Have you ever been perplexed by the items for sale in a gardening store? You may have the best intentions for lawn care, but unless you know what fertilizer is and what fertilizer labels mean, you will be useless. Here is a guide to fertilizer labels so you aren't clueless when you go shopping for lawn care tools.
Essentially, grass needs three main nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Nitrogen is what will give your lawn its rich, green color. Phosphorous and potassium both work to strengthen grass roots and thus the two work together to help your lawn ward off pests and disease. In other words, these last nutrients give your lawn a strong immune system! Plants are just like people - they need food to nourish them and by fertilizing your lawn, you are simply feeding it and giving it the energy it requires to thrive.
On a fertilizer package, you will see three numbers in big print. They all refer to the percentages of these aforementioned nutrients that are in the fertilizer. The first number is the percentage of nitrogen, the second number is the percentage of phosphorous, and finally, the third number is the percentage of potassium. Usually, the percentage of nitrogen will be the highest. And in fact, the best fertilizers are slow-release ones that contain at least one-fourth nitrogen. However, for a starter fertilizer, in which you want to promote growth of your lawn, you'll want a fertilizer with lots of phosphorous.
If you turn your gaze to the side label, you will find other ingredients in the fertilizer, like iron or calcium. Now, consider where the ingredients came from. Are they natural (in other words, organic), man-made (synthetic), or water soluble? Water soluble fertilizer must be dissolved in water before it's used.
Once you've examined the package and read all the fine print, ask an employee at the gardening store for advice about your choice fertilizer. You are now more equipped to pick out the best fertilizer; and your lawn will thank you for it.