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| Photo Credit: Daniel Overcash |
| The hand-crank fertilizer spreader is inexpensive and easy-to-use. |
When spring rolls around, many folks recognize that their lawn could use a jump-start after the winter rest. A complete fertilizer will give it just the boost it needs to create a lush, green carpet across the yard.
The first question that comes to mind, might be, “How much fertilizer do I need?” The most accurate way to determine the nutrient needs of your yard from year to year is to send a soil sample to your State Department of Agriculture or Extension Service for nutrient analysis. (Call your local county agent’s office and ask for a soil sample kit.) For lawn care, samples should be sent in fall. But many people don’t think about soil sampling until spring, and by then, the soil lab may be backed up, and it may take weeks to get the results…and you’ll want to fertilize by then! So if you failed to get your sample in fall, don’t feel bad. Here are some general recommendations you can still follow when it comes to fertilizing your lawn, starting in spring: For both cool-season grasses (like fescues and Kentucky bluegrass) and warm-season grasses (such as Bermuda grass and zoysia grass), use ½-1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per application. Okay, now don’t panic: I don’t expect you to grid off your lawn and tediously spread fertilizer to accomplish this recommended rate. There’s an easier way you can do this. To figure out how much fertilizer you need to apply in order to get that 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet requires a little math. Start by dividing 100 by the first number on the bag (the first number on the bag is the percent of nitrogen in that formulation). For example, if you’re using a bag of 18-9-9, divide 100 by 18. The result – 5.55 pounds – is the amount of that fertilizer needed to get 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet.
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