How to Fertilize a Lawn

I am Bill Elzey with Showplace Lawns. Let's talk about fertilizing the lawns. First you are going to need a fertilizer spreader and there are two types for this. There is a drop fertilizer which basically just drops the fertilizer in front of you as you go then there is the whirly bird kind which spins it out. In my opinion that's the best way to do it. You get better coverage and you cover area quicker. You are also going to need a good fertilizer. At Showplace Lawns we do everything organically so I am going to recommend that you use a very good organic fertilizer, one that is lower in nitrogen and will do a good job for you. With the spreader and we will talk about the whirly bird types, they will shoot fertilizer out at a distance in front of you but off to the side. You want to make sure that when you fertilize you overlap your trips back and forth across the yard. Check to see where the fertilizer comes out, line it up with a point at the end so when you get down there you know I go over there and then I go this distance on the other side so that that will come back and meet what we have got and make the trip back. Go the same direction over the entire yard. Once you are finished either with a blower or a broom, clean up the sidewalks, driveways, streets, curbs and then just scatter that fertilizer back on the lawn. Now an organic fertilizer can sit for several days without needing water. It will not burn but it will need to be watered in thoroughly to get it to activate and start working. So a good organic fertilizer, overlap your passes, go the same direction and water it in very thoroughly. The next time you mow after you have fertilized and you definitely want to water the fertilizer in before you mow if you are using a mulching mower, you will get the equivalent of one third of another fertilizer. So basically if you fertilizer three times a year, April, June, and October and you are still mowing in October you get the equivalent of one fertilizer so you fertilize three times then you mow it and you wind up with the equivalent of four fertilizer apps during that year.