Ammonium Sulphate In Lawn Care

The Fastest Way To Green A Lawn?

The use of Ammonium Sulphate (or Sulphate of Ammonium) in lawn care will instantly green a lawn almost faster than anything else.

But it does have major drawbacks.

So before proceeding to use this product, please read this article fully and choose wisely.

What Is Ammonium Sulphate

Ammonium Sulphate is a source of straight Nitrogen. Nitrogen is a major element of all plants, including lawns, it is the "N" in the NPK ratio often seen on fertiliser products.

Nitrogen is the primary nutrient responsible for green leaf growth, so by applying it on it's own, we power up the green leaf growth without promoting any of the other normal development processes of the lawn.

An application of Ammonium Sulphate will therefore instantly promote green leaf growth, in an almost supercharged way.

The Downside Of Supercharged Leaf Growth

Of course with every great benefit, comes an equally great disadvantage.

With such rapid growth of the leaf, the lawn may well become severely scalped after the next mowing, or even the next few mowings.

This severe scalping can lead to poor lawn health which encourages disease, weed and pest infestation, and will look ugly for as long as the lawn takes to repair itself.

If it occurs in the heat of Summer or in a drought, the lawn will struggle to repair itself, the soil will dry out much faster, and the lawn may die.

If the crowns of the lawn were raised too high during the rapid growth process, and are then removed from mowing, the area of the lawn affected will die.

More Problems In Overall Lawn Care

Even if used in a highly controlled manner, the application of Ammonium Sulphate is still only applying a single nutrient.

The lawn still requires it's major elements of Phosphorous and Potassium, as well as all of it's trace elements. Without them, the lawn will never maintain good health, and will always be sick, even if we can temporarily green it up.

You see, the another problem with applying Ammonium Sulphate is that it is stored predominantly in the green leaf. When the mowing frequency increases to match the extra growth rate, the stored Nitrogen is removed as the leaf is removed. The result and the entire exercise is only ever temporary.

A Better Choice In Lawn Care

By far, the best possible source of nutrients for our lawns is a balanced high quality fertiliser, which is applied at regular intervals throughout the year, and in small amounts. That way, your lawn will receive all the nutrients it needs for good health, in the correct quantities, at the right times.

If You Still Choose To Use It

Use Ammonium Sulphate only in very minor quantities on your lawn, only when absolutely required, and only a couple of times per year. Be careful, knowing that by choosing this option, you also choose to accept all of the possible negative consequences to your lawn.

Don't Blame Your Lawn Mowing Contractor

Remember the important warning on excess growth and scalping from mowing...

This is unavoidable.

So if you hire a Lawn Mowing Contractor and your lawns get scalped, it's not his fault, the course of action in lawn care was the lawn owners choice, and responsibility.

Your poor old Lawn Mowing Contractor probably just doubled the time required to mow the lawn, and as such just lost money by servicing the property. He might just need a beer to keep him onside!