Lawn Fertilizing and Care

Best advice for customers that are wondering: 

Where to start?

Get a soil test done, or a home PH Tester kit to find out what their soil is lacking. The ideal PH level is between 6-7. We can make standard fertilizer suggestion based on the season, but a soil test may show different results based on past treatment of their specific soil.

What do you currently have?

New Lawn – A needs more phosphorous to produce roots. Don’t use high nitrogen because the roots are not ready to handle high growth speed. Ideally use Small - Big - Big.

Established Lawn – An established very healthy lawn needs primarily nitrogen, since it is not producing any fruit or flowers, ideally use Big-small-small. If it is an established lawn with any health issues, like weeds moss, yellow, patches, etc, an equal value fertilizer would be more appropriate.

When to Fertilize Lawns?

Generally speaking we have cool climate grass varieties. Normal recommendation is to fertilize at the beginning of the spring, summer, and fall, at the very least early spring and fall.

What weather is best to fertilize in?

Weather is an important factor in fertilizer application. The ideal conditions would be a day or two BEFORE a forecast of light, steady rain. You should not fertilize a wet lawn or extremely dry, to prevent leeching or burning of your grass. If you are fertilizing and the weather forecast is sunny for a few days after, be sure to water your lawn for a couple of days after application.

Weed Control

Start Early! Your best defense from ugly weeds begins in the spring before many of them have begun to sprout. Many of the weed control products on the market now have changed, which many customers still question.

In the past, you could buy what was called SELECTIVE pesticides/herbicides that would kill a specific type of weed that you did not want in your lawn, the prime example is Dandelion. Now NON-SELCTIVE are the majority of what you are allowed to buy over the counter. These non-selective are also referred to as “spot-sprays”, you literally have to spray it in the specific “spot”, on the specific weed you want to kill. If you were to spray a non-selective pesticide all over your lawn it would not differentiate between a weed and your grass, so it would kill everything. These non-selective are good in places you want to kill everything, for example if you have a driveway or path that has grass and weeds growing through the stones, it will kill all growth.

This creates a problem when you have a lawn full of grass and dandelion/weeds mixed together, your options are very limited now:

• You can “spot-spray” each individual weed.

• You can dig up, roots and all, each individual weed.

Important: This is all aside from farmers that have a PESTICIDE APPLICATORS LICENCE, they can buy COMMERCIAL grade pesticides (which still include selective pesticides).

Moss Control

Why it grows:

• Moss is an opportunistic plant. It will NOT push out grass or kill plants to take hold. It will simply move into a spot where nothing is growing.

Reasons you have moss:

• Compacted soil

• Poor drainage

• Low pH – Grass needs a mature or slightly alkaline soil to thrive. If your soil has a low pH and is high in acidity, the grass will die. Moss thrives in acidic soil.

• Lack of sunlight; Makes it difficult for grass to grow and is preferred by moss, hence why it grows mainly on the shaded side of your house.

How to kill Moss:

• Using a fertilizer containing Iron (FE) will help kill moss, like the pesticides it will kill everything in the area. After treatment, the moss will turn black and you can rake it out, and re-seed the area. The trick with moss is to know what caused it in the first place, because it will continue to come back it that it not solved. Moss generally likes dark, wet areas, with poor drainage. Consider trimming trees to allow lighter areas and filling in any dips in the ground where water will gather.

How to keep it from coming back:

• Improve drainage.

• Prune trees to allow more light to get in

• LIME!!! You will never hurt your lawn with lime.

• Air-rate your lawn every 1-2 years.

• Choose a seed appropriate for our soil/climate.

Clover

• Clover is a very common plant found on many lawns in Newfoundland. Some people love it, others hate it. Here are the pros and the cons of clover seed:

Good:

• Clover will grow in areas of low nitrogen.

• It will take nitrogen out of the air and make it available to your lawn.

• It helps the lawn stay healthy and it is also pest resistant.

• It improves the thickness of your lawn by filling in bare spots.

Bad:

• Has a (usually) white or red flower which some people may find undesirable.

• It is very difficult to remove.

Removing Clover:

• There are only two ways to get rid of established clover:

1. Hand pulling

2. Round Up (Round Up is a weed chemical that will essentially kill everything, including your lawn).

Prevention is key:

• Keeping your lawn height around two inches and mowing frequently, ensuring lawns and flowerbeds are well fertilized, and using a pre-emergent herbicide. This may help keep clover from growing into your lawn. But, if you do not mind it’s appearance, it can be a healthy and lovely addition to your landscape!Click this text to start editing. This block is a basic combination of a title and a paragraph. Use it to welcome visitors to your website, or explain a product or service without using an image. Try keeping the paragraph short and breaking off the text-only areas of your page to keep your website interesting to visitors.