Fertilizers provide lawns with the amount of nitrogen and other nutrients they need to flourish and overtake any weeds that might be trying to grow. When plants are regularly fertilized, they look better and live longer and have more chance to fight off pathogens and hardships. Fertilization is a delicate process, though, which can only be done at appropriate times.

Our lawns are unnatural habitats for the grasses and plants we've planted there. There is no natural humus to provide your plant life with the natural fertilizers that they need. We can't depend on nature to provide enough fertilizer for our lawns, so we've got to provide that ourselves.

When to Fertilize

Fertilization timetables should be based on the calendar and not on whether your lawn or plants look depleted or unhealthy. By then, your lawn or plants may not be able to recover. Fertilization should occur during the plant's natural growing cycle, which varies from plant to plant. Fertilizing out of the normal growing season will cause the grass or plants to grow, but the growth will be weak and unhealthy. Be sure to stick to the natural growing season.

Cool-season grasses like ryegrasses and bluegrasses grow most during the fall and spring, so that's when they should be fertilized. Warm-season grasses like Bermuda grass grow most in the months between March and October, so that's when they should be fertilized. The preemptive strike method to fertilizing will build healthy grass from the beginning of the growing season through the end.