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Fertilizing lightly every week


Question
Quick question.  I have been fertilizing my lawn about every week, and it has remain a gorgeous thick green.  When we bought the house, our lawn unlike the lawns in front of the new homes not sold, became a sickly yellowish green color, so we asked the gardeners maintaining the other lawns, what they did.  This is where we got the idea, but when I read about fertilizers people recommend a more spread out fertilizing schedule. What issues might I eventually run into in the future with frequent fertilizing? My fertilizer is  Vigoro 32-3-4

Answer
I do not recommend fertilizing this frequently. I recommend fertilizing 3-4 times per year. In northern parts of USA with cold winters (cool season grass) fertilize in late spring, early fall and late fall. In hot parts of usa with mild winters and very hot summers fertilize starting late spring through early fall.

If using Vigoro 32-3-4 then do not apply more than 3 lbs of the fertilizer mix per 1000 sq feet lawn area (e.g. if your lawn is 15,000 sq feet, apply max 15 x 3 = 45 lbs of lawn fertilizer per application to the entire lawn area).

Apply evenly and water in well after applying.

If you prefer to fertilize more frequently, then I recommend you apply fertilizer 5-6 times per year
(every 3-4 weeks in southern areas from late spring through early fall) and every 3-4 weeks in northern areas starting in early spring through late spring and again early fall through late fall (not in summer). If you fertilize 5-6 times per year, then cut the application ratio in half (eg apply less fertilizer more often).

Eventually overfertilized grass becomes susceptible to lawn disease and you risk killing the lawn by build up of soluble salts in the root zone (depends on amount being applied, too).

Generally, in cool season areas, you can not go wrong by fertilizing in spring and fall. In warm season areas, follow the growth cycles of the grass.  

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