GardenBanter.co.uk - Autumn lawn fertiliser

On 9/23/2014 7:38 AM, fraz101 wrote:
Hi

I am currently looking for an Autumn lawn fertiliser.

I have been doing some research on NPKs that are better suited to
Autumn/Winter.

I was reccomended a 4-0-14 2fe by a lawn care firm?

Most of the garden centre products are 3-10-5......

The problem i have is my garden is only small (13m2) and any product i
find online is 20kg bags!!!! Which is way to big for me.

Where/what fertiliser products do you you all buy?

It depends on the recommended amount of nitrogen to be applied to your
soil. If you've had a soil analysis done, that will give you the
amount that should be applied. If you haven't, in the US, the most
generic rule of thumb is 1 lb of Nitrogen per 1000 square feet. For an
area of your size (13 meters square/approximately 140 square feet),
that works out to just over 2 ounces or roughly 57 grams of actual
nitrogen to be applied to the lawn. Now you have to do the math. A
3-10-5 analysis means the contents of the bag is 3% nitrogen. Multiply
that by the weight of the bag to get the actual amount of nitrogen by
weight in the bag. As a simple example, we'll call it a 10 kg bag.
That bag has 300 grams of actual nitrogen in it. You need to apply
approximately 57 grams. Round it up to 60 grams to make life simpler.
So: you'd apply approximately one-fifth of the bag (2 kilograms) of
fertilizer to the lawn.

The recommended rate of nitrogen may vary according to your location
and type of grass. Consult with a local professional, then select a
product, do the math, and apply the required amount. Save the rest to
apply next year according to the recommended application schedule.
Frankly, for a lawn as small as yours, there'd be no reason why you
couldn't select a small package of garden fertilizer and apply that,
as long as you calculate the necessary amount to apply based on the
percentage of available nitrogen in the product. You do not want to
over-apply nitrogen.