Lawn fertilizer: overview & fertilizer in comparison - Plantura

When it comes to the supply of nutrients, lawns are very demanding. We will introduce you to different lawn fertilizers and make a comparison.

The choice of lawn fertilizer not only determines the nutrient supply of the lawn, depending on the type of fertilizer chosen, the frequency and comfort of the fertilizer also differ application, the risk of over-fertilization or leaching, the effect on the lawn plants and the soil and, in the long term, even the subsequent need for watering, scarifying or aerating. By presenting the various types of lawn fertilizers, we want to give you an overview so that you can find exactly the lawn fertilizer that brings the most benefits.

Special iron fertilizers, liquid fertilizers, nitrogen fertilizers, blue grain and lawn fertilizers with weed killers are all mineral lawn fertilizers. Liquid fertilizers and nitrogen fertilizers are also available in organic form, and organic fertilizers in particular offer many advantages, such as a natural long-term effect. Organic lawn fertilizers also have these advantages due to a high proportion of organic material, so that after a detailed comparison we ultimately consider them to be the best lawn fertilizers.

Organic Lawn Fertilizer

The difference between organic and mineral lawn fertilizer is the "packaging" of the nutrients. While mineral fertilizers are present as pure salts of the nutrients, they are bound in naturally grown structures in organic fertilizers. This brings some advantages:

• These structures contain not only some main nutrients, but also various trace nutrients.
• In addition, there are many carbon compounds, for example in the form of cell walls, carbohydrates and wood pulp (lignin). If there is a little more carbon or if the living conditions of the soil organisms are not optimal, some of the material remains unprocessed. From these semi-decomposed materials, new humus molecules are formed in biological and chemical processes, which represent a kind of carbon and nutrient store in the soil.
• Humus molecules also have special properties that greatly improve soil quality.
• In addition to plant nutrients, the introduction of organic material also provides the basis of life for many extremely useful soil organisms and material for the development of new humus. This is particularly important because when there is a high nutrient input, soil organisms attack the carbon reserves of the soil without the provision of organic material: the existing humus.

The conversion of organic material into the soluble nutrients that plants can absorb takes a certain amount of time. Finely ground organic lawn fertilizers release nutrients for the lawn faster than coarsely ground ones. Heat, moisture and a neutral to slightly elevated pH value accelerate the work of the microorganisms. Nevertheless, with organic lawn fertilisers, you must always fertilize with foresight: You should fertilize organically about a month before the need for nutrients emerges. More about organic lawn fertilizers you can also read this article.

Organic Lawn Fertilizer

Both mineral and organic lawn fertilizers have their disadvantages: Mineral lawn fertilizers reduce soil quality and organic lawn fertilizers have a delayed effect. The fusion of both fertilizer types represent organic-mineral and bio-certified lawn fertilizers. The combination of organic and mineral components makes it particularly easy to effectively care for a lawn and the soil underneath. Organic lawn fertilizers have the additional advantage that they only contain mineral components that may also be used in organic farming: the sources are proven to be as sustainable as possible exhausted. Organic lawn fertilizers are also available in animal-free form - including ours Plantura organic lawn fertilizer and Plantura Organic Autumn Lawn Fertilizer. As a result, they are not only less odorous and suitable for strict vegetarians or vegans, but also more resource-efficient due to the lack of "food processing" in the production chain. Incidentally, some organic fertilizers even contain live microorganisms such as beneficial mycorrhizal fungi or special nutrient-releasing bacteria. More about the fertilizing properties of organic lawn fertilizers find out in this article.

Organic slow-release lawn fertilizer

Solid organic fertilizers always have a natural long-term effect. If humus is built up through use, the nutrients introduced can only be used by the soil years later if the soil is not fertilized properly. This long-term effect is due to the time it takes for microorganisms to release nutrients. This also means that the release depends on the living conditions of these organisms. In the table below we have summarized for you what leads to a faster or slower release and how these factors can be influenced.

Faster release	Slower release	influencing
warmth	cold	Pay attention to shadows cast by trees and buildings when planting
Sufficient humidity	dryness	Introducing water-storing clay minerals, increasing the humus content for water storage, Frequency of mowing in summer (shaded ground, cut stems increase water loss), watering of the lawn
Good bottom ventilation	Poor soil aeration due to waterlogging/soil compaction	Increase humus content through organic fertilization, scarify, aerate and sand, organic fertilization to stimulate soil life
High nutrient content of the fertilizer	Low nutrient content	Choosing the right fertilizer Incorporation of additional material that is difficult to decompose to slow down release or add nitrogen to speed it up
Soil pH in the neutral range	Acidic pH	Check soil pH occasionally and lime if necessary

Tip: A quick release always means that less humus is built up. If you also fertilize organically with the aim of improving the soil, you should not perfect the working conditions of the microorganisms too much.

More information on the topic Long-term fertilizer for the lawn you'll find here.

Mineral lawn fertilizer

Mineral lawn fertilizers contain the main nutrients nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in mineral form. In addition, other nutrient elements are often included, which act as partners in the formation of fertilizer salts. High magnesium and iron contents are often advertised, which are supposed to ensure a healthy, green lawn color. Most of the nutrients it contains come from fossil raw material deposits, but nitrogen is produced from atmospheric nitrogen (N₂) synthesized.

Mineral lawn fertilizers with a three to six-month long-term effect are increasingly being offered Should make your work easier as a user and washes out more or less well restrict.

However, mineral lawn fertilizers do not contain any organic components and completely bypass the natural conversion processes of the soil. Through the sole use of mineral lawn fertilizers, the soil is depleted of useful soil organisms and even loses parts of its humus body. Ultimately, this leads to a reduction in soil quality. As a consequence, there may even be additional maintenance work: Scarifying and aerating become necessary more frequently, wild herbs can be promoted and fertilization errors carry more weight.

Unfortunately, cheap mineral lawn fertilizers in particular are often more heavily contaminated with cadmium, chromium or even uranium. These heavy metals can accumulate in the soil, in groundwater, in plants and ultimately through composting throughout the human food chain. Of course, there are limit values ​​for exposure to toxic heavy metals in Germany and the EU, and these have been revised downwards several times in recent years.

Tip: Incidentally, together with the reduction in soil quality, the consumption and the hardly any recycling of phosphorus represent a major environmental problem: The Deposits for uncontaminated rock phosphates will be used up in a few decades; deposits with heavy metal-contaminated rock phosphates are already being used used. Therefore, many experts believe that the era of mineral fertilizers in agriculture is over must be used in order to conserve resources such as soil and nutrients and not other heavy metals to enter.

Summary: Mineral lawn fertilizers

• In addition to nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, magnesium and iron are often also included
• Organic components and other trace nutrients are missing
• Long-term mineral lawn fertilizers extend the fertilization interval and protect - depending on the type of processing - to a greater or lesser extent against loss through leaching
• Sole application leads to a reduction in soil quality and impoverishment of soil life, which results in additional gardening effort
• In particular, cheap mineral lawn fertilizers are more heavily loaded with harmful heavy metals

Iron fertilizer for the lawn

Iron is one of the 14 essential nutrients and is not only needed by the lawn for the synthesis of various enzymes and chlorophyll. For this reason, it is often used in lawn fertilizers to create a very green lawn. Unfortunately, however, soil and nutrient chemistry is a bit more complicated than some fertilizer companies make it out to be: Iron is one of the most common elements in our soils. An absolute deficiency - i.e. the complete absence of iron - is extremely unlikely. It is much more likely that there will be a relative deficiency that cannot be permanently remedied by iron fertilization, even though plants only need the smallest amounts of iron. Optimizing the growth conditions for the lawn is the cheaper and more natural way to prevent iron deficiency, because lawn grasses are able to absorb iron very efficiently record. They have an uptake strategy that is unique in the plant world. So before you spend money on something that is perfectly adequate in your own soil, it is best to read this detailed article on supply of iron to your lawn.

Tip: The use of iron sulphate against moss in the lawn is recommended far too often. Which is why this only leads to the moss dying off in the short term and to the moss population in the long term even reinforced, you can also in the aforementioned special article on iron fertilization of the lawn read. Here you will also find tips for really effective Control of moss in the lawn.

Blue grain for the lawn

Blaukorn is a well-known mineral universal fertilizer. It has been copied many times by different manufacturers, but usually only on the outside, the nutrient composition and quality can differ. "Blaukorn Classic" contains 12% nitrogen, 8% phosphorus oxide, 16% potassium oxide, 3% magnesium oxide and 10% sulphur. Other products in the “Blaukorn” range may have a different composition or contain special inhibitors that prevent nitrogen from being washed out.

Blue grain has all the disadvantages of a mineral lawn fertilizer mentioned above and is also due to its universal composition, it is by no means tailored to the special needs of the lawn cropped. An application for autumn lawn fertilization would result in environmental pollution due to leaching and incorrect fertilization. The latter would cause frost damage to the lawn and thus prevent the lawn plants from getting off to a good start in the coming year. If you want more about the Fertilizing the lawn with blue grain want to know, you will find it here.

nitrogen fertilizer

Due to the frequent cutting, lawns have an increased need for nitrogen. As the "motor of vegetative growth" it is essential for the synthesis of DNA, enzymes and chlorophyll. A deficient supply of nitrogen not only leads to an infrequent mowing, but above all to patchy, weak-competitive lawns that are not good at suppressing weeds and moss. An acute nitrogen deficiency is reflected in a complete yellowing of the oldest lawn grasses. A sole nitrogen fertilization is usually not necessary, the supply with a lawn fertilizer is optimal, which covers all the nutrient deprivation of the lawn together.

The lawn has a high nitrogen requirement, especially in spring and throughout the summer. However, as the year approaches autumn, you should gradually reduce the nitrogen fertilization, because stalks that are heavily supplied with nitrogen are soft and can hardly do anything in frosty temperatures oppose For this reason, the effect of long-term nitrogen fertilizers for lawns should be phased out by August at the latest and potassium-based fertilization should begin. We recommend the organic supply of nitrogen to the lawn to prevent losses through leaching and over-fertilization. If you have to treat an acute deficiency, an organic-mineral fertilizer or an organic liquid fertilizer is also suitable. Detailed information on Nitrogen fertilization of the lawn can be found here in our special article.

Liquid lawn fertilizer

Plants can absorb nutrients not only through their roots, but also in small amounts through all above-ground organs. Liquid lawn fertilizers take advantage of this fact. Both mineral and organic liquid lawn fertilizers are available. These advertise with an extremely fast effect and an immediately green lawn. The rate of absorption varies greatly depending on the nutrient, but nitrogen quickly reaches the lawn plants via the leaf. The even distribution and simultaneous watering of the lawn, which is also completely dust-free, should also offer an advantage. Even liquid lawn fertilizers with "long-term effects" are offered. However, every lawn owner should be aware of the disadvantages of liquid lawn fertilizers:

• Application leads to jerky growth; as a result, the lawn is often not well prepared for disease, heat or cold
• High nutrient concentrations quickly lead to over-fertilization if the wrong dosage is used
• The often contained form of nitrogen urea is difficult for laypersons to assess; It easily leads to a loss of nitrogen to the environment and thus a loss of benefit for the paying customer
• The usually small package size is due to better applicability, but it increases the price per square meter fertilized
• Mineral liquid lawn fertilizers introduce organic matter and therefore deteriorate soil quality with repeated use

These are just a few of the disadvantages that are relevant to you, which the use of liquid lawn fertilizers entails and which should persuade you to refrain from using them.

Organic lawn fertilizers in liquid form are - if such an application is urgently required - still the best form of liquid fertilization because they In addition to the mineral nutrients, they also contain some organic substance and many trace elements, and the production is more sustainable. However, keep in mind: If you fertilize your lawn regularly, you will not find yourself in a situation where extremely fast-acting lawn fertilization is necessary at all. More detailed information can be found in our special article on this topic. This article will also inform you about liquid fertilizer in general – and how you can even make them yourself.

Lawn fertilizer with weed killer

Wild herbs in the lawn do not bother every lawn owner, but some wage a real war against dandelions (Taraxacum sect. ruderals), daisies (Bellis perennis), white clover (Trifolium repens) or mosses (Bryophyta). In addition, some lawns appear to be more affected by wild plants, pejoratively referred to as "weeds". Anyone who no longer knows what to do with mechanical means such as digging out, mowing or ripping out may come up with the idea of ​​using a lawn fertilizer with weed killer. This should combine the supply of the lawn grass with fast-acting mineral nutrients and the control of wild herbs.

As nice as this promise is, the use of lawn fertilizer with weed killer should not be taken lightly - it comes with the following disadvantages, among others:

• The herbicidal substances can be harmful to wildlife, pets and the user
• Weed grasses remain unaffected by the application of the herbicides, since the agents contained must of course be harmless to grasses
• Careless handling can also damage various other garden plants
• The sole use of mineral lawn fertilizers leads to a loss of soil quality and can disturb the soil chemistry in such a way that the pH value changes. This in turn can encourage the growth of wild herbs

More information about Lawn fertilizer with weed killer and how to prevent and control weeds more effectively can be found in this special article.

The best lawn fertilizer

The direct comparison of organic and mineral lawn fertilizer reveals the weaknesses and strengths of the two types of fertilizer. While organic lawn fertilizers work slowly, mineral lawn fertilizers have a negative impact on the soil properties and thus on the health of the lawn. For this reason, after a closer look at the two types, our conclusion is that the combination of mineral and organic elements in lawn fertilization has the most positive effect.

Primarily organic lawn fertilizers in organic quality with long-term effects are ours, for example Plantura organic lawn fertilizer and ours Plantura Organic Autumn Lawn Fertilizer. More information about organic and mineral lawn fertilizers as well as for the optimal care of your lawn, we have summarized them for you in this article.

All about "fertilize lawn“ – from the right time to the right approach to fertilizing – you can find out here in our overview article.