If you have a lawn around your home in Colorado, you surely want it to be soft, strong and green all summer long. Lawns require quite a lot of work to be able to thrive, so you will have to be prepared not only to water and to mow your lawn regularly, but also to develop a fertilization schedule and to stick to it, too. Here are some things to know about lawn fertilization.
The Fertilizer You Choose Will Determine the Intervals
Lawn fertilizers can be divided into two categories: synthetic and organic products. Synthetic products are usually harsh and provide a strong and almost instant boost of energy to your plants, the results being visible very soon after you apply your plant nourishment. With synthetic fertilizers, the effects are not only quick, but also short-lasting, the intervals between two fertilization sessions being quite short, too, usually around four weeks. Organic fertilizers, on the other hand, provide not only nourishment to the plants – they also improve the soil’s ability to retain water as well as nutrients, providing your plants exactly what they need, when they need it. As a result, organic grass fertilizer can be applied at longer intervals, usually 5-6 weeks long.
Fertilize from Spring to Fall
During your fertilization sessions, it is very important to follow the instructions that come with your product and developing a fertilization schedule is also important. Ideally, you should start fertilizing your lawn in spring, when the soil has already thawed and it is moist, but no longer wet and muddy. That time usually comes at the end of March or at the beginning of April. Sticking to the product instructions is especially important during this first fertilization – giving your grass too much food will speed up the growth of the leaves, but not of the roots, making it impossible for the underdeveloped roots to support the plant that is too large and resulting in an excessive amount of thatch.
The second fertilization session should be scheduled for early summer, the end of May or the beginning of June. The role of early summer feeding is to prepare the grass for the hotter months, enabling it to go for longer periods without water or to ensure heat without sustaining any damage.
The next session should take place mid-summer or at the end of the season, depending on the type of grass you have – warm-season grasses are better fed in July to help your grass show its very best all through summer, while cold-season grasses are better-off being fertilized a bit later, at the end of summer.
Fertilizing sessions should stop at the end of fall in Colorado, the period between the end of October and the beginning of November being the best. The role of the last time when you apply fertilizer on your lawn is also very important: it serves the purpose of strengthening the grass to enable it to stand up to whatever the notoriously harsh and long Colorado winter comes and settles in.