The Green View

Fertilizing Your Lawn: the "why," "when" and "how"...

Why is the grass always greener on the other side of the fence?  Maybe because your neighbor uses Greenview Fairway Formula Spring Fertilizer 26-4-12!  The “why,” “when” and “how” of fertilizing your lawn can be confusing, and you may have questions as you gaze across your starving turf.  So why should you fertilize your lawn? 

There is a better reason to fertilize than “green grass envy.” Fertilizing is an important regular lawn maintenance practice, just as vitamins and regular exercise are important for your own physical well-being. Your lawn is a living, breathing wonder and fertilizing enhances the color of the grass, and strengthens it against disease, weeds, parasites and stress.  If you take your lawn for granted and neglect it, the weeds and brown spots are sure to appear.

There is some science to the process of fertilizing your lawn, but it’s not as complicated as you might think, and Greenview products and services make it easy and carefree for you.  First, remember that grass is not just grass. There are different kinds of grasses growing in lawns and each type may have its own requirements. One of the most important factors in selecting the type of turf grass is the climate in which you live. If you live in the southern U.S., your lawn may consist of “warm-season” grass like Bermudagrass, Buffalograss, Zoysiagrass, Centipedegrass, Bahiagrass or St. Augustinegrass, to name a few.  In the North and in Canada, your lawn may be a “cool-season” grass like Bentgrasses, Bluegrasses, Fescues and Ryegrasses.  And between these extremes and in the Eastern U.S., we have “transition zones,” toughest for growing grass because it’s too hot for some, too cold for others.  So often your grass in these areas will be a mixture, building on the strengths of each grass type.

So it’s good to know what grass grows best in your climate and under your outdoor conditions. Once you know what kind of grass you have, next question is when to fertilize? The answer: during your growing seasons.  In most areas of the country, in spring, your grass is re-born, growing new roots and shoots hungry for nutrition.  A good rule of thumb is to fertilize after the first three mowings.  We recommend Greenview Fairway Formula Spring Weed & Feed with Crabgrass Preventer and applying it after the forsythia has bloomed but before the dandelions go to the "puff ball" stage. The combination of weed control ingredients kill over 200 broadleaf weeds and prevent crabgrass. And in fall, your lawn reaches down deep to survive the winter, developing a strong root system. Greenview recommends applying Greenview Fairway Formula Fall Fertilizer in early September followed by an application of Greenview Fairway Formula Late Fall Fertilizer (Winterizer) around the time you put the lawn mower away, usually mid to late November. 

Depending on your area of the country, your growing seasons will vary.  So to be sure you are fertilizing just enough, but not too much, by matching the grass you have (warm weather, cool weather or mixture) with your growing seasons to customize your fertilizing schedule.

For your cool season grasses, give them one to two light feedings in the early fall to promote root growth but not heavy enough to promote top growing.  Mid-spring feeding will help promote top growth and thicker foliage development.  But don't fertilize too heavily in the summer or late spring and stay away from those fast acting fertilizers that can "overdose" your lawn.

Your warm season grasses grow the most in late spring to early summer.  This is the time that they need the additional nutrients supplied by our Greenview Fairway Formula Spring Fertilizer 26-4-12.

In the south, where you have a longer growing season, you can fertilize on a regular basis whenever lawns stay green all year.

Here's a summary of the USDA Zone Map.  There are many other types of zone maps gardeners use, but this is the most common Department of Agriculture map to determine your zone.

Zone	Location
Zone 1	Fairbanks, Alaska Resolute, Northwest Territories (Canada)
Zone 2	Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, Flin Flon, Manitoba (Canada);                              Unalakleet, Alaska, Pinecreek, Minnesota
Zone 3	International Falls, Minnesota St. Michael, Alaska; Tomahawk, Wisconsin,Sidney, Montana
Zone 4	Minneapolis/St.Paul, Minnesota Lewistown, Montana; Northwood, Iowa, Nebraska
Zone 5	Des Moines, Iowa, Illinois, Columbia, Missouri Mansfield, Pennsylvania
Zone 6	St. Louis, Missouri, Lebanon, Pennsylvania; McMinnville,                      Tennessee, Coatesville, Pennsylvania
Zone 7	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,Collingswood, New Jersey;                                     Little Rock, Arkansas, Griffin, Georgia
Zone 8	Tifton, Georgia,Dallas, Texas; Gainesville, Florida Austin, Texas
Zone 9	St. Augustine, Florida, Houston, Texas; Fort Pierce,                                    Florida, Brownsville, Texas
Zone 10	Naples, Florida, Barstow, California; Miami, Florida Coral Gables, Florida
Zone 11	Honolulu, Hawaii, Mazatlan, Mexico

The rest is in the fertilizer product you choose and the company that stands behind it. The best thing about our Greenview product is that one application provides the right amount of nitrogen for the entire spring and summer season and our 70% slow release nitrogen fertilizes up to 12 weeks! Slow release nitrogen feeds your lawn controlled, steady nutrition over a longer period of time.  Then your neighbor gets to view your carpet of thicker, greener grass on a regular basis.

So on which side of the fence do you want to be this spring?

Photos courtesy of the Purdue University website.  Chart courtesy of the USDA website.

Submitted by J. Weinmann

To De-Thatch or Aerate, that is the question!

Early in the spring, after a light raking, what was once a lush lawn may appear worn and matted.  You might blame it on bugs.  Or you may think, “..it’s a disease,” or “..I didn’t water it enough.” You may say to yourself with regret, “I should have fertilized with Greenview Weed & Feed products last fall.”

First of all, don’t worry about feeding and fertilizing.  You still have plenty of time to use our Greenview Fairway Formula Spring Fertilizer 26-4-12. Our home delivery service and annual lawn plan will ensure you receive your fertilizer and weed control products on time.  However, let’s not jump to conclusions yet.  This early, a knee-jerk reaction to your damaged lawn might cause you to overlook the real culprits: thatch and soil compaction.

What is thatch?  Thatch consists of pieces of stems, roots, and debris that are slow to decay because they have high cellulose content.  They build up in a layer between the grass blades and the soil surface. Water can’t penetrate the soil surface and reach the roots.  So you see patches of dead grass or thin areas where you dreamed of a thick green carpet.   Moderate thatch is not necessarily a bad thing because it can make turf more tolerant to foot traffic, but too much thatch means trouble.

What is soil compaction? When the top 4 inches of the soil become compressed, air, water and nutrients can’t move around to the grass roots. As a result, your grass becomes stressed, and without help, (see our weed control products), stressed grass can lose the battle against weeds. Soil is usually compacted in high traffic areas, like children’s playgrounds and walkways, but it can also be caused by excessive moisture and it can occur in soils with high levels of sodium ions left behind by irrigation.  Most important to your lawn, soil compaction can cause—you guessed it—excessive thatching! Aeration is required to loosen the soil and let the air and nutrients in.

So what’s a homeowner to do?  De-thatch or aerate?

Where thatch is widespread, to prevent a reoccurrence of the problem, de-thatching isn’t enough.   You must also aerate the soil.  For proper and thorough lawn maintenance, it’s a matter of….how low do you go?  De-thatching is like scratching the surface of the problem.  You can remove the thatch, but if soil compaction is the cause, then you must go deeper to solve the problem.  For smaller areas, you may be able to use a spading fork or sod-coring tool, or those cool-looking aerator sandals, but for larger lawns, you probably want to rent a vertical mower, core aerifier, or power rake.

Need a quick way to figure out if your soil is compacted?  Poke it. A sharp blunt object like a screwdriver will do.  If it sinks in easily wherever you poke, great!  Your soil is probably well aerated—a de-thatching may be all that’s needed prior to treating your lawn with the right fertilizer at the right time.  But, if you can’t penetrate the soil, compaction may be in action!  

Aeration removes cores of soil, leaving holes in the lawn. So be prepared…it’s not pretty at first, but your lawn will thank you later with a lush, rich, thick, more vibrant sea of green turf that you can be proud of once again!

Submitted by J. Weinmann

Want to look out your window this spring and see green?

Yes, that’s your lawn out there.  It’s a living thing.  And like any living thing, to thrive it needs food, water, and protection from disease and parasites. We at Greenview speak loudly on behalf of the good old American lawn. In fact we care so much that we use the same technology used on championship golf courses—promoting slow and steady growth of those delicate grass roots. 

But we also know how hectic life can be for you homeowners.  So that’s why we say: keep it simple. A little raking, some aerating and nitrogen will bring back the green in your yard.  Nitrogen is the key nutrient in turf fertilizer. Whether you have Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, fine fescue, or a tall fescue lawn, you may need 3 to 5 pounds of actual nitrogen per 1000 square feet of lawn per year to get the results you’ve dreamed of. Most brands of fertilizer call for several applications per season.  We say: do it once, and do it right.  One step is all you need.  If you use our Greenview Fairway Formula Spring Fertilizer Weed and Feed with Crabgrass Preventer, you get the ideal combo of nutrients, like Phosphorous (P) and potassium (potash, K), and weed prevention.  That’s total weed obliteration—including what the experts call “pre-emergence” (for crabgrass) and post-emergence (for broadleaf weeds).

TIP: You homeowners who consistently return grass clippings during mowing will see the best results. No need to worry about when to fertilize.  If you are on our Annual Lawn Plan, we monitor the weather for you.  When your Greenview bags arrive it's time!

Submitted by J. Weinmann