Fall is the best and most important time to fertilize your lawn because: Fall's morning dew delivers moisture to help turf absorb the fertilizer. The grass has a chance to build stamina before a chilly winter. Supporting root growth in fall leads to a healthier, greener lawn in spring.
If done too early you could be inviting damage from the winter weather, such as snow mold. The best time to fertilize can depend on the climate, but typically September and October are usually the best months to apply fall fertilizer.
The best time to make late fall applications of lawn fertilizer is typically in November or the very beginning of December when the grass stops actively growing or has slowed down to the point of not needing to be mowed.
So, fertilizing a lawn in fall is possible, but warm season grasses are best fertilized when they first come out of their dormant period and begin to produce fresh green growth, in other words, in spring. However, in warm southern regions, where there is no natural rest period, aim to fertilize in April.
Autumn lawn feeds contain a high quantity of phosphates and potassium to make your lawn stronger at the grassroots. These will not work well in spring due to your lawn needing nutrients that help push top growth.
Benefits of Fall Fertilizer
Fertilizing in the fall gives your grass a head start for next spring by causing an earlier spring green-up. Your lawn will have an easier time greening up because fall fertilizer prepares the grass by having a consistent flow of nitrogen that's slowly released throughout the winter.
Ideally, you'll want to mow and rake before fertilizing, so that excess lawn waste is removed and the fertilizer will have an easier time reaching the soil.
Generally speaking, you should fertilize your lawn at least twice a year to ensure good overall health and keep your grass looking its greenest. But if you fertilize at the wrong time or over-treat your lawn, you could encourage weed growth, or possibly burn the grass.
Although some fertilizers benefit from slightly moist grass, if your lawn is too wet, it will fail to properly absorb the nutrients. This includes both granular and liquid fertilizer products. You should avoid applying foliar fertilizer to wet grass because it could lead to nutrient burn.
During the growing season from spring through fall, your lawn, whether established or newly seeded, will perform best when fed four times, with each feeding applied 2 to 3 months apart.
While this fall lawn fertilizer dose is important, an application at the end of October or early November is essential. At that time, apply a fertilizer with a formula of 13-25-12. The push of phosphorus will stimulate root growth through November and even into early December.
We recommend waiting 24 hours after fertilizing to water your lawn, which will give the fertilizer time to settle. After the 24 hours are up, it's important to give it a good soak—not just a quick spritz with your hose—to activate the fertilizer and help the critical nutrients absorb into the soil.
Apply fall lawn fertilizer 2 to 3 weeks before the ground freezes. To find an exact date, look for the first frost date in your area. That date is typically a good time to fertilize since the ground hasn't frozen yet. More generally, mid-October is a good time to apply lawn fertilizer.
Fall is the best time. The autumn season comes with a mix of warm soil and cool air, perfect for planting grass seed and allowing time for new grass roots to develop before winter sets in. It is also a good time to fertilize to build stronger, deeper roots for winter, resulting in a thicker, greener lawn next spring.
In fact, a lawn fed twice in the fall will stay green longer into winter and be the first to green up in the spring.” When it comes to what form of fertilizer to use, it all comes back to your objective. “Something like a sulfur-coated type product is good to use earlier in the fall,” Miltner says.
At Master Lawn, we typically say to wait 24 hours before watering your lawn after fertilizing. But it is important to make sure that it does receive a good watering session soon after that 24 hour waiting period. Watering helps the fertilizer to activate and to break down and begin feeding nutrients to the lawn.
“I don't recommend fertilizing before or after a heavy rain because the fertilizer can be leached out of the soil or washed away before it can be consumed by the root zone,” Clarke says. Instead, the best time to fertilize the lawn is right before a light to moderate rainfall.
Most people understand that fertilization helps to thicken a lawn. However, you want to make sure that you are using the best fertilizer to thicken grass if you truly want to get the best results.
Ideal Time to Fertilize
Applying fertilizer (and water) in the afternoon will cause the moisture in the soil that is preventing the lawn from burning to evaporate as the sun beats down on the lawn. It's also important for grass to dry out slightly before the nighttime temperatures.
You've Watered after Fertilizing — Now What? After this initial watering, avoid watering your lawn for a couple days so the nutrients can settle in. Then, return to your regular lawn-watering schedule, and remember these tips: Don't water every day.
You want to aerate the lawn when your grass is in its peak growing period so it can recover quickly—think early spring or fall for cool-season grasses, and late spring through early summer for warm-season grasses. If you have high-traffic areas or heavy clay soil, you will want to aerate every year.
You just have to be careful about the order: always mow before fertilizing if you want to do both on the same day. Mowing the lawn before fertilization on the same day helps the fertilizer spread more evenly.
If you know a heavy rain is coming, then try to mow your lawn before the storm hits. Planning this way will save you the trouble of waiting a day or so for the grass to dry for your next mowing. For most other days, try to pick either the mid-morning or late afternoon to mow.