on blades of grass, greatly setting back its growth. Any application of fertilizer should be followed as directed by thorough, gentle watering that will help the fertilizer seep into the ground where it can be absorbed by the roots.
Summer
With the summer comes blistering heat and often, periods of drought. By this time the root systems should be well-established thanks to proper spring fertilization and watering. Applying fertilizer in summer is generally not necessary IF springtime lawn care has been consistent.
Autumn Into Winter
In the fall, it’s time to reassess and look for spots that need maintenance or replacement. While you can always feel proud of the areas that triumphed, it’s important to treat the entire lawn as one plant that needs your attention.
As the lawn biologically prepares for the winter, it will concentrate resources to the root systems to prepare for dormancy. Application of a slow-releasing fertilizer will help support your lawn through the winter. This practice pays off directly into the beauty and usability of your property.
Letting the Professionals Handle It
Fertilization should be done with great care. In high enough amounts it can damage a lawn or, even worse, act as a potent poison. It should always be carefully applied in specific times during the growth cycles of a lawn. Certain fertilizers are combined with weed killers, which makes them unsuitable on other plants for use outside of lawns. For best results, call a landscaping company that provides lawn care and set up a comprehensive lawn care program. That way, you’ll never worry about your lawn’s health.