The question most people ask Affinity LawnScapes© is "when to fertilize?" To answer this question, you should consider these four factors: climate, grass type, the fertilizer being used, and how you want your lawn to look. For those of us who want our lawn looking its best, we fertilize your lawn 4-5 times a year. For your lawn’s sake, you should at least let us fertilize twice a year.

There are two types of grasses: Warm-Season & Cool-Season. Each grass has its own growing season; therefore, each requires a different schedule for fertilizing. We apply fertilizers when your lawn is actively growing. Fertilization with nitrogen while your lawn is dormant encourages weed growth, and ultimately waste fertilizer.

We have included in this section some general fertilizing guidelines that we follow to help determine what the best program is for you. Before you begin using the tables as a reference, you should know that there are a few things we consider prior to choosing a fertilizer for your lawn:

Many fertilizers on the market today come as combinations, or can be mixed during the same application time with other agents. For example, fertilizers are often mixed with weed controls, pest controls, moss controls, dandelion controls, etc.. If they are not mixed, but you have a disease or pest problem, we purchase the treatment separately and apply it based on your needs. The table on the following page shows the suggested fertilizer components, mixtures, and the correct time for applying those fertilizers based on common seasonal occurrences, such as weed and pest outbreaks. We will need to decide which best applies to your lawn.

We avoid applying nitrogen when your lawn is dormant or has not yet greened-up. The growing stimulant provided by the nitrogen could end up encouraging weed growth or the growth of other unwanted grasses in your lawn. We always make sure that the nitrogen works for the grass already growing, and not the other stuff. If you have had a long winter and the grass is not yet established, then don't get worried if your schedule to fertilize gets delayed or modified. Your lawn doesn't care what your calendar says, so we are flexible enough to deal with it.

We provide enough intervals between fertilizing to allow the previous application to finish, thereby avoiding over-fertilization and possibly burning your lawn with the next application.

Before fertilizing, we make sure your lawn does not have an excess buildup of thatch that can suspend the fertilizer in the grass leaves and inhibiting it from reaching the soil. Suspended fertilizer can also burn the grass leafs.

We avoid fertilizing your lawn during periods of drought or when it is excessively dry. Most fertilizers need a good couple of waterings after fertilizing, and if the fertilizer sits without a good soaking, it could burn your lawn. If you want us to fertilize in August during a drought and cannot water your lawn, just wait or even skip the application until more moderate weather arrives. Remember, fertilizing should help your lawn, not hurt it!

Every lawn and climate is unique. Ultimately, the perfect schedule for your lawn depends on you. If this isn't something you want to tackle, Affinity LawnScapes© will be glad to help you.

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