Fertilizer

I was out driving around the valley today to see which clients, if any, needed any ice melting done in their parking lots and sidewalks, because we had some freezing slushy stuff last night.  We use salt for the lots, but more expensive ice melter for sidewalks, because it doesn't damage concrete or grass.  And that was enough to get me thinking about fertilizer.

Fertilizer and ice melters are both mineral salts.  When diluted with water, salts lower the water's freezing temperature.  At the Olympic Speed Skating Oval, where I worked during the Games, we mixed fertilizer with our ice melter because the area had been very recently landscaped and we didn't want to have to replace new sod.

So how is it that these mineral salts don't ruin our lawns?  We all know the effects of salting the earth, after all.  In the case of fertilizers, I can say that they do cause ruin, sometimes, like when you put on too much or don't water it in afterwards.  These salts attract water and can literally pull it out of your grass or plants.

Most of the fertilizers you see nowadays will have "WILL NOT BURN" on the bag, and that's a good thing.  It usually means that the fertilizer is in a timed-released form, in other words, coated with products that dissolve at different rates.  Your lawn or plants will get a more sustained feeding, without a dangerous jolt.

Beware, however, of cheap fertilizers, those that provide "instant green."  They work too well, and for too short a period of time.  Too well, because they can incur new growth at an unsustainable rate.  Too short, because they release their nutrients all at once, and can burn and kill your lawn or plants, if you're not careful.  At best, they're like a double shot of espresso for your yard, instead of a healthy meal.

Then there's fertilizing services that come every month.  They don't care so much about timed-released anything, either, but instead provide a low dose of everything your lawn needs, and rely on repeat applications.  Admittedly, this is a good way to go, but it's pricey.  If you choose this approach I recommend you hire Turf Plus, out of Utah County.  Sorry, no link.  I have no commercial interest in this, by the way, but I've seen every company there is in Utah, and these are the only guys worth their salt (pun intended).  I even contract them myself, here and there.

We at HDG like to fertilize four times a year:  On or about Tax day (April 15),  Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Halloween.  The first application gives all the new growth a healthy breakfast, and also some immunization.  It's when we lay down a good fertilizer and some pre-emergent weed control, both in the lawn and in the flowerbeds.  Memorial Day is like lunch: we feed everything again for the long, hot summer afternoon ahead.   Labor day, of course, is dinner.  We replenish what was lost; we asses our needs.  Halloween (actually, often closer to Thanksgiving), is the late night snack.  But it's a little bit more than that, because Autumn is the time when all living things lay in for the winter.  Plants pull into their roots all the nutrients and energy they can, and that's why it may be the most important meal of the day.

As for me, my most important meal of the day is whichever one is next, which is right about now. So until next time...