Tips on Fertilizing Your Yard This Spring

It’s hard to believe with the wind howling and the snow falling, but spring is coming, and one of the items on the top of your “to do list” is probably to hire a lawn care company or prepare to fertilize your lawn yourself during the upcoming growing season. Unfortunately, the traditional methods of fertilizing our lawns may not be the best methods, and may actually be harming your lawn, your pocketbook, and the environment all at once.

Fertilizers supply three main nutrients to our lawns – nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). If you have ever read a fertilizer bag, you will have noticed three numbers separated by hyphens; these are the concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, in that order. Nitrogen is utilized most quickly by plants, with potassium being used about half as quickly, and phosphorus being taken up much more slowly. For this reason, many of our lawns do not need the phosphorus we are adding year after year. Not only are we being wasteful in applying it, but the unused nutrients are running off into our streams, rivers, and reservoirs, and causing major water-quality concerns!

Excess phosphorus contaminates our drinking water supplies, requiring more work by the water companies to produce healthy, safe water. These nutrients also promote aquatic weed and algae growth, because after all, we apply it to make our plants grow better, and aquatic plants benefit just as much as those in our yards! Phosphorus runoff also harms native wildlife habitats, as the increased plant and algae growth make breeding and foraging more difficult and also suck the oxygen out of the water. As you can see, the problems caused by applying unnecessary fertilizer are many, and the solution is simple – test your soil and only apply the nutrients that it needs!

Purdue University has a great publication describing the proper method of taking a soil test (click here for download). The sample you take can then be sent to a laboratory for analysis, and you will receive a detailed report of your soils pH and nutrient levels, among other things. There are also companies that will perform the entire test for you if you would rather leave the sampling to a professional. Once you receive your results, take a good look at them. According to a recent study by Purdue University, 89% of home lawns do not need added phosphorus. If your soils fall into this category, look for a fertilizer bag with zero (or a very low number) as the middle digit. When you apply your fertilizer, avoid spreading onto areas like your driveway, sidewalk, and patio, where the fertilizer is not needed and runs off as soon as it rains. Speaking of rain, avoid applying nutrients when rain is in the forecast to give your lawn time to take up the fertilizer and again, avoid its runoff. If you hire a lawn care company, ask them to apply a phosphorus-free treatment. Oftentimes, the cost is the same, making it a very simple and beneficial choice for your yard and our environment! Your yard will be just as green and lush as ever, you are saving resources by not applying unnecessary nutrients, and you are preventing the plethora of water quality concerns mentioned above; doesn’t that sound like a good reason to change your lawn care tradition in the upcoming year?

The Hamilton County Soil & Water Conservation District has resources available to help landowners make the right choice – contact us today if you would like more information!

Contact:
Shaena Reinhart
Urban Conservationist
Certified Wildlife Biologist
Hamilton County SWCD

1155 S. 10th St.
Noblesville, IN 46060

(317) 773-2181