HOW TO FERTILISE

Applying fertiliser is normally a relatively straightforward task, but there is the risk of scorching so you do need to be careful and ensure the conditions are correct for it. The main thing you need to be careful of is the moisture within the soil, because if you have too little, it will draw the moisture out of the grass and scorch it. 

1. Pick Your Product

Firstly, pick which option you are looking to use for fertilising.

You will have the options of:

• Granular - Weed & Feed
• Granular - Lawn Feed
• Water Soluble - Lawn Feed

2. Preparation

Very little preparation is required before fertilising your lawn. Most fertilisers will allow you to fertilise when the grass is wet and dry, so this doesn’t need to be considered although it is best to have it a little damp before applying it. The main thing to consider is cutting your lawn prior to fertilising, so that it can be left as long as possible before mowing again. 

If you are opting for a granular fertiliser, be careful with how you fill your spreader and ensure that you don’t do this on your lawn. It is really easy to spill the granular fertiliser when filling your spreader and you don’t want to dump a pile on your lawn!

3. Apply

Next, you want to start applying your fertiliser. Whichever option you go for, make sure you spread it evenly; if you don’t, you will get a patchy lawn. Try to find some sort of method or way to segment your lawn - that could be stripes, squares, halves, etc. 

One technique to help with an even spread is to half the fertiliser that you are going to apply - do one pass over the lawn that is up and down the lawn, then go for a second that is side to side. This should help to minimise the amount of lawn that does not get fertilised.

If you have opted for a granular fertiliser, you will want to look at spreaders, as these are the best way to apply a granular treatment.

If you have opted for a water soluble fertiliser, you will want to look at sprayers, as these are the best option for a water soluble fertiliser.

4. Water, Water & Water

Once you have applied your fertiliser, you will want to get plenty of water on the lawn. Ideally, you can time it so that rain is due, but if not, you will need to water it heavily. For guide on watering, check out the watering page.

You water after fertilising so that you can activate the fertiliser and ensure that the fertiliser does not strip out all of the moisture from the lawn. The watering schedule varies for each type of fertiliser:

Granular - Weed & Feed

Water heavily after applying, but try to leave it 24 hours before watering. By adding this delay, it allows the weed killing element of the fertiliser to do its thing

Granular - Lawn Feed

Water heavily and do so straight away. If there is a delay, that is fine, but it can be watered as soon as it is applied

Water Soluble - Lawn Feed

Water lightly and do so straight away. If there is a delay, that is fine, but it can be watered as soon as it is applied