How to fertilise a lawn

Why is it important to fertilise my lawn?

Fertilising a lawn can have many benefits. To begin with it helps to keep your lawn in top condition, encouraging dense, strong grass growth. As well as this, fertiliser can help turf recover from general wear and tear and the after effects of harsh weather. Finally, fertilising turf can improve the appearance of the lawn as a whole even providing benefits such as keeping weeds and moss at bay.

What is an N:P:K ratio?

Every fertiliser, including simple blends that can be bought from garden centres, will have an N:P:K ratio on its packaging. This group of numbers refer to the ingredients that blend contains. N stands for Nitrogen, P for Phosphorus and K for potassium.

An example of how this works is on the A1 Lawn New Grass Pre-Seed & Pre-Turf Fertiliser is says that it has an N:P:K ratio of 6:9:6 meaning that it contains 6% Nitrogen, 9% Phosphorus and 6% Potassium. Nitrogen helps with the growth of the lawn, phosphorus encourages rooting and the presence of potassium is essential for photosynthesis and boosting hydration.

When is best to fertilise my lawn?

We would recommend that you fertilise your lawn at least twice a year. The suggested intervals are once in spring/summer (from March onwards) and another application in autumn/winter (September/October). At A1 Lawn we have a selection of both spring & summer fertilisers and autumn & winter fertilisers. Fertilisers that are aimed at being applied during the warmer months, such as our Ultimate Spring Summer Lawn Fertiliser, deliver high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to help satisfy the demands of rapid spring growth. Autumn and winter fertilisers, however, are much lower in nitrogen and phosphate and higher in potassium and other ingredients that encourage turf hardening to ensure that your grass stays healthy throughout winter and into spring.

How do I fertilise a lawn?

1. Make sure that essential lawn maintenance such as weed control, scarification and aeration have been completed
2.  Mow the lawn before applying fertiliser as this allows more time for the product to sink in properly before it is due its next cut
   
3.  Apply fertiliser just before rainfall (if using granular products) as it requires the water to break down the fertiliser prills and wash them into the soil. You must make sure, however, that you avoid applying the fertiliser while the grass is currently wet as this can cause the granules to stick to the grass leaves and cause it to burn
   
4.  Depending on the size of your lawn, there will be different methods that you can use to apply. Granular fertiliser can be applied by hand although this can cause problems as there is no way of telling if you are putting the right/same amount down everywhere you go. This is problematic as if you put too much in one area it could burn the turf. We would recommend that you use a spreader. Here at A1 Lawn we offer both handheld spreaders and push along spreaders. Using either of these pieces of equipment will help to ensure that an even application of granules is applied to the lawn. Liquid fertilisers should be applied using a knapsack sprayer. The product is simply diluted down following the instructions of the product label.