Every lawn suffers in winter. Cold and snow demand a lot from the green. This is especially true when it has been extremely cold for weeks and a thick blanket of snow has covered the lawn. In order to be able to shine in new splendor, the lawn needs a lot of food in spring, i.e. lawn fertilizer. However, the fertilizer alone is not enough.
preparation
Before the lawn can be fertilized for the first time in spring, it must be prepared for it. How exactly this preparation looks depends largely on the specific condition of the green. For example, if there is still leaves from autumn on the area or if there are dead branches lying around, both must first be removed. Other foreign objects such as leftovers from the New Year's Eve fireworks should also be carefully collected and disposed of. Once this has happened, it is important to take a close look at the lawn yourself. The main questions are:
- Does the lawn have to be mowed already?
- Is it mossy or matted?
- Are individual parts of the lawn or Plants dead?
Different measures are recommended depending on the situation:
- with foliage: Rake the lawn thoroughly
- blades of grass too long: be sure to mow
- mossy or matted: first scarify
- dead elements: Remove dead grass and re-sow bald spots
All of this work serves to optimally prepare the lawn for the first application of fertilizer. They should be tackled as soon as the snow is completely gone and no more ground frost is to be expected. This can of course vary greatly from year to year and from region. If individual blades of grass are still frozen, the measures must not be taken under any circumstances.
Note: The lawn may only be scarified when the ground temperature is at least twelve degrees Celsius. If the soil is colder, the roots can be severely damaged.
time
The question of the right time to apply the first fertilizer in spring is often answered in March or April. Basically that's right, but it always depends on the specific weather conditions. Is still in April
Note: In January and February you should definitely not fertilize, even if there is no more snow and there is no more ground frost. The risk of a new onset of winter is simply too great at this point.
Lawn fertilizer
With the start of the new season, lawns are generally very hungry. He needs a lot of nutrients to be able to compensate for the stresses of winter. In addition, he has to recharge his batteries for the new growth phase. The spring fertilizer should enable him to do just that. The fertilization at this time has a very important part in how the lawn develops over the course of the year. The fertilizer should contain the following components:
- nitrogen
- Potassium oxide
- phosphate
- Calcium
- magnesium
- boron
- zinc
- manganese
- copper
- iron
The proportion of nitrogen should be around 25 to 30 percent. That of potassium oxide are around 15 percent. Substances such as boron, zinc or manganese are trace elements that are only required in minimal proportions. Regardless of the content, it is advisable to make sure that the selected fertilizer has a long-term effect and does not release all of its nutrients immediately. Whether such a long-term effect exists is noted on the packaging of the corresponding products.
Fertilize
Once you have found the right fertilizer, the next step is actually fertilizing. The fertilizer mostly lies
in powder or granulate form and is supplied in bags. How much of it you need for a certain lawn area can usually be seen from the information on the packaging. The manufacturer's information is usually very reliable, but they also differ considerably from product to product. The lawn fertilizer must be distributed as evenly as possible over the entire area. If you apply too much fertilizer in one place and too little fertilizer in another, the growth may vary - and you will see that later in the lawn. You can use a small shovel or your hands to spread the fertilizer.Tip: Since a lawn does not only have to be fertilized in spring, but a total of about four times a year, it is worth purchasing a fertilizer spreader. This is a small cart with which the fertilizer doses can be dosed in a targeted manner.
After the first application of fertilizer in spring, the lawn absolutely needs moisture. The water means that the fertilizer dissolves more easily and is therefore available to the plants more quickly. Either you fertilize when it is foreseeable that it will rain very soon or you water the lawn after fertilizing. A relatively gentle irrigation is often sufficient.
Additional measure
It is absolutely recommended to determine the pH value of the soil before or in parallel with the first fertilization of the lawn. If the soil is too acidic, any kind of fertilizer application is usually relatively ineffective. Soil is considered too acidic if the pH value is below 5.5. If this is the case, lawn lime should be spread over a large area immediately. A few days after adding the lime, the pH value must then be determined again and, if necessary, re-limed.
