When to Fertilize Your Lawn

Fertilization is a great way of keeping your grass energetically alive and well. Fertilization is key to keeping a green lawn, especially during times of the year that come with more stressful climates, like the summer and the fall. Fortunately, fertilizing grass is easy and simple. (Note that these techniques are used exclusively for warm season grasses, which we use in Texas)

When to Fertilize

The best time to fertilize your grass is late in the spring. During this time, your grasses are entering their most active growing phase, and adding the fertilizer gives an extra boost. Fertilizing in late spring will give your grass the opportunity to grow healthy, strong leaves and establish a deep and extensive root system. This prepares them for the heat and traffic that tends to come with the summer.

Fertilizing the lawn again in the summer or early fall will give them an extra boost to keep growing and keep green in these later months.

When Not to Fertilize

Do not fertilize any time outside of the previously mentioned time periods. Here’s why:

• Early spring fertilization provides nutrients to a plant, your grass, that isn’t ready to grow yet. So, instead, the nutrients get easily snatched up by weeds and other invasive plants that are suited to growing during the cooler seasons.

• Late autumn fertilization will force your grass to keep trying to grow when it’s trying to tone down its growing activity and prepare for winter dormancy. This makes them unprepared for the winter and can lead to your grass being severely harmed and injured when winter falls.

• Winter fertilization doesn’t make any sense. Your grass are in hibernation, and you’ll just be feeding cool season weeds.

Other Tips

• To keep your lawn green, you can fertilize every 8 weeks from late spring to early fall.

• Don’t use more than 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet (in each application).

If you have any questions or are interested in some fresh sod, contact The Grass Outlet today.