Lawn warriors can battle high fertilizer costs

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Homeowners who are getting ready to get their lawns in top condition for spring and summer might be in for some sticker shock.

Some of the same price increases that have impacted farm fertilizer have started to affect the lawn care sector, too.

But homeowners and lawn warriors can control those fertilizer costs with some simple steps — and still have a lush, green, thick lawn that’s the talk of the neighborhood.

“I am a big advocate of lawn fertilizing and I do recommend that people fertilize their lawns at least once a year,” said John Orick, the Purdue Master Gardener state coordinator.

When it comes to keeping grass green and healthy, Orick understands the assignment. His experience includes a decade in golf course maintenance, including jobs as assistant golf course superintendent at two Indiana golf courses.

Like its farm cousin corn, turfgrasses are grasses or monocots. And like corn, lawn grass responds best to nitrogen.

“Grass plants, monocots, respond to nitrogen as a nutrient in growth a lot more than they do the other nutrients that you typically find in a lawn fertilizer. That’s why we see a pretty high percentage of nitrogen usually in those fertilizers. We usually gauge lawn fertilizer application rates by the nitrogen,” Orick said.

The prime time to apply lawn fertilizer is in the fall and Orick said it’s important to understand the difference between nitrogen rates and actual fertilizer.

“A typical nitrogen rate for a home lawn, a granular application, would be right around a pound of nitrogen per thousand square feet. That is actual nitrogen, not actual fertilizer and it depends on the fertilizer analysis,” he said.

For homeowners who want to save some money or who want to dial back the amount of nitrogen fertilizer, Orick said that should not be a problem.

“One option might be to reduce the rates just a little bit, rather than going a pound of nitrogen per thousand square feet, reduce that rate to three quarters or a half pound, depending on your soil fertility,” he said.

Those who apply fertilizer in the spring along with crabgrass preventer can also adjust their applications if costs are exceeding their lawn care budget.

“Typically crabgrass preventer is sold with fertilizer and you can’t decrease the rate because you would also decrease the rate of the pre-emergent herbicide to prevent crabgrass from emerging,” Orick said.

An alternative is to plan for spring and fall applications to address both weed and fertilizer needs.

“Maybe you do the crabgrass preventer in the spring and an application of fertilizer in September and October and be done with it. Or, you reduce the rates in the fall. That way, you can save some money,” Orick said.

When it comes to DIY lawn fertilizing, Orick listed a few common mistakes that homeowners make that can flush money and nitrogen down the drain — or the storm sewer.

“Overfertilizing, not getting the right rate, not understanding what the right spreader setting is for a particular product, making the application incorrectly and not getting a nice, even distribution over the whole lawn. Those are some common mistakes I’ve seen along with just thinking that more is a good thing. Sometimes, less is more when it comes to these inputs in the landscape,” he said.

Homeowners can also mistake a need for nutrients for other problems with their lawn.

“Incorrectly diagnosing problems with the lawn and automatically assuming it just needs more fertilizer is a mistake that people can make. You need to make sure you are getting any issues or problems with your lawn diagnosed correctly,” said Orick, who added the Purdue Plant and Diagnostic Laboratory can offer assistance to homeowners.

The lab does not provide soil or tissue testing, but homeowners can send photos of issues for PPDL staff to diagnose.

Homeowners who use a professional lawn service should also be prepared to see their costs increase, Orick said.

“With the professional lawn care companies, the increases in fuel costs and fertilizer costs affect every bit of what they do, so clients are going to see potentially higher prices for those services because it costs them more to buy the fertilizer and to drive to your home. So, if they see increases in those fees if they use a professional lawn care company, don’t be surprised,” he said.

Some websites for homeowners:

• Purdue Plant and Diagnostic Laboratory — ag.purdue.edu/btny/ppdl/Pages/default.aspx.

• Purdue Turfgrass Program — turf.purdue.edu.

• Purdue Consumer Horticulture — www.purdue.edu/hla/sites/yardandgarden.