Slow-Release Fertilizer Keeps Your Lawn Happy and Well-Fed

Remember how mom always said to slow down and chew your food slowly? Good advice — even for your lawn.

Slow-release fertilizer steadily delivers nutrients to hungry grass throughout the growing season, keeping your New York or Connecticut turfgrass happily well-fed with little work on your part.

A Little Science Lesson

We’ll spare you most of the complicated science lesson, but fertilizers usually contain some mix of the three elements most important for plant growth: nitrogen (N), potassium (K) and phosphorous (P). And there are two basic types of nitrogen sources contained in lawn fertilizers: slow-release and quick-release.

While quick-release nitrogen is immediately available to your lawn, it lasts only two to four weeks, and if it’s over-applied, it can burn the grass.

Slow-release fertilizer contains nitrogen in forms that aren’t soluble in water and have to be broken down by soil organisms before they can be taken in by hungry grass. The little pellets provide nitrogen over a longer period of time, as opposed to a big splash to drink in all at once.

How Does It Work?

Most slow-release fertilizers release at specific soil temperatures. Plant roots tend to be most active in warm soil, so the slow-release fertilizer starts to deliver fertilizer as soon as the plants need it. As the soil continues to warm and the plant roots become more active — ta-da! — more fertilizer is automatically released.

There are several benefits to slow-release nitrogen:

• It provides more uniform grass growth.
• It’s less likely to burn the grass.
• Less fertilizer is likely to be lost to rain or watering in the process known as leaching.

All these benefits save you time and money. Another plus? It last six to eight weeks, so you don’t have to apply it as often.

Let Neave Figure it Out

Gardening can be fun. It can also be tedious, with lots of decisions about sun or shade, moisture, nutrients, soil quality. All you really want is a nice lush lawn to gaze at while you lounge on the deck and play Angry Birds.

At Neave, we love this kind of stuff. Neave Lawn Care experts know all about fertilizer. And everything else your lawn needs: overseeding, aeration, organic lawn care, weed control, pest control. We do it all.

Your relationship with Neave Lawn Care begins with a free lawn care analysis. We’ll take a walk around your property to get a sense of exactly what your lawn needs.

Give us a call.

If you’re in the Hudson Valley, call us at (845) 463-0592. If you’re in Westchester County, call (914) 271-7996; from Connecticut, dial (203) 212-4800. Or, fill out our simple web form, and we’ll contact you about setting up your free consultation.

Image credit: Slow-release fertilizer pellets