Your lawn is a living thing, and like all living things, it feeds. Your grass consumes nutrients from the soil for growth, coloration, and root strength. However, these nutrients are both finite and water soluble. As your lawn continues to grow throughout the seasons, it will gradually degrade in quality. Colors will fade, brown spots will form from poor root structure, and it will be harder to maintain. This is the key of seasonal lawn fertilization: to reintroduce these nutrients to the soil so your lawn can thrive.

Finding Out What Your Lawn is Missing

So, how do you tell if your lawn is in need of critical nutrients? For this, it’s important to test soil composition to learn where your grass stands. Regardless if your lawn is brand new or decades old, it’s important to test the soil, usually once a year. You can purchase soil test kits at most hardware stores, or use a local landscaping contractor to test them. Often you can get both testing and fertilization as part of a landscape maintenance package.

The Types of Nutrients in Fertilizer

So, what are these nutrients your lawn needs?

• Nitrogen: This element in highly involved in the production of chlorophyll, meaning it helps both the growth and coloration of your grass’s leaves.
• Phosphorus: This element bolsters the structural stability of your grass, promoting healthy root and stem systems.
• Potassium: Potassium helps boost the health of your grass, both making it more drought resistant, as well as more resilient against disease.

Together, these three elements make up the NPK ratio of fertilizer (N – Nitrogen, P – Phosphorus, K – Potassium), or the concentration of these elements in any given fertilizer. For example, a 15-10-15 fertilizer contains 15% Nitrogen, 10% Phosphorus, and 15% Potassium, with the rest being trace elements and other inert materials.

Want a hand getting your lawn properly fertilized? Contact the professionals at Dolan Landscaping. We’re lawn care specialists with years of experience keeping our customers’ lawns looking great. We perform seasonal lawn fertilization using only licensed applicators, making sure your lawn is set up for success year-round.