Hello SUMMER!
Sweet corn is ready! Watermelons are delicious! Cicadas are singing in the evenings. Fireflies are magnificent. The smells of grills accompany my commute home each night. Summer is officially in full swing, folks! (Where has the year gone!?) Insert a tiny non-angry rant about how each year really does go faster than the last.
Late summer means our lawns are starting to show some summer-related battle scars. In my case, the southern and western exposures of my lawn always take the hardest beating from the sun and are looking a little worse for wear this time of year. Additionally, a few spots along my driveway (where the reflected heat really cooks the poor little plants) are thinner than I would like… Those thin spots will potentially give foot-holds for weed pressure soon if I don’t start promoting the grasses I want to fill in those spots.
But the biggest clue my lawn is getting hungry is little deep green areas where deer, dogs, and other critters have left behind some recent ahem poos ahem that are feeding the grasses with some free fertilizer, giving me a hint at the potential my lawn would reach if I gave it the food it is craving. The time is nigh!
“But Sarah!” you’re thinking, “if your lawn was getting stressed out during June and July, why weren’t you feeding your lawn then?” Great question! You have probably noticed our programs avoid feeding in the peak summer months. We do that for two reasons:
Grasses that thrive in Iowa are primarily cool-season grasses, which means they naturally slow down their own growth when temps climb above 85 degrees as a defense mechanism. So if we force them to grow when they naturally don’t want to, we are actually stressing them out more.
Who wants to be pushing around a spreader on a 100-degree July day? Not this girl.
Enter Step 3 in August! The hero we need!
Photo of Sarah planning your lawn’s feeding program
16-4-8 w/ micros is the newest member of our 4 Step Program. Around here, we informally refer to 16-4-8 as a “grow-in” fertilizer. This product is a lovely well-rounded meal for a lawn you are wanting to thicken, darken, and give a little immune-boost heading into the fall. It’s the lawn equivalent to a meal of BLTs, sweet corn, watermelon, and strawberry-rhubarb pie - the perfect summer meal! (Can anyone tell I am hungry while writing this post?)
Like our beloved 13-13-13, 16-4-8 includes a micronutrient package and is homogenized to ensure each granule contains the same available nutrients.
If you are curious to read more about why we selected this specific hot blended fertilizer for our lineup, Read here.
Step 3 Stats
16-4-8 is chemical-free and is people and pet safe.
One bag covers 8,000 sq/ft.
Try to apply this product before rain sometime in the next month when temperatures are consistently below 85 degrees - so start watching the skies!
Once watered in, this product will feed your lawn for approximately one month.
Pro Tip: Don’t bother with overseeding for minor repairs or thickening your lawn. Surprised by this sentence? Then you should definitely read this page.
Bonus Pro Tip: Did your lawn take more damage than normal this past summer due to a specific stressor? You might consider doing a feeding of 16-4-8 now, and then following up with a second feeding in September of either 16-4-8 (if you only have a little repair left to make) or 13-13-13 (if you have lots of repairs left to make), before the late fall Step 4: 20-0-8 w/ Q3 (weed-and-feed).
Super Extra Awesome Bonus Pro Tip: Now would be a good time to contact your favorite aeration company to get on their schedule for core aeration any time between the end of September and the end of October!