Question
Hi,
I reseeded my lawn in April because of the poor condition of the lawn, I brought this place last winter.I used starter fertilizer at the time of seeding.When should use the next fertilizer,the grass started growing,I already mowed the lawn once after a month after the reseeding.It will be very helpful if you can give me suggestion about when to fertilize again.
Jiby
Westborough,MA

Answer
Here's a website just for your, my friend: the University of Massachusetts Extension Service:

www.umassextension.org/

Soil testing is one of their many services:

www.umass.edu/plsoils/soiltest

Order the Standard Soil Test with Organic Matter plus Soluble Salts. Total damage report comes to about $16 USD.  Around here, that would get you almost 5 gallons of gas.  Follow their instructions carefully so that you get accurate results.

Yes, I know what you're thinking: Test dirt?

WHY?

Simple.  You have no idea what your Soil really is.  NONE!

The pH.  Nutrients.  The problems.  What's there.  What's not.  How can you make any decisions about your new Lawn without knowing the basic 9-1-1 about your 'Dirt'?

Sure.  Most homeowners learn EVERYTHING they know about Lawn care from one place.  Scotts.

Scotts ads, Scotts TV commercials, Scotts glossy four-color product literature -- Scotts Marketing Dept is ne plus ultra when it comes to salespitches.  And now they do product placement in movies and on TV shows.  These Scotts guys are sharp and smooth.  They could teach Karl Rove a thing or two about media spin.  Which is why they basically own the Lawn Care business ALL OVER THE WORLD.

Incredibly, they tell everybody the same thing: Put down Nitrogen, Put down Lime, Buy our Grass Seed, sprinkle your Lawn with our Weedkiller, our Bugkiller, our Grubkiller, any language you want, they'll tell you the same thing.  And now they have this stuff they call 'Wintergard' to WINTERIZE YOUR GRASS and 'Summergard' to SUMMERIZE it!  This must have come up when they were planning to roll out their ads for the NASCAR races.

And so it has come that Scotts Miracle Gro is the main source of information on how to grow Grass for every homeowner on the planet.  That's great -- for Scotts.  But I don't have to tell you that relying on a Lawn Care manufacturer to teach you Lawn Care is like going to Castro for information on Current Events in Cuba.  This is why we have something called Conflict of Interest.  Which is illegal if you're a government official.  And it looks bad if you're a politician.

But if you're a Lawn Care company, it's called Public Relations.  And this is why Scotts is the biggest company of its kind in the universe.

Which brings us to the Lawn Island Gardener Lawn Care Guide to Growing Grass.

LIG Tip Number One: GET A SOIL TEST!

You cannot grow great Grass without great Soil.  And you don't know anything about your Soil without testing it.  Have it done by the pro's.  It's cheap, and it's easy, and it's priceless.

And this brings us to....

LIG Tip Number Two: Never take ANYTHING the Scotts Miracle Gro Companies tells you about Lawn care seriously.

Not one word.

The product literature is beautiful.  It should be; they paid a ton of money for it.  They are happy with their ad program, so happy that they jacked up the budget by millions last year.  I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that.  It's just that in a free country, you can pretty much tell anybody anything you want.  That's called Freedom of Speech.  And Scotts is exercising their Freedom of Speech every time they tell you how to grow Grass.  It's their right.  They are in business to make a profit.

However, we have a responsibility as consumers to educate ourselves.

It's OUR job to know Grass.  Not Scotts.

But then they make it SO E-Z when they sell it as the 'Scotts 1-2-3 Program'.  And it is so nice to believe.

So here you are, in your own house with a Lawn.  The newest potential customer of the world's Lawn care companies, who are spending MILLIONS to sell their pesticides and herbicides and fungicides.

Here is your American Dream.  And here is your bag of 'Starter Fertilizer'.  And you want to know when you should buy ANOTHER bag of Scotts to use on your Grass.

Sigh.

LIG Tip Number Three:  Manage your Microbes.

Garden writer Jeff Lowenfels wrote the book on this subject, 'Teaming with Microbes'.  Because in the real world, you don't fertilize.  You amend.  As Lowenfels writes, 'Soil bacteria and Fungi are like small bags of fertilizer.'  This is the bottom of the food chain.  Your Grass is at the top.  Chemical fertilizers cause pain and suffering to the microbes at the bottom (because they are technically, and chemically, a SALT).  If you REALLY want to be good to your Grass, be good to your microbes.  Keep THEM well fed with Organic Matter -- Alfalfa or Cottonseed meal, Kelp, Humus, Compost.  I could go on, but then we'd never get to...

LIG Tip Number Four:  Mow, mow, mow your Lawn all Spring and Summer.

Easy duzit in hot Weather (a little longer and less often -- but enough to keep Weeds from setting seed).  Tell me what Grass you are growing; I'll give you the optimum height for vigor and pulchritude.

LIG Tip Number Five:  Water deep, long, and ONLY when needed.

The closer in the day to high noon, the better.

That way, the blades dry off quickly, the roots get the H2O they need, and the cool shower is the perfect pick-me-up for Cool Season Grass.  Never mow wet Grass.  But you knew that.

LIG Tip Number Six:  Learn to love insects.

Even the EVIL insects have a place in your Lawn.  Right?  Think about it.  Grubs are delicious -- if you're a Bird.  (There's a reason some people call food Grub.)  If your ecosystem is functioning, there will be some bad bugs.  Which means there will be food for good bugs.  Don't deploy WMDs upon the first sighting of creepy crawlers.  Or the second sighting. Or the third.  Hold your horses.  Carniverous insects are almost always GOOD for your Grass -- you can i.d. them by their jaws: if they look like they can grab or chop another bug in half, they're GOOD.

LIG Tip Number Seven:  Make sure your local Birds are HAPPY.  They devour Weed Seeds and bad insects.  Birds like Water features, free Food, and places to hide from Cats.  Too many Earthworms?  Not enough Birds.

LIG Tip Number Eight:  Make sure your local Earthworms are HAPPY.  Rototilling, concentrated Fertilizing, and drying out their Soil makes them SAD.  Avoid those.

LIG Tip Number Nine:  Don't drive over, run on, or otherwise travel across your Lawn when the Soil is wet.  That includes Winter when snow is melting.  Moist Soil instantly compacts.  Un-doing that takes time, Ants and Earthworms.

And one for the road:

LIG Tip Number Ten:  Accept the LESS THAN PERFECT Lawn.  This is not a paint job on your house.  This is where you play.  This is the kids' swing set and tree house.  This is the field.  This is life.  A Dandelion here, a sprout of Purslane there, a patch of Clover, a path etched by the pitter patter of little feet doth make the most wonderful Lawn of all.

The USDA posts a series of papers covering Soil and Microbes:

soils.usda.gov/sqi/concepts/soil_biology/soil_food_web.html

I've summarized all this and more in a short piece here:

www.helium.com/items/1028660-years-since-chemist-fritz

AllExperts and you, making the world a better place, one Lawn at a time.

Thanks for writing.  Keep in touch.

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER