Best Lawn Food for Spring
The grass won’t use the fertiliser if it can’t grow due to low temperature, lack of moisture or air around the roots. If there is adequate water and air at the roots then growth will speed up as temperature rises through the spring.
Because fertiliser, water and air need to be in balance, just like a balanced diet for you or me, too little of one causes growth, health and stress issues for the plant. You can therefore waste a lot of money on adding too much fertiliser when perhaps your lawn needed aerating or watering and just a normal high quality feed.
When feeding in the spring your goal is to provide enough nutrients so the grass can:
- Recover from winter stresses
- Develop deeper roots so the grass can acquire water deeper in the soil as the soil and weather dries during summer
- Grow leaves which are the solar power plant of the grass
- Control moisture loss during drier weather
- Replace leaves lost when mowing
- Build disease resistance
- Enable the grass to recover and repair from use
- And perhaps the best reason of all ‘To make it look good’
Slow Release Granular Lawn Fertilisers for Spring
Hopefully you appreciate how important that first feed of year is. For all this to happen you ideally need a broad range of nutrients in your fertiliser which should feed slowly and consistently for at least 2 and preferably 3 months. For less labour and to cover the summer feed you could use our Extra-Long fertiliser that will continue to feed for up to 6 months.
Your feed needs to be a granular type which dissolves into the soil. This helps the roots grow deeper as they search for the food that has dissolved and been washed down into the soil by rain or watering.
Liquid Feeds for the Grass in Spring
These are generally unsuitable until about May for the following reasons:
- The grass is quite hungry in spring and has more demand than you can supply with a liquid feed
- Liquid feeds are best taken in through the leaf and due to cool spring temperatures this is less effective
- The choice of nutrients is limited so the grass may not be getting a good balanced diet
Feeding Lawns on Clay Soils
Clay soils are slightly richer in nutrients than sandy soils and will also retain many nutrients longer. This means you don’t need such a strong feed or a feed that contains phosphate in the spring. This saves money!
Nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) are very important as are some nutrients that are more like vitamins such as magnesium (Mg) and seaweed which improve colour and health. See the options below which are available in our shop.
Feeding Lawns on Loam, Sandy or Chalk Soils
These soils tend to hold air well but water and nutrients less well. Generally sandy soils will hold fewer nutrients over the long term so you need to put them in. This also means food for sandy soil is slightly stronger than those for clay soils.
As well as the nutrients we find in fertiliser for clay soils above you now also need phosphate (P). This component helps roots develop which is not held in sufficient quantities in sandy soils and is very important for getting the roots down into the water that drains deep in sandy, loam and chalk based soils. See the options below which are available in our shop.
Great Food for putting some Spring in your Lawn
How to Spread your Spring Feed
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Using the versatile shoulder or bag spreader with the overlap method is the quickest way to spread fertiliser and grass seed on lawns up to half an acre.
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Using the revolutionary Shoulder Spreader like a pro takes some practice but here are some advanced tips and tricks using the 'overlap' method described in the animation.
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A simple animation showing how to use a shoulder, rotary or broadcast spreader to spread fertiliser on a lawn using the double pass or overlap method.
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If you need to work out settings for new fertiliser products or check old settings for your spreader then this method is quick, simple and accurate.
More Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
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Follow a few simple rules to apply your lawn fertiliser and get the best results from your grass whether it's a spring, summer or an autumn feed
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For convenience you can fertilise the seeded lawn area on the day of sowing however, due to changing weather patterns this may not always be best.
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
You can save time and money and get a better result if you use the correct fertiliser for your lawn. Adjust for these and your grass is 90% of the way there.
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The soil in your lawn controls the amount of fertiliser, air and water to the grass roots, therefore sandy and poor soils should be fed more than clay soils
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
In summer you can use a granular or liquid fertiliser. However, the conditions for application are very important during the warmer and dryer summer months.
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
Autumn fertiliser needs to be able to support the grass nutritionally, give maximum colour to make use of lower autumn light levels and promote deeper roots.
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
There is plenty of root growth in winter as the lawn soil at root depth is invariably warmer than the air. Keeping the roots fed means a healthy resilient lawn.
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
Clay soil tends to be heavy and dense, with poor drainage and good nutrient retention. Your lawn feed should take this into consideration.
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
Sandy soil tends to drain quickly and lacks essential nutrients, so the best lawn fertilizer should provide a generous level of prime nutrients to compensate.
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Seaweed promotes health, goodness and biological activity within the grass and the soil producing a greener, stronger and more disease resistant lawn.
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
Using a proven mix of nutrients you can rapidly enhance the green in your lawn in less than a day. Ideal for application between seasonal feeds or as a standalone fast green-up before an event.
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
Liquid feeding of the lawn is suitable from late spring to early autumn during the main growth period in warmer weather.
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
Here are two simple ways to use weed killer and soluble or granular lawn fertiliser that is easy for you, safe for the grass and deadly for the weeds.
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
When spreading fertiliser on the lawn you need to do two simple things otherwise you'll damage the grass: spread the correct amount and put it on evenly.
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
There is only one way to spread fertiliser on your grass safely and evenly and that is with a rotary or broadcast spreader; not by hand or with a drop spreader
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
Watering-in a fertiliser treatment is necessary for fine powdery products such as weed and feed so try using a fertiliser that doesn’t need watering in!
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
There are three factors that control how long fertiliser takes to work. The availability of moisture, the temperature and the type of fertiliser.
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
Lawn fertiliser may not completely dissolve in to the grass for a variety of reasons. Most of them are good and better for a healthy lawn!
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
Use a granular or pelleted feed without weed killer or iron that is slow-release. These settle deep into the grass pretty much out of reach of dogs and cats.
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
Aftercut is very similar to ‘weed and feed’. There are those with weed killer and those without. Do not use the one with weed killer on a regular basis.
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
'Weed and feed' is a clever lawn care idea. The problem is, for most people it doesn't work leaving stripes, burnt grass and even bigger weeds
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Lawn Food Do's and Don'ts
The shelf life of fertilizers can vary widely based on type of fertilizer, storage conditions, and packaging. Here's a guideline for common types of fertilisers.