Let’s talk today about adding nitrogen to your lawn properly and what results to expect. Read the entire article cuz I also talk about knowing how much you are putting down.
Nitrogen And Your Lawn
Nitrogen is NOT plant food first off guys. We apply fertilizer and say we are “feeding the lawn” but that is really not the case. Plants (including grass) make their own food through the process of photosynthesis. The nutrients we apply to the lawn and soil (like nitrogen) serve to support that process by building stronger, more vigorous plants.
Just like humans take vitamin supplements – these don’t make us grow taller or bigger, but they do support overall health of the body.
Nitrogen is truly the backbone nutrient involved in any lawn fertilizing program.
Nitrogen drives leaf tissue growth. The more plant leaf tissue we have, the more sunlight we can grab and the more the process of photosynthesis abounds! That makes the lawn thicker in case you were wondering!
If you have a super thin lawn that is not growing well, you need a good dose of nitrogen. I recommend anywhere from ¾ to 1 full pound (per 1,000 sq ft) in the spring in this case, and another ¾ pound in the fall time. If you have my lawn care book, you will see exactly what to buy and when to apply it.
It is super important that you understand the number on the bag of fertilizer you purchase and how that applies to you actually spreading product on the lawn.
Let’s assume you purchased a bag of fert and the numbers on there (the analysis) look like this:
25-2-5
The first number is nitrogen, the second is phosphorus and the last one in potassium. But for us, we are looking at the Nitrogen…
2 important things to look at
1) Amount of N per 1,000 sq feet – we need to do some math here. For our purposes here, the “25” is what we are using in this example.
2) Pounds on the ground – how many sq ft does the bag cover? This tells you the amount of product to apply per 1,000 square feet of lawn.
Amount Of N
If your bag has the number 25 for nitrogen (usually the first of the three numbers on the bag), then that means 25% of the material in the bag contains usable nitrogen. If you are applying the fertilizer at a rate of 4 lbs of product per 1,000 square feet of lawn space, then that will effectively give you 1 lb of N on the lawn.
4lbs of product x .25 N = 1 full pound N
Earthway 2030PPlus Deluxe Lawn & Garden Spreader with 9-Inch Pneumatic Wheels
Overall Rating: Retail Price: $89.99
Amazon Price: $80.94
Pounds On The Ground
| Earthway 2030PPlus Deluxe Lawn & Garden Spreader with 9-Inch Pneumatic Wheels |
|
Overall Rating: |
| Retail Price: $89.99 |
| Amazon Price: $80.94 |
Always- always- always follow the label instructions for “pounds on the ground” keeping in mind that we standardize lawn applications according to square feet.
If the bag covers 5,000 square feet and is 20 lbs, then you are applying 4 lbs of product per 1,000 square feet of lawn area. Get it?
20 lbs / 5 = 4lbs per 1,000 sq feet
If that same bag has 25% nitrogen then that means that each 1,000 square feet of lawn area will get 1 lb of N.
I bet you are completely confused now ain’t ya? But it is important to understand this concept because if you screw it up, you could burn the heck out of your lawn, or on the other end, waste product by not applying enough and get no results.
This is another reason to have a quality lawn spreader that will shoot the product out in a consistent pattern. This way you only have to adjust your walking speed in order to get the right amount of product down per 1,000 sq feet of lawn space.
What If My Lawn Is Already Thick And Healthy? How Much Nitrogen?
On the flip side, if your lawn is in good shape already, you should back down to ½ pound in the spring and apply a super slow releasing organic fertilizer like Milorganite that also contains iron. This will slow-feed the lawn without pushing growth too much.
It’s really a dance that you have to get good at. I assume that a lot of you are pretty much still in the dark here, so I am going to make a video to further illustrate the point for ya! In the meantime, why don’t you grab a cold craft beer and check it out!
