FEEDING

There are so many fertilisers available on the market today posing a rather daunting task for gardeners and especially the new garden owner. There are three basic elements necessary for lawn and plant growth namely; oxygen, hydrogen and carbon, as well as additives nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which are more common in lawn fertiliser. These elements are naturally occurring in the environment but lawn, especially new turf, need nutrients that aren’t always in the soil in adequate amounts or simply need replenishing because nutrients don’t stay long in the soil. Nutrients in the soil are vital in lawn survival and health and fertilisers are an easy means to supplying them.

A pre-turfing fertiliser is applied to the soil before the turf is to be laid or before sowing seeds for grass. A pre-turf fertiliser helps to establish the grass roots and brings on the lawn quicker too because of the extra phosphorus present. One should apply a starter fertiliser to the soil and rake or turn the fertiliser into the top 25mm of the soil.