Is Lawn Fertilizer for Flowers?

Soil Quality

• Have your soil tested before applying any fertilizers. Check with your local extension office for information on soil testing. The test results tell you which nutrients your soil is lacking, allowing you to better choose the proper fertilizer.

Nutrients

• Fertilizers supply nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K). The three numbers on the fertilizer package tell you what percentage it has of each, in the order N-P-K, and the ratio. If a fertilizer is marked as "10-10-10," it has 10-percent of each nutrient and has a ratio of 1:1:1.

Lawns Versus Flowers

• Too much nitrogen will encourage green, leafy growth, not flowers. Phosphorous encourages flower development. For this reason, flower fertilizers generally have less nitrogen than phosphorous, or the same amount. Lawns prefer nitrogen.

Bottom Line

• Too much or too little of a certain nutrient can hurt your flowers rather than help them. There are many flower-specific fertilizers on the market, as well as lawn fertilizers.