Millions of homeowners around the world want dark green, lush, thick lawns. The sense of pride and the increase in property value are just a couple of reasons why lawn care is a billion dollar industry. Don’t get me wrong maintaining a nice lawn does take some work but it is not really complicated.
Each type of turf grass requires different amounts of fertilizer for optimum growth. The first step is to understand what type of grass you have and when it grows best.
Cool season grasses : Kentucky Bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, fine-leaved fescues, tall fescue, and bentgrasses have their maximum growth during periods of cool, moist weather and often times become dormant or semi-dormant during hot weather months.
Warm season grasses :St. Augustine grass , zoysia grass , bermudagrass, centipede grass, Bahia grass, and carpet grass have their maximum growth during periods of high temperatures and usually will go dormant during the cooler periods of the year.
Of the cool season grasses Kentucky Bluegrass and perennial ryegrass requires the most nitrogen about 5 lbs per 1000 sq feet per year. The other cool season grasses about 4lbs.
The warm season grasses all vary in their requirements. Berumda grass has a high requirement while St Augustine and zoysia have a medium requirement. Centipede grass, bahia grass, and carpet grass are slow growing and have very low fertilizer requirements.
For cool season grass fertilize early in the spring as the grass greens up then again 6 weeks latter. One more application 6 weeks latter will provide enough nutrition to last through the summer months. In late summer apply fertilizers as the cooler temperatures arrive and one more time mid fall to help develop a healthy root system for the following spring.
Warm season grasses should be fertilized in the spring as the grass starts to green up then feed every six weeks through the growing season till mid fall. Do not fertilize in late fall or turf injury may result over the winter months
