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VLOG: #3 Basic Need of a Lawn - 🥕🥝 Food (Fertilizer) 🥒🍅

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Rusty Thompson on September 18th, 2019

Every lawn has to have a couple fundamental things to be healthy. They are (in order of importance):

One of the most frequently asked questions I am asked on an initial consultation with a potential client is, "Why isn't my grass as green as the other people in my neighborhood?" My response always starts the same way, that a lawn has three relatively basic needs for long-term health: Food, Water, and Sunlight. In the past two articles, we've discussed the right amount of water and sunlight, so that leaves the last tip of the series to be about food. "Foods" for the lawn for this reference are fertilizers, preventative pest control applications, and a healthy soil the grass is rooted into.  

Lawn Fertilizers and Nutrients

Many homeowners in our area use the ‘feast or famine’ method fertilizing once or twice a year because of chain stores recommending the spring and fall lawn feedings. This is one of the many ways that turfgrass and the human body are very similar. This is not unlike eating one or two large meals a week and expecting a healthy physique – It just doesn’t work like that. In the same way that nutritionists recommend consistent evenly portioned meals throughout the week because your body needs to be fed constantly, your lawn is at its best when it is given 5-6 doses of nutrients per year too.

Nutritionists also recommend not eating within an hour or two of going to bed so that you don’t go to sleep with a full stomach. Likewise, lawns do not take in many nutrients in the winter when it goes dormant. Too much nitrogen laid down at the wrong time of year can contribute to many environmental issues that are affecting our drinking water and our ecosystem. This is why we recommend early fall fertilization with a lower dose of Nitrogen (the first number on the fertilizer solution label), and focusing more on Potassium (the third number on the label) which increases the root structure through the dormant months.

Fertilizing with the wrong nutrient at the wrong time gets wasted.

Preventive Pest & Weed Applications

One other commonality between humans and lawns are vaccines. (This was written pre-COVID, so please do not take this as any political stance.) In the same way that getting properly vaccinated against Polio can help prevent the disease, one important piece of any fertilization program should include pre-emergents and systemic products to help prevent weeds and pests. Pre-emergents are formulas that bond to weed seeds before they germinate and render them useless so weeds cannot spread. This keeps the turf weed-free and healthy.

Soil Health

Soil health is an essential aspect of maintaining a healthy and vibrant lawn, because it is what makes the nutrients break down and feed the lawn directly. However, when it comes to new home construction, builders often use nutrient-deficient builder's sand to level the ground before constructing the home. While this may be beneficial to the builder's bottom line since it is cheap and readily available, it can have long-term consequences for the lawn's health. The builder's sand lacks essential nutrients and organic matter required for healthy plant growth, and it has poor water-holding capacity, which means that water drains quickly from the soil. This can result in a lawn that is stunted, patchy, and prone to drought stress.

How do newly constructed neighborhoods keep their lawns green when their soil is unhealthy? Every nutrient has to be fed from fertilizers and excess irrigation, rather than building the soil's health over time.

One of the best ways to remediate nutrient-deficient builder's sand is through annual aeration and topdressing with nutrient-rich, moisture-retaining organic soil. Core Aeration removes some of the existing soil while creating holes in the lawn for the organic topdressing to fall into and build a healthier soil. This new organic soil helps to increase the soil's organic matter content, improve water-holding capacity, and introduce beneficial microorganisms to the soil. Over time, this can lead to a healthier, more vibrant lawn that is better equipped to handle drought stress and other environmental challenges. While it may require some upfront investment, prioritizing soil health is essential for achieving a beautiful and sustainable lawn in the long run.

The ultimate goal of every homeowner who takes pride in their landscape is to have a thick, green, and lush lawn to enjoy. The easiest way to have that is to make sure it has the right amount of irrigation, a healthy dose of sunlight, and the proper lawn fertilization program. With those 3 things in-tact, your lawn will be the envy of the neighborhood.

If you know you have your soil and fertilizer right, but are wondering about the other two basic needs for a healthy Florida lawn, please see our videos about the other two basic needs: Sunlight and Water by clicking the individual links.

We hope this was helpful in understanding the basic needs of your North Florida Lawn. If we can help with your lawn's health, soil health, or pest control - please call our office at (352) 290-8715 or (904) 364-1166 or email our office at info@themasterslawncare.com. 

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Tags:

lawn care, Fertilization, lawn health, organic-based lawn health, Topdressing, Comand Soil