In this article, I’m going to show you, step-by-step, how to feed your lawn with a granular fertiliser or weed and feed product.
Hopefully, you’ve already got the best lawn feed for your needs and the time of year. The only thing to do now is to get it on the ground.
Use a Lawn Spreader to Feed Your Lawn
When applying granular fertiliser, whether it’s a dedicated lawn feed or weed and feed, you might be tempted to spread it by hand.
While this can be done reasonably accurately on really small lawns, the bigger your lawn is, the less accurate it becomes.
In worst cases, parts of your lawn could become scorched and brown while other areas receive no fertiliser at all.
So, if you’re spreading a granular fertiliser, use a lawn spreader such as a drop spreader, a rolling rotary spreader, or shoulder spreader. Even a hand spreader will do for small lawns.
And use the best garden lawn you can afford. Cheap ones have a habit of jamming and clogging up.
How to Feed Your Lawn, Step-by-Step
Feeding a lawn with a granular product is easy. Even on large areas, it only takes a few minutes and the more your practice, the quicker you’ll get.
Firstly, I’ll explain how to weight out the correct amount of fertiliser and then I’ll show you two ways of applying it.
How to Measure How Much You Need
The first thing do is weigh out how much fertiliser you need. I always apply less than the recommended dose as the NPK values in domestic fertiliser are quite high.
To do this, take the square meterage of your lawn and multiply it by how many grams per square meter you’re going to apply.
For example…
If your lawn is 100 square meters and you’re applying 25g per square meter, that’s;
100(square meters) x 25(grams) = 2,500g, or 2kg.
How to Apply Granular Lawn Feed
There are two methods for applying granular lawn feed and the one you choose will be based purely on preference.
- Cross Application, and
- The Overlap Method
Cross Application
Cross application involves setting your spreader at half-rate and applying the lawn feed in two stages.
Step 1: Apply Your Fertiliser Lengthways
With your spreader set to half-rate, the first step is to walk up and down the length of your lawn as you apply the fertiliser.
Make sure you’re cranking the handle of the spreader BEFORE you release the fertiliser in order to get a good flow.
When you’re done, you should still have half of the fertiliser in your bag or hopper, depending on the type of spreader you’re using.
Step 2: Apply it Widthways
The second step is to apply the second half of the lawn feed by crossing your lawn widthways.
Then you’re done.
The Overlap Method
The overlap method allows you to essentially apply two half doses of fertiliser without having to do it in two stages.
Therefore it’s a quicker process.
Finishing Off
Once you’ve fertilised the whole lawn, have a quick look in the corners to make sure they have received their dose of fertiliser.
If not, lightly apply some by hand.
In Conclusion
So that’s how to feed your lawn with a granular product.
It’s very easy to do and will only take a matter of minutes, even on a lawn of several hundred square meters.
Depending on your lawn feeding regime, you’ll only need to do it 4 times a year at the most. If you apply a weed and feed product, it’ll probably on be twice a year.
If you use liquid and granular fertiliser in conjunction with each other, you might also want to learn how to apply liquid grass feed properly too.
