Edmonds Landscape and Construction Services Ltd.

It may seem odd to apply fertilizer once grass has stopped growing but it is actually the best time to do it!

Late fall fertilization of turf is sometimes called "dormant fertiliziation." It involves applying fertilizer late in the fall when vertical leaf growth has stopped, but photosynthesis is still active and the roots are still absorbing nutrients. Because top growth has stopped, the energy and absorbed nutrients are stored in the roots for the following season. In the spring, when the soil warms, the grass has extra reserves of energy and nutrients that promote early greening up and growth.

Late fall fertilization is often recommended when using mineral fertilizers. Our research and experience have shown that it also works with organic fertilizers, and affords additional benefits, including:

Improved winter hardiness and recovery from winter stress, especially disease.
Improved competitive ability with weeds (because the grass gets a "head start")
Reduction in total yearly nitrogen requirements.

Thus we consider it the single most important time to fertilize under organic regimes.

This page loaded in 0.00484 seconds.

391915 hits since August 27, 2003