Keep Your Lawn Green With Summer Fertilizer

Are you a homeowner who fastidiously cares for your lawn? You’re sure to overseed when necessary, you aerate and dethatch, use grub control and have purged your lawn of weeds and other invaders. If this is you, and the idea of seeing all that hard work turn brown and yellow in the dog days of 30+ Degree weather in July and August, you might consider applying summer fertilizer. We don’t recommend this for every homeowner because applied incorrectly summer fertilizer can cause significant damage to your lawn.

Keeping your lawn green can be a struggle in July and August without some intervention. Smart watering practices, weed control and other measures will help. For that additional boost, summer fertilizer might be just what you need.

Summer Fertilizer

There are a few dangers with using summer fertilizer which is why we only recommend it for the homeowner who is experienced with proper lawn care and maintenance. Many people apply fertilizer in summer and cause significant damage to their lawns. Applying granule fertilizer without also watering enough to dissolve the granules will burn the roots and your grass will yellow and die. Applying fertilizer in summer will spur furious growth in a hot season that typically stresses grass plants is unwise if adequate water to support the new growth isn’t delivered. If fertilizer isn’t applied correctly, patches of lush green growth can spring up in your lawn.

In our Canadian climate, without summer fertilizer and intervening watering practices, your lawn will likely go dormant this summer. Clover is one weed that can produce its own fertilizer, so an under-fertilized lawn is one where clover will thrive. Dandelions, with their long tap roots, can thrive in an environment with insufficient water.

Some recommend using a pre-diluted liquid fertilizer to avoid some of these problems. Others will recommend fertilizing right before you expect a heavy rain shower. To be on the safe side, give us a call for a free quote.

Balance

It’s important, if you’re going to fertilize, to do it regularly. If you’re only going to fertilize once a year then wait until fall. Fertilizing in the fall will spur new growth in the spring so it’s well established before the summer heat assaults the new shoots.
We recommend using a slow release fertilizer that delivers a small dose of nutrients over a longer period of time to prevent root burn. Nutri-Lawn Vancouver uses eco-friendly products that won’t leach into water tables or cause other soil problems.

Grass Clippings

In lieu of fertilizing, or perhaps even in addition to, you can grass cycle. Grass cycling involves leaving short grass clippings on the lawn to decompose naturally creating organic fertilizer over the course of the summer. With organic fertilizer like this, there’s no risk to the grass, water, or soil. The danger with grass cycling is if grass clippings that are too long are left on the lawn, because the longer clippings won’t break down fast enough but may create a thatch problem instead. This is a simple way to add nutrients to the soil and actually saves you time and work. That’s win win.

We would love to answer these questions or any others you might have about lawn care. Request a free estimate today! Contact the experts at Nutri-Lawn Vancouver today to give your lawn an edge over weeds and extreme weather this summer.