Need Lawn fertilizer advice! (fertilizing, grass, south, leaf)
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Living in south wester Virginia, have clay type soil and want to get a better looking lawn.
I see good reviews with Sta Green 15M fertilizer 29-0-5 and have also read good things about Ironite 1-0-1 fertilizer which is at least double the cost of the Sta Green fertilizer. Any advise with this? What about Milorgranite which is the most expensive to purchase.
Also, I was told it's a good practice to broadcast bagged compost onto the lawn where there are bare spots and the clay is exposed. Is this method helpful to establish grass? Thanks
Living in south wester Virginia, have clay type soil and want to get a better looking lawn.
I see good reviews with Sta Green 15M fertilizer 29-0-5 and have also read good things about Ironite 1-0-1 fertilizer which is at least double the cost of the Sta Green fertilizer. Any advise with this? What about Milorgranite which is the most expensive to purchase.
Also, I was told it's a good practice to broadcast bagged compost onto the lawn where there are bare spots and the clay is exposed. Is this method helpful to establish grass? Thanks
Composting is always a good idea to improving the soil "tilth". It may not necessarily help you establish a new lawn if there is no topsoil though. Compost should be dug into the clay to improve the aeration of the soil, which will increase oxygen to the grass roots, but you still need a little bit of good soil on top of the clay in which to broadcast the grass seeds and for them to germinate. However, before you apply any fertilizer, I would strongly recommend that you contact your County Extension Agent to get a soil testing kit. Without knowing what minerals your soil lacks or has a possible overabundance of, it's difficult to recommend any particular course of fertilization. Soil testing should always be your first step before fertilizing your lawn; it's also going to be cheaper than buying fertilizers that you may not even need.
The StaGreen is a nitrogen fertilizer. Plants need a lot of nitrogen to grow. This one has the highest concentration of nitrogen.
Ironite is like a 'supplement' that supplies iron only. A small amount of iron helps plants be green but does not itself cause growth.
Milorganite contains iron, calcium, and some nitrogen. It is created from wastewater and is an 'organic' based fertilizer.
It sounds like any one of the three would improve the soil and ultimately feed the grass. Once I have the test results on the soil, that will help to see what is needed most.
Composting is always a good idea to improving the soil "tilth". It may not necessarily help you establish a new lawn if there is no topsoil though. Compost should be dug into the clay to improve the aeration of the soil, which will increase oxygen to the grass roots, but you still need a little bit of good soil on top of the clay in which to broadcast the grass seeds and for them to germinate. However, before you apply any fertilizer, I would strongly recommend that you contact your County Extension Agent to get a soil testing kit. Without knowing what minerals your soil lacks or has a possible overabundance of, it's difficult to recommend any particular course of fertilization. Soil testing should always be your first step before fertilizing your lawn; it's also going to be cheaper than buying fertilizers that you may not even need.
I wanted to follow up with the results and treatments for my lawn based on the soil testing that was accomplished due to your recommendation.
The testing determined that the PH was good/neutral do lime is not needed at this point in time. The test results recommended that my soil needs a fertilizer ratio of approximately 1 2 1 so I brought the test results to the local farmers supply to purchase the necessary fertilizers. They provided me with a Lebanon Broadleaf Weed Killer and a good stared fertilizer that should bring all of the nutrient levels up to a suitable starting point and I could then proceed with a standard Scott's or Sta Green regiment.
Thanks again for the great recommendation
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