When it comes to keeping your body healthy, learning the basics of proper nutrition is the first step. Your lawn is no different. Fertilizing your lawn provides it with the necessary nutrients it needs to be healthy and attractive. So, in order to do this right, here are the basics for fertilizing your lawn this season.

Why is Fertilization Important?

When you give your lawn the proper fertilizer, you will ensure that your lawn maintains its healthy look and feel. Here are some of the ways that fertilizer will help your lawn:

• Fertilizer promotes new root and leaf growth - By adding nutrients to your lawn, you will increase new growth for your lawn, making it even healthier.

• Fertilizer can help reduce the spread of weeds - When your lawn is healthy, it can often fend off the advances of weeds far better than any other weed killing solution. Also, if you already have weeds, a good fertilizer can help control them.

• Fertilizer helps to lessen damage - If your lawn is walked on often or you live in an area with pests, fertilizing can help to lessen the damage these factors can cause.

• Fertilizer is a multivitamin for your lawn - By adding fertilizer to your lawn on a routine basis, the nutrients that are lost due to environmental conditions will be replaced.

Kind of Fertilizer

The important thing to note is that all types of grass and soil require different fertilizers. When choosing the best fertilizer for your lawn, you must first learn both the type of grass and the type of soil in your yard. If you are not sure, you may consider bringing a clipping of your grass and a soil sample to the lawn care store or have TruGreen choose the fertilizer that is best for your lawn.

Here are the four main kinds of fertilizer you can buy:

• Liquid - This Liquid formula is generally easier for some soils to absorb, especially when the soil is not very moist (i.e. clay based). Liquid fertilizer is taken into grass quickly and will begin to produce results within weeks. However, since the fertilizer is absorbed quickly, you will need to reapply every few weeks for maximum benefit

• Granular - The Granular formula of fertilizer is a bit more slow acting and is applied to the surface of the grass. Granular fertilizer can be easier to measure because you can see where the fertilizer is being placed and adjust your application when necessary. Just add water to this fertilizer in order for it to be absorbed into the lawn.

• Slow release - These fertilizers can come in two different formulations - Sulfur Coated (that takes about 8 weeks to absorb) and Polymer Coated (which take about 12 weeks). They are also known as Water Insoluble Nitrogen fertilizers and should only be used as recommended.

• Quick release - These fertilizers are geared toward large applications as in farming and commercial use. These fertilizers are Water Soluble Nitrogen and will need to be reapplied every two to four weeks.

Before You Start

There are three simple steps that you must take before you can fertilize your lawn:

1. Find out the kind of grass you have

2. Test the pH of the grass soil. You can do this easily by using pH strips that are designed for lawn testing. These can be found at your local lawn care store.

3. Measure the size of your lawn in square footage.

These steps will ensure that you buy the right fertilizer as well as the right amount needed to get the job done right.

When to Fertilize

Depending on where you live in the United States, you will need to apply your fertilizer at different times of the year.

For those in the northern areas, you will need to apply your lawn fertilizer at the end of the hot season, but before it gets too cold. You will also want to fertilize in the spring just as the ground is beginning to thaw.

Residents living in the central areas of the U.S. will need to begin to fertilize in the spring as the grass begins to turn green. Then, fertilize again after the hot season is over.