So just what is the perfect lawn? It’s one of those questions that will likely conjure up different images for different people – a secluded little corner to just stretch out and chill, maybe the dead-flat, tightly-trimmed bowling green look or for you is it a romantic, meandering pathway of emerald green? Regardless of the shape, size or form of your dream lawn there is undoubtedly one part of the picture that remains consistent. Lush grass underfoot.
Sadly this often isn’t the way our lawns are. They do take quite a beating from everything the weather throws at them, to kids and dogs and occasionally serving as a carpark and, let’s face it, neglect, so it’s little wonder they can look tired and thin or patchy.
Thankfully there is one seriously simple and easy way to give your lawn the opportunity to look its best - regular feeding with a quality lawn fertiliser. Studies have shown that as few as one in four homeowners feeds their lawn. This is despite it being so easy, so budget-friendly and such an effective way to improve the health, vigour and appearance of your lawn.
Benefits of fertilising the lawn
There’s a very old saying – an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure – and nothing could be more spot-on when it comes to feeding your lawn.
There are the obvious advantages to a well-fed lawn, such as lush green growth and feeling great underfoot, but there are a few things you might not think about that really make the difference to the overall performance and appearance of your lawn.
Here are some benefits of a well-fed lawn.
Fights weeds
Most lawn weeds are known to horticulturalists as ‘adventitious colonisers’. Basically, these weeds see a gap and they jump in to fill it. If your lawn is not performing well it can become sparse creating the perfect environment for these weeds to take hold. The weeds then often overshadow the surrounding grass, killing it back, and your sparse lawn suddenly fills with bare patches once the weeds die. It’s a multiplying effect. Strong, full lawn will not give weeds the opportunity to establish and if any weed seeds do germinate the grass will often out competent them, shading them out.
Copes better with climate extremes
Lawn Builder fertilisers contain the right balance of nutrients to build a strong, healthy lawn. The nitrogen, N, gets those leaves growing well but remember that P, the potassium? It helps the lawn take up the nitrogen and, importantly, it builds stronger cells. When your lawn has quality growth support by robust cellular structure this means that it will be better suited to survive hot and dry or cold conditions and recover quickly from any damage.
Conserves water
This may sound like a contradiction, that a strongly a growing plant requires less water, however quality lawn will actually reduce moisture loss. A good layer of lawn is technically a living mulch. It protects the soil, and its own stems and roots, from temperature extremes and it traps moisture close to the soil. Any water falling on the lawn, whether through you applying it or from rainfall, will be shielded from evaporation by sun and heat and loss from wind. A dense lawn will also slow down water movement. This gives water more time to soak into the soil, reducing run-off and therefore water wastage.
Better soil
As lawn grows it sheds foliage. This naturally breaks down and will add valuable organic matter to the soil, especially when combined with mulch-mowing. What is poorly understood by many home-gardeners is that plants, whether in the garden or your lawn grass, don’t just suck up the nutrients we provide when we spread fertiliser.
Soil microorganisms, such as a range of soil bacteria, in-fact ‘feed’ on the elements in the fertiliser converting it to forms that are readily taken-up by your grass. Many of these good bacteria also aid in the rapid breakdown and absorption of that organic matter into the soil. What this means is that healthy populations of soil microorganisms means healthy soil which in-turn creates healthy plant growth.
As Lawn Builder is a slow-release fertiliser it provides a steady and reliable flow of nutrients into the soil ensuring a consistent food source for these microorganisms preventing population explosions and then subsequent crashes.
So in short, you’ll know that the soil beneath your lawn stays healthier and biologically active which means better root growth and development and healthier, hardier lawn.
The Lawn Builder difference
Scotts Lawn Builder varieties are advanced, modern, slow-release formulations that are designed to deliver all the nutrients your lawn needs while reducing wastage and the risks of runoff. Lawn Builder granular fertilisers use patented time-released technology to slowly release nutrients over as long as 3-months. They are high in nitrogen, but it is in a unique slow-release form, so you get the benefits of quality greening without weak, unhealthy surge growth. They are also fortified with iron to provide a deeper green and stronger, healthier growth.
Importantly, all Lawn Builder formulations have either 0% or ultra-low, less than 0.5%, phosphorus levels so they are bushland and native plant friendly making them safe for use anywhere around Australia.
