Best Lawn Food for Summer
In summer you can use a granular or liquid fertiliser. However, the conditions for application are very important during the warmer and drier summer months.
Any fertiliser is better than no fertiliser as this is the time when the lawn is mown, used and damaged the most, so nutrients are required to enable the grass to repair and recover from the activity. It also looks a whole lot better as well!
Good Soil Moisture is Needed
To utilise the fertiliser the grass plant must be healthy and not stressed by a shortage of water. This then enables the grass to take up granular feed through the roots via the soil or directly through the leaves if being applied as a liquid. In combination with the sun the grass will start growing and greening, both of which require more moisture so do ensure good moisture when feeding in the summer. If the soil is dry do not feed. If the grass is dry but the soil has moisture you can feed.
Do I need to Water In?
This shouldn’t be needed if using Lawnsmith Granular or Soluble feeds if there is adequate soil moisture. The problems starts when you use weed and feed or 4 in 1 products that are fine granular or powdery products. These need watering in as they can be quite aggressive and damage the lawn in sunny or slightly dry conditions. See When to Water my Lawn after Fertilising
Granular Food for 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 some options below.
Granular Food for 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 some options below.
Soluble Food for all Lawns
Consider a granular feed in spring, summer and autumn as main meals as you or I would have breakfast, lunch and dinner. Soluble or liquid feeding is the snack you might have between meals. Therefore, the best use of a liquid feed is either as a top-up between feeds from late spring to early autumn or as summer feed applied every 4 to 6 weeks throughout the summer. Either of these methods offer a lot of flexibility because you can hold off from feeding if conditions become dry.
Summer Fertiliser that doesn't need Watering In
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
Knowing what to use to feed your grass in spring can make a big difference to your lawn whilst saving you time and money.
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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.