All living things need food and this includes your Manhattan and Frankfort, IL lawn. While it would be nice to think the soil offers everything your grass needs to flourish, the truth is that the healthiest lawns need fertilizer.
Related: WHY LAWN FERTILIZATION IS A HUGE PART OF LAWN CARE IN NEW LENOX, IL
Benefits of Fertilizer
Fertilizer is composed of nutrients that your grass needs to grow thick and lush. Like vitamins and good food for humans helps us to stay healthier, fertilizer does the same for plants. Fertilizer can come from natural sources or it can be man-made.
Natural fertilizer: This fertilizer comes from poultry or horse manure, kelp, mushroom manure, bone meal, blood meal, and other natural sources that have nutrients in them to feed the grass.
Synthetic fertilizer: Synthetic fertilizers are manufactured from components that add nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus to the soil which in turn reaches the grass roots to feed the plants.
Both types of fertilizer will feed your grass to encourage strong root and leaf growth.
Healthy Growth
Fertilizer gives your lawn the essential nutrients it needs to grow. If even one of the necessary nutrients is missing, your lawn will reflect that. Grass can grow faster and be more hardy with the right food.
Potassium helps strengthen the plants against disease and helps it to withstand the hot summer days. This nutrient helps the plant not to wither in the sun and prevents yellowing of the leaves.
Phosphorus helps your grass with making its own food. All plants make their food by the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis lets a plant produce its own food and store that food for later, too.
Nitrogen is the third component of fertilizer and probably the most important. Grass absorbs more nitrogen than any other nutrient, helping the plants remain healthy and strong. Nitrogen is essential in the protein formation that grass needs to keep healthy tissue. Grass that does not have enough nitrogen can turn yellow and wither.
Drawbacks of Fertilizer
One of the main drawbacks of fertilizer is that too much fertilizer can burn your lawn and leave it worse than it started. This is a reason why you need to trust the expertise of a landscape and lawn professional to apply the fertilizer in correct amounts and the proper nutrient ratio for your unique grass and soil.
How a Professional Can Help
A landscape professional has the experience and knowledge of all the grass types to ensure your lawn gets what it needs to thrive and grow strong. They also have the equipment to apply the ideal amount of fertilizer that will boost your grass and roots without burning the delicate growth.
Their team will be in and out of your yard quickly since they have the tools and equipment such as spreaders to apply the fertilizer with no mess left behind.
They will recommend that you water your grass after fertilizer application to allow the slow release granules to melt gradually, feeding your lawn the right amount of nutrients at any given time.
Because they are handling the care and nurture of lawns daily, they are familiar with the latest practices and innovative technologies to create the lawn you desire. Fertilizer is an essential part of any lawn care strategy but it can also be a problem if you are not familiar with proper use.
