Applying Your Lawn Fertiliser
Wait until the daffs are fully open
- Long Lasting Lawn Fertiliser for Rich or Clay Soils
- Long Lasting Lawn Fertiliser for Light or Sandy Soils
*The above Lawn Fertiliser & Liquid Feed Products are in the Lawnsmith Shop and discussed below:
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When should I fertilise my lawn?
Plan to apply lawn feed sometime in April. It all depends on how the weather is warming up but the best guide would be to wait until you’ve cut the lawn a couple of times first. This might mean in cool Kirkcaldy towards the end of April, in slightly chilly Chester the middle of the month with mild Margate perhaps early April. I quite often time it when the daffodils are fully open.
I suggest you apply your fertiliser straight after mowing the lawn. This means it’s got maximum time to settle into the grass before the next cut.
How much fertiliser do I need?
It’s always best to have a little extra as a bit left over is better than some grass not fertilised. It keeps for many years in a sealed container so it won’t go to waste.
Quite often the bag of fertiliser gives you an application range of say 25 to 35 grams per square metre. This is quite broad and it takes considerable practice to get the exact amount on so staying within the range is perfectly reasonable. The lawn won’t mind so don’t get overly bothered about being perfect with your weights and measurements. You can always tweak the spreader controls to put more or less on next time depending on how the lawn reacts.
Having said that don’t assume more is better; it isn’t. You can over feed grass just like everything else. Overfed grass takes on a bluey green colour and grows leaf often at the expense of good roots. This makes it prone to disease and also causes excessive thatch.
This is one reason for the lack of success of DIY lawn care as it is very important to be accurate when applying combined ‘weed and feed’ products that contain weed killer. Too little means the weeds survive and too much can damage the grass.
As a guide as to whether to be lean (25g) or generous (35g) with the quantity then I suggest you aim to be on the lean side and see how the mowing rate and colour improves as no two lawns are the same. Adjust your quantity upwards for improvements if needed.
Having a pretty close idea of your lawn area IS a good idea. If you’re unsure of your lawn area it’s worth taking a bit of time to measure your lawn and find out by using How to Measure a Lawn. You’ll only need to do it once and you can order and apply all your lawn products accurately from then on.
