"redclay" wrote in message ...
Michael Shaffer wrote in message
...
Hi, I noticed where my dog does his business on the lawn it grows a lot
faster. I haven't fertilized it since I can remember, just seeded. Now
that it's spring would it be an ok time to fertilize it? How much does
fertilizer cost? Any tips for putting it on?
Fall is the time to fertilize from GA north I am not sure about Florida.
Around here, VA, we use the "SOD" program which stands for September,
October and December. The "experts" recommend 1 lb. N for every 1000 sq.
ft. of lawn which works out to 10 lb.s of 10-10-10 for every 1000 sq. ft.
which is way too much. I cut it back to 0.5 lb. for S and O and to 0.25 lb.
N for D. In the summer months apply lime to get your pH up to the 6.5 -7.0.
Just be careful around acid-loving plants.

This is definitely the way to do it in my experience, although it
obviously depends on the climate and type of grass. If you have a
cool-season lawn, there's really no point in applying fertilizer in
late April or May, because it a)causes the blades of the cool-season
grass to grow insanely (have fun mowing), but not have much effect on
the roots, which is the important part anyway b) it will cause C4 or
warm season plants such as crabgrass and broadleaf weeds to grow much
more quickly, because at some point in the early summer the lawn grass
will be dormant (and largely unable to use the fertilizer still in the
ground) while the actively-growing weeds will explode. Fertilizing in
the fall, combined w/ core aeration, will improve the root structure,
and have little effect on crabgrass/weeds once the temperature starts
dropping in Sept/Oct. Furthermore excessive chemical fertilizer use is
a bad idea especially if your property is anywhere near a body of
water.