Feeding in the fall helps any lawn recover from its summer stresses and toughen up for winter. Your newly nourished and reinforced turf will be in the best shape for dormancy and is guaranteed to come back strong in spring, delivering a glorious lawn to enjoy next year.
When fertilizing a lawn in the fall, one crucial aspect to success is watering. The soil must be moist, and any product needs water to soak into the ground and activate. There are two ways to deliver the necessary water; otherwise, it can lead to fertilizer burn as the product sits on the blades rather than reaching the soil.
Knowing how to fertilize a lawn helps prevent burning or scorching, especially when using granular products. Most of the best fertilizers used this time of year are granular, like this Scotts Turf Builder WinterGuard fall lawn fertilizer on Walmart, and when applied correctly, your lawn benefits from stronger roots. Here is why you must water in fall lawn fertilizer and the best ways to do it.
Why You Must Water in Fall Lawn Fertilizer
A hot, dry, busy summer puts a lot of demands on any household lawn. It may not be looking its best come September and October. If you are planning your fall lawn care, fertilizing is a quick task to support the grass’s recovery and development.
After summer, the focus shifts as the plant produces less top growth and directs its energy toward developing roots. It puts the lawn in the best condition to cope with the challenging winter conditions ahead, including frost, ice, snow, and winter diseases.
Looking further ahead, a supported lawn will do better next year, too, thanks to this winter food supply. Theresa Smith from NaturaLawn of America claims: ‘When spring rolls around, yards that were fertilized in the fall will also green up quicker thanks to leftover carbohydrates.’
As you can see, fertilizing a lawn in the fall brings many benefits. But it does need to be done carefully, as it comes with potential risks if you forget one important thing: not watering in fall lawn fertilizer.
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‘To prevent grass blade burn or scorching after applying any lawn feed, it is really important to water off granular fertilizer from the grass blades to avoid damaging the existing grass,’ advises Chris McIlroy, lawn expert from The Grass People.
Dry granular fertilizer left on grass blades for too long dehydrates plant tissues and causes the burning symptoms, including yellow, brown, or dead patches. It can take 24-48 hours for synthetic granular feeds to start causing damage if not watered in after application.
Watering the lawn after feeding also activates the nutrients in the product and helps carry nutrients down the root zone, where they are needed most. It also ensures no fertilizer is wasted, like getting blown away by strong winds.
If you don’t activate the product and let it get to the roots, spreading it essentially becomes a waste of time and money. This error is made even worse if you actively cause damage to the lawn. Mild symptoms can be remedied, but extreme cases can leave bare patches in the lawn that need repairing.
Chris McIlroy is the technical product lead and in-house lawn seed expert for The Grass People - a grass seed company that champions high-quality lawn products and shares expert advice. Chris's expertise is focused on sowing, mowing and maintaining a perfect lawn, and how to overcome any lawn issues homeowners face.
Theresa Smith is senior vice president of NaturaLawn of America (NLA). She oversees all aspects of NLA's business operations, including corporate strategy, business vendor management, marketing and more. She first started with the family business as a marketing coordinator and quickly became passionate about their mission to be environmentally responsible.
How to Water in Fall Lawn Fertilizer
Before feeding, it is advisable to scarify (get an electric lawn dethatcher and scarifier at Lowe's), aerate (get a strong manual lawn aerator tool at The Home Depot), and water the lawn. This helps remove thatch, which can block the soil surface and reduce how much moisture reaches the ground, and it creates small holes where the fertilizer can drop.
Apply your fertilizer at the recommended rate, then think about how you will water it in to avoid damaging the grass.
With good planning, you can use natural rainfall to water in fall lawn fertilizer if you prefer to save on water. ‘Fertilize on a day when you are expecting a good amount of rain so it does the job for you,’ recommends Chris.
Keep an eye on the local forecasts for a day when around an inch of rain is forecast and apply fertilizer just before that – ideally 24 hours beforehand. In the worst-case scenario, if you only get showers, you can also top up the levels with a sprinkler.
If there are no wet days forecast, but you need to feed, you can run sprinklers for 30-60 minutes to deliver the required amount of moisture. You can use a programmable timer, available at Amazon, to set your sprinklers for the desired amount of time.
Put a tuna can on the lawn to test how much water you collect, as the timings will differ depending on the type of lawn sprinkler you use. This helps you to apply the right amount and reduce water waste from over-saturating the lawn.
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You can fertilize a lawn without aerating first, but it might not be as effective. Applying lawn feed to compacted soil reduces how efficiently water and nutrients soak into the ground and reach the turf’s roots. You don’t have to aerate the lawn right before fertilizing, but it’s best to apply the feed within 48 hours of aerating to loosen compacted soil.
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