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The Best Fertilizers for Greening Grass

Each lawn is a unique environment with its own individual nutritional needs. The best way to determine exactly what fertilizer is best suited for your lawn and grass type is to obtain a soil analysis from a professional lab. Do-it-yourself kits can tell you whether your grass and lawn are deficient in any of the important nutrients. In the absence of a lab analysis, some generalizations can be made about keeping lawns green and lush with fertilizers.

  1. Complete Vs. Incomplete Fertilizers

    • The numbers on fertilizer display the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.

      Lawn fertilizers containing some amount of the three essential nutrients--nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (NPK)--are considered complete fertilizers. Two applications of complete fertilizers a year are recommended for most lawns to keep them green and healthy. Incomplete fertilizers lack one or more of the essential nutrients and may not contain other needed micronutrients. These are generally best for supplemental applications. A well-rounded fertilizing regimen consists of two or three applications of incomplete fertilizers.

    Liquid Vs. Granular Lawn Fertilizer

    • Liquid fertilizers can be ready-to-use or in concentrated forms.

      The choice to use liquid or granular fertilizer is a matter of personal preference, as it doesn't really matter. Granular fertilizers are more common and generally more cost-effective. They need to be applied in either a drop or rotary spreader. Liquid fertilizers are generally ready to use but more costly. Whichever method is employed, a thorough watering is required aftr application to rinse off the blades of grass and start activating the fertilizers.

    Slow-Release Vs. Fast-Release Lawn Fertilizers

    • Phosphorous is being phased out of many fertilizers as it often ends up in groundwater.

      Fast-release lawn fertilizers contain nutrients that are immediately available to lawns. For lawns in need of a quick green-up, these are the best types. Any nutrients not immediately used by the turf will be leached out and lost, possibly ending up in nearby waterways. Slow-release lawn fertilizers can be either organic or synthetic and contain nutrients that dissolve slowly over time, delivering the nutrients in a more measured way. A fertilizer that contains both types is usually best for most established lawns.

    Organic Vs. Synthetic Lawn Fertilizers

    • Organic fertilizers go to work via microbial activity in the soil.

      Tthe roots of your grass care not whether the nutrition they are given was derived from natural or synthetic sources. Organic fertilizers tend to be more expensive, have a lower concentration of nutrients and are generally slow-release varieties. Synthetic lawn fertilizers, on the other hand, are much more common and widely available. They can be fast- or slow-release fertilizers.

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Growing Grass
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