Q: Are there any homemade fertilizers for bermudagrass that are just as good as the stuff you buy in garden stores?

A: Do not be mis-led by television hucksters claiming that beer or household ammonia make good lawn fertilizer. Grass needs more nutrients than beer or ammonia can provide. But to answer you directly, sure — home-made fertilizer (in the truest sense) does very well as a grass food. My father’s pasture grew vigorously each time we applied chicken manure collected from our hens’ home.

Bermudagrass needs lots of nitrogen in order to look its best. The nitrogen can come from synthetic or organic sources. Turfgrass doesn’t care which. It would take many expensive gallons of household ammonia or beer to fertilize a lawn correctly. Other organic fertilizers include corn gluten, cottonseed meal and blood meal.

The problem with organic fertilizers is that most smell bad or are difficult to apply. I believe synthetic fertilizer, applied judiciously, is the best way to fertilize a lawn.