A properly feed lawn will be stronger and more likely to survive through the hot summer months in North Carolina. A great looking lawn will help your home stand out from other homes in the neighborhood. Your home is in competition with other homes in the real estate market. Regardless of the market conditions you want you home to show better than other homes. You want your home sell faster than other homes. Ask any real estate professional and they will tell you that curb appeal matters. Thinking about lawn care starts before you decide to sell your home. A lawn that is properly maintained is a lot easier to care for than a lawn that has suffered years of neglect

So lets talk about the feeding your lawn. Fertilizer is a combination of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K).  Nitrogen will take care of the intensity of the green color. Phosphorus helps to build a strong root system and Potassium help with the overall vitality of the grass. So how do you read a bag of fertilizer?

Here is an example of what you might see a fertilizer label: 24-5-11 in the order of N-P-K. This bag is 24% Nitrogen, 5% Phosphorus and 11% Potassium. To determine the weight of the nutrients simply multiply the percentage X the weight of the bag. For example a 50LB bag of fertilizer that is 24% Nitrogen would have 12LBS of Nitrogen.

50LBS bag weight X .24 = 12LBS of nitrogen.

Understanding how the fertilizer works helps you choose the right fertilizer.

•    Nitrogen (N) helps with leaf development and vivid green color.
•    Phosphorous (P) is for root growth.
•    Potassium (K) is for root development and disease resistance.


So now you understand a little more about fertilizer and how to read a bag what do I do with this information?

In the spring when you want a quick green up and accelerated growth you would use a fertilizer with a high nitrogen to potassium ratio (2:1 or higher). In the fall or winter you would use a more balanced approach and use a fertilizer that has an equal nitrogen to potassium ratio (1:1).  It is also important to have your soil tested to determine what nutrients you need and how much of them you should use.

Please take a look at the following links.
The first is for the North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Turffiles site. They have a great Tall Fescue Lawn Maintenance Calendar.

Lawn Care Turffiles


The second link for the North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension. Publications for Commercial Horticulture, Nursery, and Turf. This site has more than you ever wanted to know about anything that can grow.

Publications for Commercial Horticulture

Please be sure and follow the application instructions that came with your fertilizer and use an appropriate spreader for the fertilizer. Using more fertilizer than recommended will not give you better results and may harm the environment. Organic fertilizers are available and will be discussed in a later blog.   


Hopefully you have been enjoying this blog and the information provide here. We welcome your comments. If you are looking to buy or sell a home www.HPW.com is the place to search all of the mls listings. We have all of the homes for sale in Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Chapel Hill and the Triangle all in one place. We are the home for Raleigh Real Estate!