Expert: The Long Island Gardener - 7/29/2008

Question
I LIVE IN CENTRAL MISSOURI, WHERE MOST OF THE SUMMERS ARE ARE HOT & HUMID & DRY(W/AN EXCEPTION OF THIS SUMMER)
I SEEDED A NEW LAWN W/STARTER FERTILIZER & FESCUE GRASS BACK IN JUNE. I HAVE MOWED IT SEVERAL TIMES. CAN I PUT A FERTILIZER ON THE LAWN--I'VE HEARD ABOUT THE SUMMER GUARD BY SCOTTS,IS THAT GOOD. I ALSO HEARD IT SHOULD BE A SLOW RELEASE, CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT THE NUMBERS MEAN ON THE BAGS OF FERTILIZER?
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME

Answer
Michael, you can't grow first rate Grass without first rate Soil.

Did you notice that I did NOT say: 'without first rate Fertilizer'???

There's a reason for that.  Fertilizer -- the bags of concentrated powder or granules that Scotts Miracle-Gro markets for Lawn Care -- is headed toward extinction.  Even Scotts Miracle-Gro knows this is a dieing concept.  The company posted $2.7 billion in net sales last year, a 51 percent share of the North American market.  But they promised shareholders in last year's Annual Report: 'We anticipate the majority of the fertilizer growth in our Lawn care business will be organic.'

Just think.  Ten years from now, Michael, you will be looking back on the days when you used SummerGuard and Fertilizer.  And you'll wonder why you didn't stop using them sooner.

Because Nitrogen fertilizer, no matter what you call it, is a totally outdated idea:

www.helium.com/items/1028660-ways-to-maintain-healthy-lawns-and-gardens-without-using-harmful-chemicals

Get your Soil tested, Michael.  Find out what's in your Soil.  Find out what's NOT in your Soil.  Then amend as needed.

Yes, I know what you're thinking.  Test DIRT?

Drumroll please....  Because, my friend, a Soil test will give you valuable data that you NEED to grow GREAT GRASS....

and....

it will SAVE YOU MONEY!

Very simply if you know what you HAVE in your Soil, you won't BUY any more of it.

Funny how no one thinks about that.  'Fertilizer' means different things to different people.  You can't run out and buy anything they have on the shelf just because the label says it's Fertilizer, right?  You have to know what's in the bag -- and in fact there is a law on this, a law that says all Fertilizer companies have to spell out the N-P-K content of the stuff inside the bag.  That’s how important it is.

But why would you want to spend money on Phosphorus if your Soil is LOADED with Phosphorous?

Why put Lime down if your pH is 6.8?

Why WASTE your money AND your time AND your energy?

We homeowners have enough to pay for without throwing money out the window.  LONG ISLAND GARDENER Lawn Care Tip Number One: Get a Soil Test.

Here we are, you in Missouri, me on Long Island, we are the half of America that takes care of its own Lawns (industry data says just under half the U.S. pays other people to do the Lawn care).

Fescue is a terrific Grass for your area.  Slow release fertilizer is still fertilizer.  What you want to do is improve your Soil.  Which brings us to LONG ISLAND GARDENER Lawn Care Tip Number Two:  Learn Earthworm Etiquette.

That's right.  Be polite to your Earthworms.  Show them some respect.

I'll bet you never thought about that.

But you should.

Because Earthworms are the key to GREAT DIRT.  Earthworm Manure -- 'castings' -- is a great way to supercharge your Soil because it contains HUMIC ACIDS.  Decaying wood, rotting leaves, Peat are all rich sources of this magic ingredient.  Humic Acids boost Nitrogen levels in the soil and boast soaring ion exchange capacities.  Seeds planted in it germinate faster and grow healthier.  They aid in photosynthesis.  They trigger enzyme production.   They are the best thing about Humus.  If you want rich, fertile Soil, you want Humic Acids.

You can buy Humic Acids at Healthy Home Mall:

www.healthyhomemall.com/index.html

Or you can be polite to your Earthworms and get them to make Humic Acids for FREE.

Earthworm Etiquette's top rules: (A) Do not disturb the Soil (rototilling, digging, etc); (B) Do not use chemical fertilizer, pesticide or weedkiller (Earthworms HATE those things); (C) top dress once a month during the growing season with aged Manure, Compost or Humus.

Before I melt down the AllExperts computer due to my long winded answers, let me addresss your final question: What do the numbers mean on the bag of fertilizer?

Glad you asked.  I hope these are the numbers: N-P-K.

Those are the percentage by weight of what's in the bag.  10-20-10 is a bag of fertilizer with 10% Nitrogen, 20% Phosphorus and 10% Potassium.

SummerGuard by the way is a really bad idea.  Does lots of damage, very little good.

If you have any questions let me know.  Thanks for writing.