When to Fertilize

The million dollar question for many people is "when to fertilize?" To answer this question, we at East Coast Lawn, Inc. consider these four factors: climate, grass type, the fertilizer being used, and how you want your lawn to look. For those of us who want our lawn looking its best, we strongly suggest that we  fertilize your lawn 4 times a year. Conversely, even if you don't want a good looking lawn, you should at least let us fertilize twice a year for your grass's sake.

There are two types of grasses: Warm-Season & Cool-Season. Each grass has its own growing season, therefore, each requires a different schedule for fertilizing. As a rule of thumb, we only apply fertilizer when your lawn is actively growing.

Cool-Season Grasses tend to have two flourishing (or growing) periods. The first is after the lawn's return from winter dormancy. The second is during the early Fall, when temperatures moderate and droughts and heat waves typically are gone (usually after late August). For Cool-Season lawns in the mid East Atlantic states, (our area) we find it is best to concentrate a larger amount of nitrogen to be applied during the early Fall growing period and a lesser amount in the spring.

Warm-Season Grasses flourish during the warmer summer months, and therefore tend to require fertilizing shortly after green-up in the spring and again in the late summer months. For Warm-Season grasses in the southern areas, it is best to concentrate a larger amount of nitrogen to be applied during the early-late spring applications and a lesser amount in the fall.

At East Coast Lawn we ponder a few things prior to choosing a fertilizer for your lawn:

 1.)  Many fertilizers on the market today come as combinations, or can be mixed during the same application time with other agents. For example, fertilizers are often mixed with weed controls, pest controls,  dandelion controls, etc.. If they are not mixed, and you have a disease or pest problem, we can apply the treatment separately based on your needs.

2.)  We avoid applying nitrogen when your lawn is dormant or has not yet greened-up. The growing stimulant provided by the nitrogen could end up encouraging weed growth or the growth of other unwanted grasses in your lawn. We always make sure that the nitrogen works for the grass already growing, and not the other stuff. If we have had a long winter and the grass is not yet established, then don't get worried if our schedule to fertilize gets delayed or modified. Your lawn doesn't care what your calendar says, we make sure we are flexible enough to deal with it.

3.)  Time-released fertilizers can slowly release nutrients from 2-4 months. We make sure we provide enough interval between fertilizing to allow the previous application to finish, thereby avoiding over-fertilization and possibly burning your lawn with the next application.

4.) We avoid fertilizing your lawn during periods of drought or when it is excessively dry. Most fertilizers do not need a good couple of waterings after fertilizing, (but it wouldnt hurt, and we encourage it!) and if the fertilizer sits without a good soaking, it wont burn your lawn.  Remember, fertilizing should help your lawn, not hurt it!