Without professional help, keeping your lawn lush and healthy can seem like a never-ending battle. If you know how to best support your grass so that it can thrive even in the face of drought and pests, you are one step ahead. Here is why fertilization should be part of your lawn care services in South Whitehall, PA.
Grass Depends on Quality Soil
While it’s true that plants get much of their “food” from photosynthesis, that does not present the whole picture. Photosynthesis is how plants get nutrients from carbon dioxide and water, but many nutrients are absorbed through the roots, including the three that are found in soil:
Lawn Care South Whitehall PA - Fertilization
Nitrogen
Phosphorous
Potassium
A deficiency or imbalance of these nutrients leads to poor soil that weakens grass.
Soil Quality Can Change Over Time
Even if you start off with rich soil, over time, it can become depleted and less capable of sustaining healthy plant life. Using fertilizers helps restore nutrients lost to excessive moisture (through runoff) or simply not enough organic material being returned to the soil. In this case, fertilization is essential for restoring proper nutrient levels in the soil.
Fertilizer Offers Complete Nutrition
Just as you can’t thrive on a limited diet, neither can your lawn. Aside from nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, plants also require other minerals including calcium, magnesium, boron, copper, manganese, zinc, chloride, and sulfur. These are present in varying concentrations in different kinds of soil—and as soil can become depleted over time, it’s important to restore the correct balance.
Related: A Guide to Year-Round Lawn Care in Berks County, PA
How and When to Fertilize Your Lawn
Nutrition is the cornerstone of good health, whether you are talking about your own health or your lawn’s health. However, over-fertilization can be just as bad as under-fertilization. Not only is over-fertilizing expensive, but it can also kill your lawn. The primary danger with over-fertilizing is that constantly giving your grass nitrogen makes it dependent on this extra dose, turning your lawn into a fertilizer addict of sorts.
If it reaches this stage, your lawn will require more and more nitrogen to stay vibrantly green—but high amounts of nitrogen will also “burn” the lawn, or invite fungal diseases. Nitrogen speeds up grass growth, which requires more mowing. And mowing ofte can lead to excess grass clippings on the lawn. Left alone, this thatch holds moisture that can make the lawn feel spongy and eventually make your lawn vulnerable to fungi.
This combination of burned grass and spongy, unhealthy grass may require a complete lawn regeneration, which is preventable with a proper fertilization routine that takes into consideration the overall health of the lawn, the time of the season, and more.
Related: Signs that your Berks County Backyard Needs Professional Landscape Maintenance
Ongoing Lawn Care Needs
Proper fertilization makes your turf grass strong, healthy, and resilient. It requires a plan in place so that your grass is fed the right nutrient ratios at the right time, and supplemented with proper watering practices.
The best approach is to consult a lawn care professional who can educate you on a balanced fertilization program specific to your lawn. Or take your mind off the stress of getting your fertilization ratios and timing just right, and let the pros handle it all.
