The Pros & Cons of Fertilizing Your Lawn

We’ve all heard people from both sides of the aisle — some say they can’t live without lawn care fertilizer, while other prefer to go without for reasons related to pets or the environment. But knowing when to fertilize your lawn and how to do it properly is important. Like with any home or garden maintenance tasks, there’s a time and a place for it, as well as a list of pros and cons to consider before doing the work. If you’re interested in leveraging lawn fertilizer to upgrade your landscaping this season, check out a few of the disadvantages and advantages first.

Disadvantages of Lawn Care Fertilizer

According to this article from Wright, there are over 100 million tons of chemical fertilizer that are used every year around the world. Because of its wide-spread use, cumbersome transportation and application issues, and general toxicity, it can also lead to several lawn issues if not handled properly:

• Grass burns and injury to plants
• Polluted waterways
• Contaminated drinking water
• Damage to native plants and animals
• Harm to skin and airways of humans and household pets

Advantages of Lawn Care Fertilizer

Of course, if you learn when to fertilize your lawn and how to do it the right way, it can lead to a beautiful, well-manicured yard that keeps people asking, “what’s your secret?” Aside from that, the use of fertilizer can also require you to use less amounts of weed killer, and it can strengthen the root system of your grass, according to Schendel Lawn Landscape. Overall, we recommend relying on the experts to apply fertilizer to your lawn — that way, they can consider all of the people, pets, and plants that surround your home before executing safely. 

Recommended Methods & Products

When it comes to choosing a method of lawn care and quality products, keep in mind that good fertilizer uses a proper blend of three elements including nitrogen, phosphate, and potash. Outside of that, we suggest opting for an organic lawn fertilizer that cuts back on the toxic stuff while still delivering a gorgeous landscape. For example, this Purely Organic Lawn Food is a good choice, as well as this Scotts® Natural Lawn Food which is safe to use around pets and kids. 

Once you’ve weighed the pros and cons and assessed the value of lawn care fertilizer, be sure to reach out to a professional for a final recommendation. Additionally, if your home requires other seasonal external maintenance, contact us to learn more about our safe and effective window cleaning, pressure washing, and gutter cleaning services. Or, if your home is susceptible to algae and other allergens, head to our blog to see how you can safely remove it from your surfaces.