Are you struggling to keep your lawn green? Lawn care can be challenging, but fertilizing your lawn doesn’t need to be difficult! Knowing when to fertilize your lawn and how to eliminate weeds and grubs will help you grow the greenest lawn on the block.
Most people fertilize only when they think their lawns need to be greener. What they don’t realize is that fertilizing your lawn requires a consistent, strategic approach. If you want the greenest, healthiest lawn in the long run, you’ll need to fertilize on a deliberate schedule, water correctly, and follow other recommended care guidelines. Read on to learn about our recommended fertilizing schedule for Utah lawns.
March–Early April Lawn Treatment
When the snow melts in March or early April, you should apply an early spring fertilizer to help your lawn come out of its dormant state. Once the snow is mostly melted, the soil will slowly start to warm up, and your lawn’s roots will start searching for water and nutrients. If you fertilize at this point, the grass will soak it up and deepen its roots.
Some homeowners worry that fertilizing before turning on their sprinklers will hurt the lawn. Fortunately, it rains enough in springtime that you won’t need to use your sprinklers to water in your early spring fertilizer treatments.
April–May Lawn Treatments
In April or May, you should apply your second fertilizer treatment to your lawn. This is also a good time to apply a weed preventative (pre-emergent) treatment. Pre-emergent will help keep annual weeds from germinating. If you apply pre-emergent, fewer weeds will grow on your lawn in the summer. However, remember that it only affects seeds that have yet to germinate. Weed seeds that have already started growing will be unaffected by pre-emergent treatments.
Another problem you may need to address in April and May is grubs. Some types of grubs overwinter in the soil beneath your lawn and continue feeding on the roots once the ground thaws in spring. For this reason, you may want to apply grub spot treatments to the lawn as needed in April or May.
You should also apply a grub preventative treatment to prepare for the grubs that will try to feed on your grass in the middle of summer. Most types of grubs don’t become a problem in your grass until late summer and fall, so applying a grub preventative treatment will keep them from feeding on your grass later in the year.
June Lawn Treatments
In June, you should apply a summer fertilizer treatment to the grass. Summer fertilizer will keep your lawn green as seasons change. You’ll want to water after applying this treatment because high temperatures can damage fertilizer-coated grass blades.
You’ll probably start to encounter more weeds on your lawn as we enter the summer months, so pre-emergent and spot-weed control will be particularly beneficial for your lawn at this time of year. The combination of pre-emergent and spot-weed control will allow your lawn to eliminate weed seeds and current weeds.
Some lawns will also need grub control spot treatments during June. Grubs can cause major damage over time, so the earlier you treat them, the better. If your lawn develops patches of yellow grass, you should check for grubs. You can check for grubs by pulling up a fistful of grass. If the turf lifts with your hand, then grubs have probably chewed through the roots.
At this point, you can cut a small section of the yellow grass, roll it back, and search for the grubs themselves. They usually live on the surface of the soil where they can easily munch on lawn roots. Once you spot the grubs, apply grub control treatments to those areas regularly until the insects disappear.
July–August Lawn Treatments
In July or August, you should apply a late summer fertilizer. Make sure you water after applying summer fertilizer to avoid scorching the grass blades. You should also spot treat with weed or grub control as needed at this time of year. Weed control treatments should not be watered in, but every fertilizer treatment and most grub control treatments should be watered in for the best results.
Summer fertilizer will help keep your lawn from going dormant during the heat, but without spring fertilizer, the root system (the base of a healthy lawn) is starting at a disadvantage. Strengthening lawn roots is very difficult in the summer because the grass is stressed and in survival mode rather than growth mode. For this reason, the best way to strengthen the roots is to apply fall and spring fertilizer treatments. This gives the lawn a chance to grow strong roots in preparation for summer.
September Lawn Treatments
Around September, your lawn is ready for its first fall fertilizer treatment. This is one of the most important rounds of fertilizer because it helps the lawn repair itself after the summer heat. Many lawns are damaged in summer drought conditions, so this treatment goes a long way to repair that damage. This treatment should also be watered into the soil.
October–November Lawn Treatments
In October or November, you should apply a late fall fertilizer treatment to your lawn. This treatment helps your lawn store energy in its roots over the winter. Lawns that receive late fall fertilizer are a step ahead of other lawns in the spring. They’ll have stronger root systems that help them withstand summer heat stress.
Our lawn specialists highly recommend applying this treatment to your lawn. Even if your lawn doesn’t receive weed control or grub control applications during this time, it should still receive fertilizer.
Try out our fertilization schedule this year and see how beautiful your lawn looks in fall! We use top-quality products and follow a treatment schedule similar to the one described above for our 6-time lawn spraying program. Call or text our office at 801-226-2261 for more information and a free quote!