Most people may think of spring when they think of fertilizing their lawn, but the last week in August-first week in September is a prime time for fertilizing in Colorado. It is actually more important to fertilize your lawn in the fall rather than in the spring. Here are some benefits of fertilizing in the fall:

• Your grass will look healthier in the long term
• Because your lawn will be healthier, it will have a better tolerance to drought and insect damage next growing season
• It will green up in the spring without excessive growth and extra mowing
• The roots will grow better the following spring to create a thicker lawn
• The grass will look greener through fall and winter

Finding a Fertilizer

Finding a good fertilizer can be hard when you do not know what to look for in all the different options. You want to find a good fertilizer the supplies nutrients that your lawns needs without any additional stuff you don’t need. Most lawns in Colorado need nitrogen, and that’s about it. Some good choices to consider are Scotts Turf Builder, Richlawn Turf Food, Sta-Green Lawn Fertilizer Plus Iron, Scotts Snap Pac Lawn Fertilizer and Scotts Natural Lawn Fertilizer (no guarantee of availability or performance is implied)

Avoid

In general, it is good to avoid using lawn fertilizer with weed killer. The problem with using weed and feed fertilizer is that all your landscape plants that root into the lawn will take up the weed killer through their roots. The weed killer in fertilizer affects most plants that are not the grass type. The weed killer will begin to weaken trees, shrubs, and flowers over time. If you have a huge weed problem it is ok to use weed and feed once or twice to get your yard under control again. It is just not recommended to use every single time you fertilize your lawn.

Iron Deficiency

If you have a persistent yellowing of your grass that does not improve with nitrogen this could mean your lawn needs more iron. So you will want to pick up a fertilizer with iron such as “Iron Rich by RichLawn”. However if you have never had a problem with your lawn yellowing, pass on the iron.  

We hope this article was of some help to you! Please feel free to contact us if you would like help applying chemical to your lawn. (You can also request that service on the right side of the page where is says, "Request Landscape Maintenance")