# Spring Nitrogen programs: What camp are you in when it comes to Spring Nitrogen? Discuss the pros and cons here



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

There seem to be 4 main camps when it comes to Spring N:

1. None at all unless you skipped it in the Fall, and even then, only the minimum needed (e.g. 0.5 lb) after the growth flush.
-Reasoning behind none seems to be the belief that any amount of N in the Spring will simply cause carbohydrate depletion and a negative energy balance thereafter. This seems to be a more old-school belief. Today, it tends to be used more where cool-season grass is grown where it probably shouldn't be (pushing the Southern edge of the transition zone).

2. Fertilize if you wish, but wait until after the rapid growth starts slowing down, but also before the heat of Summer.
-This is the philosophy I personally use. It really seems to work well, assuming you fertilized well in the previous Fall (and maybe even used that last Winterizing application). Benefits seem to be allowing the grass to focus on root growth in the early Spring, and then allowing it to naturally pick up its pace when it's ready, and not forcing it to grow super fast and depleting all its stored carbs due to Nitrogen. The idea also claims that fertilizing in late Spring actually helps renew the carb supply. I wonder if this is actually true.

3. Fertilize only before the growth flush starts, in early Spring. 
-The idea here seems to be that the grass needs nutrients coming out of Winter, and to help with green-up and to strengthen it. A balanced fertilizer seems to be popular for this use. Also, this philosophy seems geared toward avoiding Nitrogen in mid to late Spring or early Summer in order to allow the grass to come to a natural slowdown before the heat of Summer, and hopefully also reduce the incidence of Summer disease like Brown Patch.

4. Fertilize anytime after green-up. 
-This is usually practiced by people doing a Philes regimen (which I do believe in for new grass), or people who make multiple fertilizer applications all Spring and Summer (> 1 lb of N), or those who are spoon-feeding under high-input maintenance. Not really sure what the benefits are of this approach, other than Philes or spoon-feeding in a high-input situation. People using the Scotts 4-step program, or following a typical lawn service, though, will often receive more than 1.0 lb of N in multiple apps during the Spring.

What are your thoughts on these 4 methods? Which strategies do you utilize, and why? What have your results been like?


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

From Bill Kreuser in UNL, The do's and don'ts of spring fertility


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

g-man said:


> From Bill Kreuser in UNL, The do's and don'ts of spring fertility


G-man, Nice page with good info. I'm actually going to follow his shaded area advice and fertilize my garage side area this week before the leaves open, so thanks for the reference. And wow, as little as 0.1 lb/M of broadcast-applied N can be useful! That's pretty cool.

He seems to be very against #3, which is not surprising. This method often seems to be practiced by people who consider the grass just a frame for the other landscaping, and don't care to become an expert on grass because they prefer other forms of gardening to spend their time on. It's probably not a "best practice".

I would also like to invite other discussion of what methods members here utilize, and what their thinking is for why they do what they do. So, everyone feel free to start posting, commenting, debating, etc.


----------



## Killsocket (Mar 16, 2018)

I plan on following something along the lines of option 1 of this article (which may be close to option 4 of Green's post): 
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/quackgrass_control_in_turf

I plan on spoon feeding urea at .23 lb N/1000 and utilizing a Ringer clone at .25 lb N/1000. Right now I think I have them alternating every two weeks (wouldn't mind advice on the smartness of that plan).

This is my second full year of DIY lawncare and really struggled last season with some disease issues I think might have been because of high N inputs in spring. Too much "Throw 'er Down"!


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

@Killsocket, from now until when? How often will you make an application? What do you hope to accomplish? Yes, that seems to fit #4 in my post.


----------



## Budstl (Apr 19, 2017)

I'm planning on doing what the university of missouri recommends for my area.


----------



## FuzzeWuzze (Aug 25, 2017)

Maybe someone can clarify, obviously root growth is nice but in an established stand that gets irrigated 1" per week through the summer what exactly is the harm caused by more fert? Your roots aren't shrinking or drying off, and aren't going to keep going deeper forever.


----------



## Killsocket (Mar 16, 2018)

Green said:


> @Killsocket, from now until when? How often will you make an application? What do you hope to accomplish? Yes, that seems to fit #4 in my post.


Until or before the summer heat. Looking maybe mid June - late June depending on weather? I would probably pick it back up in fall, but more along the lines of g-man's fall nitro blitz article (I will have to re-read again). I hope to accomplish what this article is suggesting, by following "this program, you will notice that the quackgrass patches are much smaller".


----------



## NJ-lawn (Jun 25, 2018)

I spoon fed and applied winterizer (urea) last fall. Everything is greening up nice so no need for me to add any nitrogen in spring but I would like to build the micro herd. What if I want to apply milo, should I do 1/2 bag rate or less? I noticed members buying bags and bags of milo, when do you apply all that milo? Wait til spring flush is over?


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

@Budstl, that sounds like #3, and they make a convincing argument for it.


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Killsocket said:


> Green said:
> 
> 
> > Killsocket, from now until when? How often will you make an application? What do you hope to accomplish? Yes, that seems to fit #4 in my post.
> ...


So, weekly or biweekly?


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

NJ-lawn said:


> I spoon fed and applied winterizer (urea) last fall. Everything is greening up nice so no need for me to add any nitrogen in spring but I would like to build the micro herd. What if I want to apply milo, should I do 1/2 bag rate or less? I noticed members buying bags and bags of milo, when do you apply all that milo? Wait til spring flush is over?


I winterized, too. I plan to do organic fert (Milo mixed with something Potassium-rich) sometime between mid May and mid June. Exact timing will depend on what I observe, but organics do need to go down a week or two earlier than synthetics due to the delay in breakdown. I will use 1 lb of N per thousand square feet. Flush likely won't be over but I'll wait for it to slow.

Is this similar to what you're considering?


----------



## ruxie88 (Dec 20, 2018)

Green said:


> There seem to be 4 main camps when it comes to Spring N:


With this being my first full year of DIY lawncare due to poor management by the previous owner and their lawn service company, my strategy once the lawn woke up was to spoonfeed N (Philes) since I had decent success with my fall KBG overseed. I used urea.

Starting this week, I will switch over to using all organics (mixture of soybean meal, alfalfa meal, Kelp meal, bone meal and compost poultry manure) figuring it will take 1-2 weeks for the microherd to break it down. My lawn was a little deficient in P & K based on the soil test, so I will add a higher percentage of bone meal and poultry manure to the mix. I plan to apply this mixture (15 lbs total/K) monthly throughout the summer which will add about .5 lbs/K of N per month.

I have no history, so we will see how the lawn reacts to it.


----------



## GoPre (Oct 28, 2017)

I had a successful fall blitz, lawn greened up nicely this spring. Depending on the weather, I don't plan on dropping any N until Memorial Day.

Things can always change...I am a little concerned with a few grassy weeds showing up (Triv, Orchard). If I nuke those spots and need the KBG to fill I may push a little more N. Day by day!


----------



## Rucraz2 (Apr 8, 2018)

Green said:


> NJ-lawn said:
> 
> 
> > I spoon fed and applied winterizer (urea) last fall. Everything is greening up nice so no need for me to add any nitrogen in spring but I would like to build the micro herd. What if I want to apply milo, should I do 1/2 bag rate or less? I noticed members buying bags and bags of milo, when do you apply all that milo? Wait til spring flush is over?
> ...


Im glad this post was brought up. I have been debating on what to do myself this spring as I didnt get anything down last fall. I was thinking about dissolving some Urea, maybe 1/4 app with an app of my Humic mix right before the flush was over or even a bit before. Then throwing down a heavy app of Milo. But you think to throw down organic before Synthetic?? I was thinking getting the boost from sythetic and hopefully sustaining that with Milo. Not the other way around.


----------



## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

I'm spoon feeding 1lb per 1M of Lesco starter fert 18-24-12 to help my 2018 fall overseed of KBG/PRG along. There are some spots that are thin and/or bare. Hoping to get the *** to fill in.

I know that pushing N in the spring isn't a great thing but I have fungicide preventative and tnex to apply when the time comes to combat any fungus outbreak and increased top growth from the N.


----------



## SpiveyJr (Jun 7, 2018)

I'm applying two .25# of N applications of Lesco starter fertilizer 18-24-12, followed by a bag of Screaming Green at .64# of N. I might even apply .35# N of Urea. All of this between this week (when first application goes down) and Memorial Day. I went with a single feeding of Milorganite on May 4 last year as my only spring application and I didn't like how my lawn looked. It looked thin and malnourished until August when I began feeding it. I also overseeded in the fall and seeded a few spots this spring. The summer stress doesn't worry me because I have irrigation and will probably put down Milo on July 4. I do have fungus issues which is a concern but I am going with a preventative fungus program this year as opposed to reacting only when fungus became present.

My view on lawn care is it's a learning process and I learn by trial and error.


----------



## NJ-lawn (Jun 25, 2018)

My main concern is brown patch. I do a bio fungicide program every year to combat but I'm wondering if I held off on any or very little nitrogen til fall maybe the disease pressure won't be there?


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Rucraz2 said:


> But you think to throw down organic before Synthetic?? I was thinking getting the boost from sythetic and hopefully sustaining that with Milo. Not the other way around.


As an organic guy in the Spring (as much as possible), I try to go totally natural in the Spring, unless I need synthetic for a certain purpose (Philes/spoonfeeding). That may or may not square with your situation and goals.


----------



## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

Edited to add: great question, and informative post with the breakdown of camps

For TTTF in the transition zone
I'm probably closest to camp 3.
I base my spring apps loosely on UT recommendations of fertilizer on 3/15 and 4/15 (https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/PB1038.pdf), and I have also been influenced by Prof. Pete's thoughts on stress.

Here's my thinking and my situation:
I haven't decided if I have the best solution or not, but my approach is to strengthen the grass as much as possible in the spring. However, I want to stop pushing growth before the heat and humidity increase in the late spring.

One challenge I face with fall fertilization: It is still pretty hot and humid in September. I am inclined to leave the grass alone until the middle or the end of September. But, by late September, I need to overseed, and I don't want existing turf shooting up while my little fescue babies are trying to find air and sunlight. So, no fert in late Sept either.
And then, it can take a while for those fescue babies to get established, so I just want to stay off the lawn until the babies are up and waving at me. And by that time, I'm looking late October in the face. 
In short, fall is a short season, and practices prevent me from applying fertilizer during at least half of the already-short season. So, spring is really when I want my lawn to get its nutrients -- by default.

So with spring fertilization, my goal is to, early on, push growth as much as possible to get the fescue strong and resilient. Deep roots. Healthy. Thriving.
Then, before the summer hits, I want to remove all sources of stress, as much as possible. That means that I am going to quit asking it to grow; so no more fertilizer. It can relax going into the summer, as I've already done as much as I can to make it strong. _I may be incorrect in my assumptions,_ but that is why I like synthetic fertilizer for my second spring app: Compared to organics that continue feeding the grass, synthetics seems to have a clearer window for activity, which means that there is more control over when they stop pushing growth.


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

social port said:


> So with spring fertilization, my goal is to, early on, push growth as much as possible to get the fescue strong and resilient. Deep roots. Healthy. Thriving.
> Then, before the summer hits, I want to remove all sources of stress, as much as possible. That means that I am going to quit asking it to grow; so no more fertilizer. It can relax going into the summer, as I've already done as much as I can to make it strong. _I may be incorrect in my assumptions,_ but that is why I like synthetic fertilizer for my second spring app: Compared to organics that continue feeding the grass, synthetics seems to have a clearer window for activity, which means that there is more control over when they stop pushing growth.


You've made a really good case for #3. I also think a lot of it is regional, and that if you lived where I do, you'd probably be a May or June Spring N guy like me. Is that too much of an assumption?

Having a fairly harsh Winter, the Fall Nitrogen is really important here to get everything through the Winter, and we generally have almost a month to accomplish it (September). Last year, I fertilized on Oct. 1 due to a delay. It was not one of those warm Octobers either, and I could tell things were already slowing down, so it probably wasn't as effective as September would have been.

But your October is almost like our September, so Fall N in October probably works ok for you more often than not. They do say that in the Northeast and Midwest, Fall N should generally be applied before October 1, and I would agree. The curveball is that sometimes it's still hot here in September, too, at least the first half. When it's hot and dry and the grass isn't actively growing and September comes around, I never know what to do for sure...I just wait and pray for rain and cooler temps. My feeling is that if there's active Brown Patch and dormant grass, it's probably not a great time to fertilize. We often don't have a proper "early Fall"...it can be short. I think this is why low-rate, frequent-app programs exist, such as the "Fall Blitz".

Back to Spring. So, after the abrupt warm-up that we get in April, usually, the grass grows like crazy through the Spring. It needs something to replenish its energy before Summer. I use the organics to do that, as well as trickle feed through the Summer. It works a lot better than high-dose, multiple-app synthetic Spring programs.


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

ruxie88 said:


> Green said:
> 
> 
> > There seem to be 4 main camps when it comes to Spring N:
> ...


Sounds like a solid plan. I know you and I have already discussed some it before. Good luck with it!


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

GoPre said:


> I had a successful fall blitz, lawn greened up nicely this spring. Depending on the weather, I don't plan on dropping any N until Memorial Day.


I usually even find Memorial Day too early...the grass is often still in hyper speed growth mode in my area at that time, where no matter how often you mow, you can't keep up (I'll likely use PGR during that period this year, a shorter period than in the past). I typically have to wait until sometime in June to apply N. This year may be different though, because the Winter dormancy was extensive compared to a normal year, so it may run out of reserves sooner.


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Scagfreedom48z+ said:


> I'm spoon feeding 1lb per 1M of Lesco starter fert 18-24-12 to help my 2018 fall overseed of KBG/PRG along. There are some spots that are thin and/or bare. Hoping to get the *** to fill in.
> 
> I know that pushing N in the spring isn't a great thing but I have fungicide preventative and tnex to apply when the time comes to combat any fungus outbreak and increased top growth from the N.


Sounds like a good plan.


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

NJ-lawn said:


> My main concern is brown patch. I do a bio fungicide program every year to combat but I'm wondering if I held off on any or very little nitrogen til fall maybe the disease pressure won't be there?


That's why I use organics in the Spring as much as I can, to reduce stress from high-rate fast-release fertilizer apps, and help the soil maintain a healthy condition. There's still disease pressure, but it's reduced.


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

SpiveyJr said:


> I'm applying two .25# of N applications of Lesco starter fertilizer 18-24-12, followed by a bag of Screaming Green at .64# of N. I might even apply .35# N of Urea. All of this between this week (when first application goes down) and Memorial Day. I went with a single feeding of Milorganite on May 4 last year as my only spring application and I didn't like how my lawn looked. It looked thin and malnourished until August when I began feeding it. I also overseeded in the fall and seeded a few spots this spring. The summer stress doesn't worry me because I have irrigation and will probably put down Milo on July 4. I do have fungus issues which is a concern but I am going with a preventative fungus program this year as opposed to reacting only when fungus became present.
> 
> My view on lawn care is it's a learning process and I learn by trial and error.


Sounds like #4. Let us know how it goes. I love Milo, and love Screamin' Green, too. The latter is a good hybrid product that has some of everything in it.


----------



## HoosierLawnGnome (Sep 28, 2017)

I'm in the apply it when it needs it camp.


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

HoosierLawnGnome said:


> I'm in the apply it when it needs it camp.


A great strategy if you're around to micro manage. And that "when it needs it" varies each year, depending on when you last seeded, how warm it is, what the moisture level is like, etc.


----------



## HoosierLawnGnome (Sep 28, 2017)

Green said:


> HoosierLawnGnome said:
> 
> 
> > I'm in the apply it when it needs it camp.
> ...


I can see when it needs N. Loses that shine.


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

HoosierLawnGnome said:


> Green said:
> 
> 
> > HoosierLawnGnome said:
> ...


So, are you applying in smaller than 0.25 lb or larger than 0.25 lb per thousand chunks this Spring? Or both, depending?


----------



## HoosierLawnGnome (Sep 28, 2017)

More than .25. It's hard for me to put down less than 100 lbs of material evenly.


----------



## Bigdrumnc (Mar 28, 2019)

So when are you fellow transition zone people gonna put out all that milorganite?


----------



## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

Green said:


> You've made a really good case for #3. I also think a lot of it is regional, and that if you lived where I do, you'd probably be a May or June Spring N guy like me. Is that too much of an assumption?


No, that sounds about right. For me, the key is to make sure that I don't add stress to the grass with N apps just before disease season hits. 


Green said:


> Having a fairly harsh Winter, the Fall Nitrogen is really important here to get everything through the Winter, and we generally have almost a month to accomplish it (September). Last year, I fertilized on Oct. 1 due to a delay. It was not one of those warm Octobers either, and I could tell things were already slowing down, so it probably wasn't as effective as September would have been.
> 
> But your October is almost like our September, so Fall N in October probably works ok for you more often than not. They do say that in the Northeast and Midwest, Fall N should generally be applied before October 1, and I would agree.


Having a TTTF lawn, then, would also seem to be difficult in the Northeast and Midwest, as you would face a similar dilemma as me: You have an optimal month or so for fall N, but you also need to overseed during this same month.


----------



## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

Bigdrumnc said:


> So when are you fellow transition zone people gonna put out all that milorganite?


That is a good question. This year, I used Milo for my first app in spring. I'm not sure that I would recommend this strategy. Another option is to do it in the fall. That probably makes more sense -- perhaps after an overseed.
I believe that I have rotated Milo and balanced synthetics in the fall after an overseed: start with .5lbs of milo; then do .5lbs of synthetic 2 weeks later and so forth for as long as N rates, soil temps, and growth support this strategy.


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

social port said:


> Having a TTTF lawn, then, would also seem to be difficult in the Northeast and Midwest, as you would face a similar dilemma as me: You have an optimal month or so for fall N, but you also need to overseed during this same month.


I think my fertilizer delay last Fall was in fact due to overseeding in Sept! You jogged my memory.

We try (operative word; not always successful due to time) to overseed in mid to late August. In fact, for KBG, anything after the first week in September is often late. Although August is often as hot (and humid) as July where I live, the days are starting to shorten noticeably, so you water 5 or more times per day to offset the heat and keep the seed moist in full sun. (The Northeast, especially the NE states/Eastern NY, has some of the earliest sunset times in the US in December, but that's another story). But yes, it's the same old basic dilemma you mentioned. That said, we tend not to have to overseed every year, by virtue that KBG is commonly incorporated into TTTF mixes here. I think the people in your lattitude are finally catching on to that, thanks to these forums and the youtubers. That was a prime consideration for me. I never wanted to go with TTTF alone because it would need overseeding almost every year.

If soil moisture stays at a certain level though, a TTTF lawn can do well over the Summer in the Midwest/Northeast and be successful, because we do get days in the low 80s, so it has a chance to recover every so often. LCN managed to do really well a TTTF/Ryegrass mix at his old house, and I don't know how often he overseeded.

Of course, soil moisture almost never stays at the required level, even with irrigation. You have to have just the right amount and frequency of rain each week! And of course extra irrigation increases Brown Patch, which can also thin it out. I like having the grass type mixes and spreading ability as insurance.


----------



## llO0DQLE (Dec 4, 2017)

I'm somewhere around #2 and #4. I don't have any hard and fast rules in terms of when I first fertilize for the season. However, before we get into it, I wanna point out a few things. I've been a lawn care nut since 2013 but didn't really know much of anything until maybe late 2014 when I started to get more knowledgeable with the basic principles. And then I decided to do my first renovation in the spring of 2015 and only cared for that lawn for 1 year post reno as we sold our house. 2017 we bought a new house and I didn't do much to my lawn that year and then last year, I renovated my front lawn. My point is that I don't think I've had much experience with really trying out different approaches for spring fertilizing for an established lawn, which I think is what this discussion is geared towards. Also, I think I'm the only one that is on the forums from my part of the world which is waaaay further up north than 99.999% of anybody here. I think there's one member here from my city but I think he's fairly new to lawn care. But my point is that my weather/climate here is very different than most people's. I live in an arid area with very little rainfall and very mild and short summers. In any case, I've played around with fertilizing and have gathered some observations and pushed the limits with synthetic N and I think I've come up with some guidelines that work for me.

Also, before I get into my spring fertilization I think it's best to paint a whole picture of my approach and climate. A few things to point out:

1. Spring greenup is usually around mid May. We don't get heavy showers in Spring and so we don't really get a big growth flush in the spring. 90% of my lawn's water requirements comes from irrigation.

2. Summer starts in around mid June and ends at the end of July. Temps can get high, ranging from 25C(77F) - 35C(95F) with the upper ranges only during heat waves and generally only lasts a few days at most. My point is, my grass keeps growing in the summer. There is no slowdown and nevermind dormancy unless you don't irrigate your lawn. Grass is still growing in August to September as temps are still in the range for grass to grow but sometimes, it can snow in September and we get a little low in temps (close to freezing) for 2 - 3 weeks sometimes (like last year) and grass growth can really slow down by September. My winterizer usually falls around mid to late October with Halloween being my cut off date as we tend to get covered in snow by November.

3. I subscribe to the aggressive synthetic Fall N program via spoonfeeding with urea and winterizer with 1lb N/M after the Pause. I point this out because I believe that your practices in the fall and winterizing have an effect as to how the grass responds in the spring, thereby affecting what your practices should be in the spring. However, as an aside, due to how sometimes we don't get much of a fall if we get a weird year like last year - snow and low temps for 2-3 weeks in September which caused me to go into the Pause in the first week of September - I am starting to think that I shouldn't wait for fall to get aggressive with N fertilization especially since summers are usually mild. I'm starting to think that for my locale, if summer is proving to be mild, best thing to do is watch the forecast, take it week by week, and fertilize when you can as much as you can (within reason) because there may not be much growth by September.

With those out of the way, here's what I do for spring. Since I always winterize, I find my grass wakes up well in the spring and is growing well as long as it's irrigated. However, we don't get much rain so I don't really get much of a spring growth flush. Again, 90% of my lawn's water requirements are provided by me. That translates to irrigation every 7-10 days or so. So what I do is give the grass some time to wake up and establish it's growth pattern for the year, and then fertilize around after 2-3 weeks after 90% of the lawn has greened up. I find/feel that if I wait too long, I miss out on giving my grass some N to really keep it lush and vibrant. It may not "need" it that soon, but I'm striving for a 10/10 look, not a "minimize N inputs approach and be happy with a 7/10" if you get my drift.

Now, at this point, the discussion can get more complicated. What to use for N? Synthetic vs Milo vs grains etc. After some playing around and some observations and pushing synthetic N last year on my back lawn - I've come to the realization that lawn care really is about the whole picture, not just synthetic NPK and soil health, organics etc are very important, more so than just synthetic N no matter the time of year. IMO, as long as I hit ~6 lbs N/M for the year, I'm good. I may give the lawn some synthetic N in the spring if I feel like it, or just stick to organics and keep the lawn a slow/steady diet of N and other nutrients and then winterize. I think that keeping that overarching principle in mind will get me to where I wanna be with my goals.

I guess, at the end of the day, IMO, one should not just focus on spring N (or fall N or winterizer or whatever) but really just go for the whole picture and think long term when it comes to making decisions for your lawn. A wise man with lots of experience with lawns once said, what you do today on your lawn has an effect days, weeks, months, and even years later. I do think there is truth to that. At the end of the day, Spring N fertilization (or even N fertilization as a whole for that matter) is just a very small component to the whole lawn program. Everything ties in together and it's a holistic approach that really makes a big difference to the health and resulting aesthetic of the lawn.


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

llO0DQLE said:


> My point is that I don't think I've had much experience with really trying out different approaches for spring fertilizing for an established lawn, which I think is what this discussion is geared towards. Also, I think I'm the only one that is on the forums from my part of the world which is waaaay further up north than 99.999% of anybody here. I think there's one member here from my city but I think he's fairly new to lawn care. But my point is that my weather/climate here is very different than most people's. I live in an arid area with very little rainfall and very mild and short summers. In any case, I've played around with fertilizing and have gathered some observations and pushed the limits with synthetic N and I think I've come up with some guidelines that work for me.


That's correct, and good that you pointed it out. This thread has so far been mostly about at least somewhat established lawns...after the first full year, or whatever cutoff you use...



llO0DQLE said:


> I am starting to think that I shouldn't wait for fall to get aggressive with N fertilization especially since summers are usually mild. I'm starting to think that for my locale, if summer is proving to be mild, best thing to do is watch the forecast, take it week by week, and fertilize when you can as much as you can (within reason) because there may not be much growth by September.


Sounds like your August is a bit like my September, and my October is like your September. I usually do my final Winterizer in late November or early December.

Also sounds like you have a fairly short Spring, similar to the transition zone people in some ways...but your Summer is milder and shorter than theirs. Definitely some similarities, though.


----------



## ABC123 (Jul 14, 2017)

I let a uncontrolled fungus take over my Reno last fall and it seems to be mostly unharmed.

It's already recovering with light urea apps and hoping that stressor of the outbreak is enough to adapt a little more.

I'm in the spring 30x2 fungicide camp with a controlled but not aggressive future of fungus in correlation with or without the addition of N.


----------



## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

HoosierLawnGnome said:


> Green said:
> 
> 
> > HoosierLawnGnome said:
> ...


^+1 for all of the above.

I aim to be in the #2 camp, but always wind up in the #4 camp, for multiple reasons:

1. I always seem to be seeding in the fall; many times dormant seeding; and rarely, but sometimes spring seeding (least desirable, but a last option for ground cover). The seedlings need N (Philes philosophy).

2. I follow a mostly organic program and apply corn gluten as my Pre M, which has N.

3. Along the lines of HLG's comment about seeing when the turf needs N, I constantly survey the lawn for areas that need a little more attention/fertilizer, and touch up as needed. These would be slow growth/high traffic areas. I always swim to be repairing vehicle damage (not my doing-other side of the driveway), including my brother in law's burying of his RV to the axle during a 2" rain storm, returning from a camping trip (we babysit it). I'm always fixing something.

4. Even with the Fall Blitz and Winterizer, it just seems to need a little bump in the spring. It begins up fairly quickly, but could use a little better density and topgrowth (kbg), compared to other lawns I see in the area. I couldn't hold off any longer and dropped about .5 lbs N of urea on Friday.


----------

