Lawn should be fertilized in spring and summer. We explain how and when fertilization is carried out in summer.
In the warm summer months, lawn growth runs at full speed when there is sufficient moisture. When fertilizing your lawn in summer, however, you should pay attention to a few important aspects. With our tips, your lawn will get the best possible supply of nutrients even in the hot season.
In which case and when lawn fertilization should be carried out in summer, you can find out below. We will then give you tips on choosing fertilizers in summer.
Why should you fertilize the lawn in summer?
The thought that lawns only need to be fertilized in spring and autumn is haunting the minds of many lawn owners. However, the last possible fertilization in October is only suitable for heavily used lawns, such as football or polo pitches and the finest English ornamental lawns. For normal and raised lawns in the home garden, it is recommended to carry out the last fertilization in August or September. It is important that you fertilize your lawn in the summer. Lawn fertilization in autumn is more of an alternative date. With primarily organic fertilizers, you can do this quite carefree, since organically bound nutrients tend neither to over-fertilization nor to leaching. Partial or purely mineral fertilizers should only be distributed until August. The fertilizer plan for a lawn can ultimately be designed very differently. Of course, the type of your soil, the fertilizer used and the time of the last fertilization determine how you fertilize in summer.
| Soil Type | Fertilizer Type | Recommended fertilization in spring | Recommended fertilization in summer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light sandy bottom | Organic-Mineral | March to April approx. 80 g/m² | June approx. 80 g/m² August approx. |
| Medium Floor | Organic-Mineral | April to May approx. 80 g/m² | June approx. 80 g/m² August approx. 50 g/m² (potassium-emphasizedautumn lawn fertilization) |
| Heavy clay soil | Organic-Mineral | May to June approx. 120 g/m² | August approx. 60 g/m² (potassium-rich autumn lawn fertilization) |
| Light sandy bottom | Organic | February to March approx. 60 g/m² | June approx. 40 g/m² August to mid-October approx. 70 g/m² (potassium-rich autumn lawn fertilization) |
| Medium Floor | Organic | March to April approx. 60 g/m² | June approx. 40 g/m² August to mid-October approx. 70 g/m² (potassium-rich autumn lawn fertilization) |
| Heavy clay soil | Organic | April to May approx. 60 g/m² | June approx. 30 g/m² August to mid-October approx. 80 g/m² (potassium-rich autumn lawn fertilization) |
Note: The dosages mentioned are examples. The information on organo-mineral fertilizer refers to a fertilizer with a composition of 10:4:6:2. The information on the primarily organic fertilizer refers to our Plantura organic lawn fertilizer and our Plantura organic autumn lawn fertilizer. The correct dosages may differ for your lawn. To ensure that fertilization is tailored to your needs, we recommend carrying out soil analyzes every few years.
Fertilizing the lawn in summer: the right time
As you may have noticed in the table above, July is omitted from the fertilization as the average hottest and driest month. Fertilization should not be carried out, especially when there is high solar radiation and drought. On the one hand, the speed of action is reduced in dry conditions. On the other hand, the rapid evaporation of irrigation water after fertilization can lead to harmful nutrient concentrations on the lawn roots. Of course, this only applies to mineral fertilizers. The following applies to every fertilization in summer: the weather should be as humid as possible and the radiation should be as low as possible. Cooler evening hours are best and application of fertilizer should be followed by thorough watering.
Tip: Do you often struggle with drought in summer because your soil hardly stores any water and your grass suffers as a result? Then it is important, on the one hand, to use a potassium-rich autumn lawn fertilizer every autumn. This permanently increases the drought resistance of the grasses. Furthermorewould it make sense to use a dry grass seed mixture for a new plant. Because mixtures like our Plantura dry grassland are composed of particularly drought-tolerant grasses.
What do you fertilize the lawn with in summer?
Surely you have noticed that we left out mineral lawn fertilizers in our exemplary fertilizer plan. As a compromise, we have given data on an organo-mineral fertilizer. Pure mineral fertilizers generally have many disadvantages for the user. On the one hand, the application requires a high level of accuracy, fertilization dates should be adhered to as far as possible and incorrect fertilization quickly leads to damage to the lawn. On the other hand, the sole application of mineral fertilizers has been shown to result in a loss of humus and soil quality. Because neither is desirable for your lawn, we recommend that you ignore mineral fertilizers.
Organic lawn fertilizers have the advantage that the time window for application is very long and the possible output quantity is very high due to their slow and weather-dependent implementation. Of course, it makes sense to stick to the dates and dosages mentioned above. However, should you not be able to keep an appointment, another time does not immediately lead to over-fertilization of the lawn or to a loss through leaching. Apart from these obvious advantages, organic fertilizers offer many more: The input of organic structural material nourishes soil life and promotes soil quality. As a result, your lawn can grow in loose soil and the matting of the turf is effectively prevented by useful soil organisms. This reduces the need for scarifying.
Because we are convinced of the advantages of primarily organic fertilizers, we have developed our Plantura organic lawn fertilizer and the Plantura organic autumn lawn fertilizer. These consist of purely natural raw materials and are produced completely animal-free. This makes them perfect for use by lawn owners.
Summary: How to fertilize the lawn in summer?
- Mineral lawn fertilizer is possible, but has many disadvantages for the user
- Predominantly organic lawn fertilizer is user-friendly and ensures a more resilient and easy-care lawn over the long term
- Pay attention to organic quality, then you and your pets can use it again immediately after fertilizingon the lawn
Here you can find out about the first fertilization in spring, while this special article deals with the last lawn fertilization in autumn.