
We see lawn care fertilisers for sale in the garden nurseries, Contractors tell us they are important, even the turf supplier advised us to use them. So we sort of know we should... but why?
All grasses that we use as lawns today, were once wild grasses, and the different varieties such as Couch, Zoysia, Buffalo and the rest, all derived from different parts of the world.
In their various natural environments, these grasses have all the nutrients and everything else they require in their soils, air, water, companion plants and more.
When we remove these grasses from their natural environments, and grow them on their own as a lawn in a totally different environment, we have created a singular culture, where the grass is supposed to survive without its natural checks and balances. This is called a Monoculture.
With these natural checks and balances removed, we need to substitute these requirements for our lawns in order for the grass to thrive as a healthy lawn in our gardens.
This simply means following a good lawn care regime and giving lawns water and nutrients, ensuring adequate sunlight, and combating any problems such as weeds and diseases whenever they arise.
All this complicated stuff is simply called Lawn Care, and its what we all do everyday to ensure a nice lawn for our homes. It's really not that complicated.
The lawn fertiliser part of the equation is simply providing the grass with the nutrients it requires. While these nutrients may be present in the grasses original environment, they may be lacking in their new environment in our homes and gardens. So when fertiliser is applied, we are simply providing food in the form of nutrients that may be lacking in our soils.
Lawn fertiliser is simply a source of food that lawns require on a regular basis to retain good health outside of their natural environment, and are an essential part of every lawn care regime.
Highly respected Australian turf and plant breeder Todd Layt shares expert lawn care advice with homeowners on The Lawn Guide.