Should you Fertilize your lawn in the fall? What is the best time of fall to do so? What are the best fall fertilizers and the best way to apply them? Know what our experts say!
The lush green lawn outside our houses is not only there to soothe our eyes and calm our restless nerves. Instead, it does much more than we think; from maintaining a healthy and hygienic atmosphere to balancing the entire ecosystem. However, to enjoy all the benefits of a lawn, we need to keep it in the most desirable and lavish condition which is not possible without fertilizer.
Fortunately, the market is full of all types of fertilizers that you can purchase to acquire a specific goal. For example, if you want longer, thicker, and denser grass blades, you may opt for the fertilizer having a higher nitrogen concentration. Similarly, for enhanced root growth, you can get a phosphorus-rich plant feed. And for maintaining a healthy, disease-free lawn, you can purchase a fertilizer with an optimum NPK ratio.
In other words, buying a magical supplement formula for your lawn is not something out of the blue these days. But, the matter is not only about getting the best fertilizer. For gaining the maximum out of that plant feed, you also need to know about the best time to apply it and the best and most correct way to apply it.
Many people think that the best time to apply fertilizer is spring since that’s the part of the year where plants start to thrive once again after a long period of dormancy. However, that’s not the case. According to our gardening experts, the time of the year, wherein your plants and grass need an external nutrient supplement the most is the fall! How? Let us explain that to you!
Table of Contents
Why should you fertilize your lawn in the fall?
How do you feel after a long and extremely busy working week? Physically sore, mentally drained, and not feeling a single droplet of energy in your muscles. To regain your strength after such a harsh and tiring routine, you need to have some rest and eat a healthy, full of energy and nutrients meal.
Your lawn wants the same. During the summer, your lawn has to face many challenges like drought, higher foot traffic, weed and pest attacks, and most of all, the unbearable, skin burning heat. By the fall, it gets completely tired and out of energy and nutrients.
Thus, to nourish the grass again, you have to feed it with an organic supplement which could act as a power booster. Moreover, fertilizing your lawn in the fall will also help the plants to regain whatever has been lost in the relentless summer.
Feed during the nutrient-deprived autumnAs stated before, your plants have to go through drought-like conditions and various other challenges during the summer which make your plants run out of energy and nutrients. Also, when the fall takes over, the plants start to shed their leaves and lose the food stored in them.
In other words, during the autumn, the fuel tank of your plants is empty and survival is most difficult for them at that time. By fertilizing your plants in the fall, you not only save them from nutrient deficiencies but also prepare them to combat the blood-freezing winter coming ahead.
Feed during the nutrient-deprived autumnAs stated before, your plants have to go through drought-like conditions and various other challenges during the summer which make your plants run out of energy and nutrients. Also, when the fall takes over, the plants start to shed their leaves and lose the food stored in them.
In other words, during the autumn, the fuel tank of your plants is empty and survival is most difficult for them at that time. By fertilizing your plants in the fall, you not only save them from nutrient deficiencies but also prepare them to combat the blood-freezing winter coming ahead.
Prepare for the freezing winterRight after the fall, your plants will be headed towards another period of dormancy. No doubt that the winter will let your grass rest for some long and deserving months due to lower foot traffic, but during the snowy winter, they won’t be able to photosynthesize to the required extent.
And as stated before, plants also shed their leaves during the autumn, they are already starving for nutrients. All these circumstances may end up making your plants deprived of essential nutrients and minerals, as a result of which, they won’t be able to thrive in spring all over again.
Thus, by fertilizing your lawn in the fall, you are packing a lunch box for your plants so they could survive in extreme weather and say welcome to the next spring healthily.
What is the best time to fertilize the lawn during fall?
Now the next question is when in fall, we should fertilize our lawns? The answer depends upon a single thing; the time your fertilizer takes to get absorbed by the lawn.
Usually, the fertilizer needs to stay in its area of application for at least 15-30 days so it can seep down towards the roots and not even a single nutrient gets wasted. Remember, as soon as the winter arrives, the bedtime for your plants will begin and they won’t respond to whatever you sprinkle around them. So, you and your plants won’t get any benefit from the fertilizer at all.
Thus, the best time to fertilize your lawn in the fall is at least three weeks before the earth starts to freeze. Usually, that’s the period between 1st September to 15th October. You can also plan your fall fertilizing schedule according to your local climate.
Moreover, you should apply your fall fertilizer after 6-8 weeks of your last summer fertilizing. In this way, the plants could reap all the benefits from both feeds.
If you are living in a rainy region, then you are lucky since frequent rainfall makes the plants more receptive to taking up the nutrients from the feed. However, make sure that there’s no upcoming rainfall on the weatherboard for at least two to three days. If so, postpone the fertilizer application for a few days and apply it three days after the rainfall.
Remember that cool-season turfgrass needs only a single fertilizer application throughout the year so you better fertilize it in autumn so they could develop an extensive root system and attain a quick green-up.
Lastly, the time of the day at which you should fertilize also matters since it directly controls your fertilizer’s efficacy. We’d suggest you apply fertilizer in the morning or before the sunset, the time when the temperature is moderate.
What is the best fall fertilizer?
Which fertilizer is best for your lawn mainly depends upon the type of grass you are having. All the commercially available fertilizers come with a specific NPK ratio which is shown over the label as three numeral values such as 10-20-10.
Keep in mind that each nutrient helps to chase a specific target and according to the target you are looking to chase, you can choose a fertilizer with desired NPK ratio.
As stated before, the cool-season grass needs only a single application throughout the year. In such a case, you better go with a plant feed having higher nitrogen concentration since this element helps your grass look thicker, denser, and greener. However, make sure that the feed contains slow-releasing nitrogen in the composition so the grass could rely upon one-time application for the upcoming chilly season.
On the other hand, if you are having warm-season grass on your lawn, you would have to fertilize your lawn twice in the fall. In this case, get a fertilizer with a higher nitrogen concentration for the first application. While for the second application, purchase a fertilizer with a higher potassium concentration.
You can also get exclusive fall fertilizers (to be used during fall), winterizes (to use during the late fall), and general fertilizers (to use in all seasons). Such fertilizers come with a balanced NPK ratio and are also budget-friendly.
What is the best way to fertilize your lawn in the fall?
To apply fall feed to your lawn, all you need to do is to follow some simple steps as follows
Bottom line
A major misconception among the gardeners’ community is that the lawn care is only constricted to summer and spring, the periods when the plants are actively growing. However, the reality is far different. It’s the autumn when your lawn is in its most vulnerable condition and needs your fullest support.
Remember that your fall fertilizer acts as a nutritional base for your plants since it nourishes their roots which, in turn, makes them capable of blooming with more grace and charm, in the next spring. In other words, the time, efforts, and fertilizer you are investing in fall will surprise you pleasantly in the spring.