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When To Fertilize New Grass – The Key To A Healthy Green Grass

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Lawn fertilizer is a key component to improving your old, yellowish or patchy garden. Giving your lawn the best chance for growth requires just a little time and attention to cultivate new grass seedlings when you’re ready!

You must be thinking, how does this work and when to fertilize new grass? Lawn care doesn’t have to be difficult, but you need to follow proper techniques and timings to get the best foliage around. Continue reading this article to get to know the best time for fertilizing the grass.

Scotts Turf Builder Starter Food for New Grass When To Fertilize New Grass
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Fertilizing Grass is Essential For Garden Care

To keep your lawn looking green and lush, you need an experienced hand in fertilizing. One of the notable aspects when sowing new grass is having a well-balanced fertilizer for sustainable growth. It must contain all essential nutrients that will allow it to be strong enough not to die off quickly.

  • Fertilizing new grass results in an established roots system that keeps it lush green without much effort on your part.
  • This way, if any area gets struck by drought, there’s still plenty leftover just waiting out those hot summer months without burning up too fast.
  • Giving your grass the right kind of fertilizer will help it grow well. So, be sure to give it nutrients by watering or putting on some compost.
  • Weeds, pests, and erosion are natural enemies of healthy grass. A proper fertilizer is a key to keeping it safe from these dangers!

Choose The Right Fertilizer – Starter Fertilizer VS. Regular Fertilizer

Choosing the right fertilizer for new grass is important, and so is knowing the difference between a starter and regular fertilizers. You can get away with using a “starter” that is not meant for established sod. The composition of starter fertilizer is different from regular fertilizers.

NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) nutrients are not present in regular fertilizer as the established grass doesn’t require them while these are present in starter fertilizer.

Slow-release fertilizers, i.e., regular fertilizers, are meant for longer periods where nutrients will be made available over time but still provide enough nutrition in one application.

So, it doesn’t need repeating often. On the other hand, starter fertilizer is a quick-release fertilizer, meaning once applied; they become immediately accessible.

Thus, you can see improved growth right away – this way, your lawn has an opportunity to establish itself much quicker than if used with traditional methods.

The important point is to note that when the grass becomes mature, your lawn needs regular fertilizers. Starter fertilizer can damage established grass rather than benefiting it.

Starter FertilizerRegular Fertilizer
For New GrassFor Established Grass
Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium (NPK)
Always PresentMay not be present
NPK Ratio
21:22:430:0:0 or 27:3:3
Type Of Release
“Quick release” “Slow release”
Nutrients Availability
Nutrients not available all at onceNutrients available for the new grass right away

When To Fertilize New Grass

Fertilizing your new grass depends on two factors – the right time to seed and the adequate time of adding fertilizer.

  • If your lawn has cool-season species type, the perfect time to seed is the end of summer or early fall.
  • The warm-season grasses should be seeded in late spring.
  • Make sure that the soil condition and atmosphere are suitable to the grass type.

Add fertilizer before sowing or while sowing the seeds – this is the best time to give your new grass some healthy food in advance! The benefits of adding starter fertilizer early in the growing season include:

  • The soil is prepared for planting and better able to take up water, nutrients.
  • Starter Fertilizer provides a kick-start when starting from seed.
  • Your grass will be lush and green much earlier than expected.
  • When you plant something else later, there are no problems with yield loss due to a lack of nutrition.

>>Read More about New Grass:

Re-fertilize New Grass For The Best Growth

Giving proper food for seeds and seedlings is important in ensuring you are taking good care of your garden. It’s possible that even properly applied starter fertilizer isn’t enough to achieve a healthy start for your grass. It needs a frequent application to achieve the best results.

Since each lawn is different, you need to determine how much additional fertilizer your grass needs. The best way for most people is by looking at the growth rate of their new plantings. You can re fertilize when they’re between 1 inch tall and 3-4 inches high (or about three weeks after planting).

Tips To Fertilize New Grass

Here are some quick and noteworthy tips that help you achieve a healthy turf avoiding any potential setbacks.

  1. To find the right fertilizer for your needs, you should first test the soil pH and then choose appropriate one for your soil conditions.
  2. Use starter fertilizer for your new grass sod that is especially useful if your phosphorus (P) is low.
  3. Use a broadcast spreader when fertilizing your lawn as it evenly distributes the fertilizer. Scotts 76232 Turf Builder EdgeGuard DLX Broadcast Spreader can be the best option.
  4. Don’t use handheld spreaders as this old technique doesn’t give even distribution of fertilizers resulting in accidental over-fertilization sometimes.
  5. Avoid over-fertilizing the soil, which puts the plants at the risk of burning or drying.
  6. Apply a starter fertilizer before or directly after seeding.
Scotts 76232 Turf Builder EdgeGuard DLX Broadcast Spreader When To Fertilize New Grass
Scotts 76232 Turf Builder EdgeGuard DLX Broadcast Spreader via Amazon.com

Conclusion

A beautiful lawn is the sign of a well-maintained home. To avoid ugly patches and a thriving yard, you must know “when to fertilize new grass.” This article covers this topic by concluding:

  • The best time to fertilize new grass is during seeding and later about three weeks following planting. In this way, the roots will have enough nutrients from fertilizer that they can grow easily into a healthy lawn.
  • It is best to choose starter fertilizer for your new grass to fulfil its needs.

You are always welcome to ask us any question about the best tips for your lawn care. Leave them in the comment section below, and we will get back with as much information we can provide.