Slow Release Lawn Fertilisers

Q

I've been considering switching over to using a slow release lawn fertiliser, mainly so I don't need to worry about fertilising as often. Are there any benefits to using a slow release fertiliser over traditional lawn fertilisers?

A

Slow release fertilisers are an excellent invention, but they do have their drawbacks, so best to use these products in an educated way for best results.

Slow release fertilisers can last a lot longer on the lawn surface, and in turn they don't need to be applied as often, as they break down at a much slower rate than traditional fertilisers which will dissolve immediately when water is applied.

Due to extensive research, there is no risk of damage to the lawn from having these fertilisers sit inside the grass thatch layer for a long time.

However, there can be a problem when it comes to mowing the lawn and the lawn fertiliser is removed from the lawn during the mowing process. For example, if the fertiliser were only applied every three months, then a typical Summer lawn mowing frequency would mean the lawn would be mown 6 times. This pretty much guarantees that a lot of the existing slow release fertiliser will be removed.

The best way around this would be to mow more frequently, and mow without a catcher on the lawn mower for the first 2 months after application, or perhaps consider sticking with traditional lawn fertilisers.