Lawn Spraying vs. Granular Fertilizer

May, 24, 2012
Nathan Pratt
Landscaping: Maintenance & Lawn Care, TIPS
1 Comment.

A topic many lawn care professionals discuss is which method of application is better: spraying the lawn or using a granular fertilizer. Well the short answer is both. Using a spray truck is the most advantageous in the spring when many types of chemicals are applied to the lawn at the same time. 2-4D which kills dandelions is tank mixed with Pendulum which is a pre-emergent used to control crabgrass. These are applied together along with fertilizer around the 1st of April for the best results. A product called Ensure which is a slow release nitrogen is used when spraying lawns in the summer, this product helps prevent the grass from burning. Burning occurs when a plant uptakes nitrogen too quickly and causes a plant to yellow or look burnt. One way to keep this from happening is to use a granular fertilizer that includes a coating on 30-50% of the nitrogen pellets. This coating breaks down over time so that all of the fertilizer is not released at the same time. This helps the grass to stay greener longer.

One Response so far.

Johanna says:

2012/08/14 at 09:48

Kudos to you for addressing soil conatmination! I This is a topic that has been widely understated in our country, yet it has been a problem for decades in our nation and for thousands of years in ancient civilizations who have perished through their own poor use and responsiblity of their soils. Today’s culture is aggressively speeding up the process by allowing our soils to become contaminated by chemicals from the farming and comericial industries. But what may surprise many folks is that the average person living in a house within a neighborhood or suburb is also contributing to the problem. Our lawns demand constant irrigation and fertilizer to keep our grass green. Developers have already stripped the moisture retaining top soil from our yards and when these landscapes have been completed what is left is a few trees, ornamental shrubs strategically placed in front of the house, and a few perennials, the rest is sodded. Only a small percentage of rain is actually used in today’s landscaped yard, the rest runs off into our streets and sewers with it bringing the chemicals that have not been taken in by our grass and plants. The chemicals cannot be taken in when the soils under them do not have the adequate humus to receive them. Furthermore, the chemicals that are used are actually destroying insects who naturally build up the soils nutrients this results in more and more chemicals needed to satisfy the nutrient-deficient plants. Its a vicious cycle. The water run off from our neighborhoods is causing havoc on our waterways and on aquatic life. Suburban neighborhoods have the second-highest water run-off occurance! This is behind large urban cities with concrete as their base. Run-off from agriculture, which we hear so much about, accounts for less run-off than our neighborhoods. Let’s pro-actively change this!! It starts with education. Thanks for your posts, and for not shying away from serious issues!