Have you just been to your local garden center to buy fertilizer for your lawn and was confused buy all the choice, symbols and numbers. There is a large range of lawn fertilizers on the market from granular to liquid feeds depending on you requirements and needs but there is one thing they will all have in common and that is printed on the bag or box  N-P-K. This stands for Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium and understanding these numbers is an important part of buying the correct lawn fertilizer.
Below is a list describing what each chemical does,

Nitrogen (N)

Important for grass growth

    Forms part of chlorophyll (the green color) so important in photosynthesis

    Improves health and root growth

    Important for seeding and flowering

Phosphorous (P) or Phosphate

    Essential for food production

    Assists grass establishment and growth

    Encourages grass rooting

Potassium (K)

    Helps build plant cells

    Involved in photosynthesis and plant functions

    Increases drought hardiness

    Improves disease resistance

The availability of sun, CO2 and water are very important to the grass plants. Controlling the amount of Carbon dioxide and sun light are pretty much out of your control but are readily available and if there has not been much rain fall you can water your lawn . This leaves the mineral nutrients (fertilizer) as the factor that can be fully controlled to help keeping your lawn healthy.

If all this sounds daunting you can leave it to a lawn care specialist like Grasshopper Garden Services. All lawn care company’s must be qualified (City and guilds) and licensed to apply herbicides and fertilizers on your property.
At Grasshopper Garden Services we don’t just use a combined weed and feed fertilizer, we use a quality grass fertilizer and a separate weed killer tailored to your gardens needs and requirements. All the chemicals used by a professional lawn care company are unavailable to the general public.
For more information regarding lawn fertilizer please have a look at my other blog posts here at www.grasshoppergardenservices.co.uk