A beautiful dense green lawn is not only an aristocratic decoration of a personal plot, but also the pride of the owners. And only the owners of such a wonderful grass lawn know that it needs careful and constant care. In addition to watering and mowing, it is very important to properly apply lawn fertilizer to the soil. It is this component of the necessary measures that gives the grass a beautiful color and helps to easily endure wintering.

Features of feeding the lawn by seasons

The lawn is a fast growing, but not flowering and fruiting plant. For the development of green mass, especially after shearing or during the growing season, it requires a considerable amount of nutrients that the plants take from the soil. Therefore, even the richest land is emptied over time, and a caring owner needs to constantly fertilize it. Moreover, in each season, the grass requires a different mineral composition: in the spring time of awakening after winter, plants need nitrogen to form new greenery, and in August and autumn, phosphorus and potassium, which help the grass to prepare for the cold.

Notable advantages from using fertilizers:

  • The grass is actively growing.
  • The root system is dense and soddy.
  • The lawn is always bright green.
  • The lawn tolerates winter well and quickly departs after it.
  • Plants do not suffer from crushing and trampling, they quickly recover.

Fertilizer for the lawn

How to fertilize a lawn is an individual choice for everyone. Some use ready-made complex mixtures. Other owners are categorically against chemicals and prefer to use organic matter on their site. It is possible to feed the lawn grass with natural fertilizers, but you just need to do it skillfully. It has a much longer effect on plants, moreover, it saturates not only them with nutrients, but also the soil.

But this method has a drawback: a beginner can easily burn lawn grass if he does not fertilize it correctly, for example, with manure. In addition, during decomposition, manure emits a large amount of destructive substances; it can only be used in a diluted, diluted form.

Natural fertilizers

If the owner of a lawn lawn has no experience in gardening, is limited in time and does not know how to fertilize the lawn, then complex mineral compositions are suitable for him. They are:

  • granular;
  • liquid;
  • powdery.

Using them is much easier, you just need to follow the instructions. Thanks to them, the grass will be thick and bright, perfectly tolerating even the most severe Siberian frosts.

Essential ingredients for replenishing the lawn

For the lawn, ordinary agricultural fertilizers are not suitable, which are used to feed vegetables and fruitful crops. They contain a lot of nitrates, which are useless for green grass. Therefore, scientists have created special feeds, in which the main share falls on those minerals that are necessary for these plants: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

Important! If there are bald spots on the lawn, the grass has a dull color and grows slowly, then it lacks nitrogen.If the lawn is sluggish and breaks underfoot, phosphate dressing is necessary. Sunburn on the lawn indicates a potassium deficiency.

Nitrogen fertilizers

Grass needs nitrogen for fast growth and green color. In May - July, plants consume a lot of it, so the lawn is fed with nitrogen in the summer after every second mowing. In the summer, the lawn is mowed once every 7-10 days, therefore, fertilizers are applied once every 14-20 days, which is quite enough to maintain the green color of the lawn.

Nitrogen fertilizers

Fertilizers containing nitrogen:

  • ammophoska;
  • nitroammophoska;
  • urea;
  • ammonium nitrate, etc.

Phosphate fertilizers

The phosphorus contained in these fertilizers is necessary for plants for the proper development of the root system and side shoots. Developed roots serve to absorb moisture and nutrients more quickly, and their dense weave, called sod, prevents weeds from germinating. In addition, good, strong roots help plants to overwinter and recover quickly in the spring.

Phosphate fertilizers

Phosphorus is found in formula superphosphate, single and double.

Essential nutritional and strengthening elements for a green lawn

In addition to nitrogen and phosphorus, the lawn needs potassium. First of all, it makes plants healthy, develops their protection against external adverse factors.

For the proper development of lawn grass, minerals such as:

  • copper;
  • manganese;
  • iron;
  • silicon;
  • sulfur;
  • zinc.

All nutrients are contained in complex mineral fertilizers.

Complex mineral fertilizers

Liquid fertilizers

For a quick effect on the lawn, liquid fertilizer solutions are used. They are sprayed with a watering can or a special spray. These concentrates are very popular among gardeners because they are quickly absorbed by plants, the result is noticeable after a few days. In addition, the spraying of liquid fertilizers is the most even, which means there is no risk of damaging some bushes with an excess of fertilizing. The downside is the fact that liquid nutrient solution is required several times more than granular fertilizer for the same area.

The most popular concentrated liquid lawn fertilizers are:

  • Bona Forte;
  • MicroPlus;
  • Fertika lawn Spring-Summer.

Top dressing of the lawn in spring

After winter, the lawn requires strength to regenerate and grow fresh green mass. Therefore, in the spring, fertilizers are introduced with the maximum permissible nitrogen content, as well as a small amount of phosphorus, potassium, and other useful minerals.

Fertilizers with the maximum permissible nitrogen content

The most common spring dressing for lawn among gardeners is nitroammofoska. These are blue granules containing all the necessary components for grass growth. It is usually scattered at the rate: 30-40 grams per 1 square meter of lawn.

It is generally accepted that the first spring feeding should be done at above-zero temperatures, when the snow has just melted. But this option is only suitable if bald spots are visible on the lawn and additional sowing of a new one is planned. This method is good because the soil is moistened after snow, which means that fertilizers are quickly absorbed into the root system. If granules are used, then it is necessary to distribute them so that the grains are located directly near the roots. This situation will not harm the green shoots, saturating the plant with the necessary nutrients as much as possible.

If the lawn has not thinned out after winter, and the grass grows evenly over the entire area, then it is advisable to wait for the first mowing, and only then apply fertilizer. After all, feeding is recommended the next day after the haircut.After applying the granular fertilizer, it is best to water the lawn so that the nutrients are absorbed into the roots and leaves.

Additional Information! After feeding with nitrogen-containing complexes, an organic fertilizer such as urea is suitable as a supplement. Carbamide (its other name) will saturate the soil with nitrogen, which will be a good support for the grass during the summer.

Fertilizing the lawn in summer

If you figure out how to feed the lawn grass in the summer, then this process can be divided into several stages. In June-July, the grass continues to grow, so it needs nitrogen fertilizers. But if you think about how to feed the lawn in August, then at this time it is time to introduce phosphorus into the soil - with this mineral the roots of plants will develop, which means they will prepare for winter.

Top dressing of the lawn in August takes place with the help of simple or double superphosphate. Double contains a large portion of phosphorus and is intended for grass that has a sluggish and withered appearance. If you start to apply this fertilizer for the lawn in August, then the plants will have time to prepare for the winter period, develop good roots, and also give new shoots.

In rainy summer weather, it is necessary to feed with potassium salt 3-4 times. It is sprinkled on the lawn at the rate of 30 grams of salt per 1 square meter of territory.

Top dressing with potassium salt

But if the summer turned out to be dry, two dressings are enough. First, the lawn is watered abundantly. Further, the salt must be sprinkled evenly in the proportion given above. After the procedure, be sure to water the lawn with a sprinkler. The next day, it is recommended to repeat abundant watering. Potassium salt dissolves very poorly and is absorbed into the soil, so it requires increased substrate moisture in order for the salt to dissolve as quickly as possible and be absorbed by the roots.

Lawn care in autumn

Autumn is the time to prepare for the coming cold weather. If caring gardeners are harvesting crops, then it is time for lawn owners to take care of overwintering it. The state of the lawn in the spring depends on the responsibility with which the owner will react to this period.
Plants require strong turf to thrive in cold weather. Therefore, in September it is worth feeding the lawn with phosphate fertilizer. The selected complex composition should correspond to the percentage:

  • Nitrogen - 10%;
  • Phosphorus - 30%;
  • Potassium - 20%.

Important! In pre-winter preparation, potassium is no less important than phosphorus, because it contributes to the development of frost resistance in plants, and also prevents the development of many diseases.

It is recommended to fertilize in autumn three days after mowing. It is best to choose cloudy, calm weather. It is possible to apply fertilizers for the lawn in autumn in central Russia until mid-October.

Useful Tips

  • When using chemical complex mineral fertilizers, be sure to wear gloves to avoid burns to your hands.
  • It is best to fertilize the lawn the day after mowing before the rain. Thus, together with rain moisture, nutrients are evenly absorbed into the substrate, saturating all the plants on the lawn.
  • Granular fertilizers are first spread along and then across the lawn. Do not allow the accumulation of granules in one area - this will lead to chemical burns of several plants.
  • The best time to feed is early in the morning or late in the evening to avoid direct sunlight.
  • After fertilizing for two days, children and pets should not be allowed to the lawn. The chemicals on the grass can cause severe poisoning.

    Children on the lawn

  • In the middle of summer, it is worth applying fertilizers with prolonged exposure, thereby protecting yourself from unnecessary worries in August.
  • It is very dangerous to overfeed the lawn: an excess of nutrients cannot be corrected, the plants will inevitably die.
  • If organic fertilizers are used, then it is important to carefully examine their dry component: there should not be seeds among the grasses, otherwise they can grow in the middle of the lawn in the form of weeds.
  • Organic fertilizers are never applied fresh: they must be infused in water for ten days, after which the concentrate is again diluted with water and only then the plants are fertilized.

Lawn fertilizer is a constant part of your daily care and is very important. Only the right feeding can turn an ordinary lawn lawn into a thick emerald carpet, which will delight the eyes of others with its magnificent view.

When choosing fertilizer for your lawn in summer or autumn, it is important to choose the right composition for the season, thereby providing the grass with the necessary nutrients during this period. This is what is most important in achieving a beautiful manicured lawn on a personal plot.