Top 3 FAQs About Starter Fertilizer for Grass Lawns

Top 3 FAQs About Grass Lawn Starter Fertilizer

Today, we will talk about the 3 most common FAQs about Starter Fertilizer. Like any other plant, grass has its tips and tricks for improved health. Sod and Seed, Inc. strives to facilitate access to important information about lawns to ensure the health and longevity of your lawn. For the purpose of this blog, we will use our Sod and Seed Starter Fertilizer as our main point of reference. Our Sod and Seed Starter Fertilize has a composition of nitrogen (8), phosphate (16) and potash (16). As always, please leave any questions or remarks in the comment section below, and we will try our best to answer them all!

Sod and Seed, Inc. Lawn Installation

What is Starter Fertilizer? 

Starter Fertilizer is a product used for newly established grass and other ground cover lawns like Kurapia. It is made of small pebbles that most often have a high concentration of nitrogen, phosphate and potash. Unlike existing lawns, lawn roots that are establishing and grass seedlings that are germinating benefit from a boost of these nutrients to have higher success rates and better health. With a unique set of nutritional components, Starter Fertilizer aids lawns in their growth and overall health. 

You might be asking why these nutrients are so crucial. Let’s find out: 

Nitrogen

Nitrogen helps new lawns with the growth and development of its sod blades. This includes the green, healthy color your sod should have!

Phosphate

Phosphate supports a lawns short and tender roots expand themselves down into the soil. It supports the establishment of a strong and durable rooting system which includes benefits such as drought tolerance, disease resistance, and winter health. 

Potash

Potash helps provide the lawns rooting system with energy, promoting the durability of your lawn.

What Is the Difference Between Starter Fertilizer and Other Lawn Fertilizers?

One big difference with our Starter Fertilizer is that it is intended for use on newly installed lawns. The specific ratios and nutrients it has are designed for ground covers that are going to be installed and not established yet. Regular lawn fertilizers are not the same as starter fertilizers. One common fertilizer that gets confused with Starter Fertilizer is Lawn Food Fertilizer. Lawn Food Fertilizer has a nutritional composition of Nitrogen (25), Phosphate (3) and Potash (6). A couple of other notes on Starter Fertilizer is to investigate local guidelines on the use of high-phosphorous lawn products because some Cooperative Extension Agencies outline the best management practices for turf lawns. This may include guidelines on limitations to using fertilizers. However, most common fertilizers such as our Sod and Seed Starter Fertilizer and Lawn Food Fertilizer are permissible and commonly used in every city we have done lawn installations in.

Sod and Seed Starter Fertilizer

When Should I Use Starter Fertilizer?

Starter Fertilizer should be used when laying out fresh sod rolls, sowing a brand-new lawn, re-seeding a current lawn, or installing plugs. Starter Fertilizer can be used on most lawns, including alternative ground cover lawns such as Kurapia. Generally, the most recommended time of the year to begin these projects is spring or fall, when climate conditions helps with maintaining the lawn moist during its establishment period. Cooler temperatures don’t evaporate water from the lawn like heat does, and therefore make for a lawn set up to thrive. This also protects lawns from any winter frost and summer heat waves. However, as we have mentioned before, lawn installation occur year-round, as long as conditions can be kept favorable for their establishment, which vary more in recent years with climate change. For example, installing a new lawn in summer may be fine but require more watering on hotter days than if installed in fall or spring. 

We hope you have found our Starter Fertilizer for Grass Lawns blog helpful! We chose to cover these 3 FAQs because they are the questions we most often get at Sod and Seed, Inc. Did you learn anything new about fertilizers today? You know the drill, drop comments and questions below, and give us a call with anything else you may need. We hope to hear from you soon!

Sod and Seed, Inc. Lawn Installation

References

https://extension.psu.edu/starter-fertilizer#:~:text=Starter%20fertilizers%20are%20a%20small,the%20plant%27s%20root%20system%20develops.&text=Nitrogen%20(N)%20and%20phosphorus%20(,components%20in%20a%20starter%20fertilizer

https://www.greenviewfertilizer.com/articles/all-about-starter-fertilizer