Question: I would like to get my lawn green as soon as possible this year for special family activity in late March. Will an early fertilization cause earlier greening?

Answer: In addition to fertilization, there are two other ways to stimulate early lawn greening. You may want to use a combination of two or all three.

Your old grass will not turn green. New growth must come from below the old growth. The easiest way to remove most of the old growth is by mowing down to a half inch. If your lawn is thick and has a lot of thatch I would recommend applying Fertilome Soil Activator after short mowing. This would further reduce old brown growth which would allow the new growth to show through sooner. Fertilome releases a small amount of nitrogen which further stimulates the new growth.

Iron also stimulates green growth. Some lawn fertilizers contain a small amount of iron. Ironsul and Ferrous sulfate contain a much higher percentage of iron. Both products are granular and also contain a large amount of sulfur which is helpful in acidifying our normally alkaline soils. Reducing alkalinity will improve lawn growth through the summer. Ferrous sulfate is soluble so it can also be dissolved in water for liquid application.

These two steps should do a good job turning your lawn a nice dark green color. I would recommend waiting until May to apply fertilizer. I would recommend a fertilizer with part of the nitrogen in a slow or gradual release form. It will continue to release nitrogen through the summer. The most common form of slow release is to coat granules with a poly coating. Organic fertilizers such as Milorganite are also naturally slow-release.

Late March or early April is a good time to fertilize your other permanent plants such as trees, shrubs and perennial flowers. I usually use lawn fertilizer for my trees and shrubs and a general-purpose fertilizer for perennial flowers. General-purpose fertilizers contain equal parts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium such as 12-12-12 or 16-16-16.

Allen Wilson can be contacted at allenw98663@yahoo.com.

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