5. Reduces incidences of disease in the summer. “These blooms can make the water smell and taste bad and decrease its recreational value. In a pinch, there are some “biorational” pesticides, which have a low level of toxicity to the environment and their untargeted species. Aerate. It is therefore a lot more difficult to do any sort of damage when you feed your lawn organically. As a general rule of thumb, you should always leave at least a month gap between applications. Related: Weed And Feed Review; Final Thoughts. Many retailers promote a four-step lawn fertilizer … This adds a nutritionally balanced feed back into the mix. Doing so keeps them green longerthrough the fall (and maybe even into the winter), and also allows them an early green-up when spring comes around. One way to do this is to leave your grass clippings on your lawn after mowing. Another application of slow-release fertilizer in late October to early November will promote earlier green-up in the spring, without the excessive shoot growth that can be damaging. Their runoff is bad for bodies of water. Organic lawn fertilizer intended for fall use will have a fairly high organic matter content, but often combined with synthetic organic nitrogen sources. A drop spreader releases the fertilizer in a strip as you walk. Another option is the broadcast spreader,which releases the fertilizer in a circular motion,covering more ground, but requiring more setup to ensure its accuracy. In summary, here are the tools you need for fertilizing your lawn: top soil quality effects fertilizer uptake. This is especially true in new developments, where topsoil is either removed or blended with lifeless soil dug up during the construction process. As far as synthetics go, “I don’t need them. As seen in Forbes, CNBC and USA Today, LawnStarter lets makes it easy to schedule service with a local lawn care professional. Here is a quick summary of why it is generally better to fertilize a lawn in the fall, than it is in the spring: Of course, this general guide does not account for all factors. Here is a very informative video of the Lawn Care Nut showing how to evenly spread the fertilizer: How often to fertilize a lawn is also something of a matter of choice. The telltale signs will vary with grass type, but curling of the blades, a dulling of color, or if footprints remain in the grass after you walk on it, it is probably time to water. These fertilizers can also be used on warm season grasses during summer months. We can grow without them.”. Some brands make separate organic fertilizers that are specially formulated for spring, summer, and fall. But overuse can lead to fertilizer burn, particularly with fast-release, water-soluble formulations. When to Apply Organic Lawn Fertilizer? Most of them are good practices no matter how you fertilize. It requires giving up on the idea that a lawn is a monoculture of one single grass species and that your lawn will be completely free of other life. Try to aerate when the soil is moist but not drenched the corer can reach deep into the lawn, and make several passes over the lawn. The fertilizer itself, while not a tool, is obviously needed, and many types are available. “In the organic world, Mother Nature has a plant for everything and a place for every plant,” he says. Feeding a warm-season lawn in late spring to early summer gives it plenty of nutrients for the most active period. But it’s just the notion that there’s no limit to it — and if we get in trouble we’ll fix it — that concerns me.”. By using seasonal fertilizers, and understanding your grass type, it can be beneficial to fertilize at different times of the year. 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