Yesterday was April 1st… and this is no joke, it’s the absolute perfect time to get busy with the main part of my lawn fertilization schedule. If you’re a seasoned-GardenLine follower, you already know this. If you’re new to GardenLine, you’ve picked the absolute best time of the year to jump on the schedule.
Even in these unusual times of Stay Home/Stay Safe, fear not; because being outdoors is actually a good thing. Plus, most of the nurseries, garden centers, feed stores and hardware stores (who just so happen to carry all the products I recommend) are considered essential businesses and are very much open for business. And, they almost all do curbside pickup, so all you have to do is call ahead, place your order and they’ll take really good care of the GardenLine Faithful, when it comes to staying true to the schedule.
Here’s as many bullet points as I could think of as of this past Monday, so you can see if your “need for clarification issue” per the schedule is covered. If not, don’t hesitate to be the first to call this weekend during the radio show itself.
Always remember too, when it comes to the schedule, you can almost always apply the “It’s Never Too Late To Do The Right Thing” mentality, but with the one exception – since we are dead on the time frame to do the slow-release part of the schedule, it’s not really necessary to do the “early green up, fast-acting 15-5-10” any more. But here’s a reminder how “It’s Never Too Late…” can be applied. https://ktrh.iheart.com/featured/gardenline-with-randy-lemmon/content/2019-03-27-its-never-too-late-to-do-the-right-thing-2019-style/
- We are past the “early green up” time frame, but if you want to do the Imperial 15-5-10 Green Up, you certainly can. Just wait at least 30 days before applying the April 1st slow-release application. My recommendation is Nitro Phos Imperial 15-5-10.
- ‘Dance with the one what brung ya’! No need to change fertilizers, if what you’ve used in the past has always served you well. Just make sure it’s still on the schedule.
- This application in April is not optional… if you want to stay true, this must be done soon. The ‘early green up’ and the trace minerals are considered optional.
- Yes, you can do organic lawn fertilizers too, mixed with synthetic products like Pre-Emergent Herbicides, or even if you used a synthetic “early green up” fertilizers. In other words, you can alternate between the two.
- If you’ve still not done a Pre-Emergent, yes, you can do both of them on the same day, just separately.
- If you can get it down right before a rain, do it! Mother Nature’s watering in is much better than your own irrigation system; It’s the pH of the water that makes the difference.
- If you DON’T think it’s going to rain within the first 24 hours of application, run your sprinkler for just a couple of minutes per zone.
- If you get lots of rain, say 3 or more inches within a 24-48 hour period after applying the fertilizer, you can re-apply only at half-the dosage the second go-round.
- No matter what spreader you have, use our spreader settings technique…https://ktrh.iheart.com/content/2019-03-05-spreader-settings/
- If you’re worried that it’s going to rain too much next week, you can wait a week or so to apply. Remember that this is “window” for application that goes for 45 days or so.
- You can use left-over fertilizer, assuming you have a small foot print of a yard, but it has to be sealed and stored properly so no moisture gets in the bag.
- If you can fertilize before a compost top dressing, but give it 2-3 weeks before you compost
- Likewise, if you just compost top-dressed, give that about 3-4 weeks before you apply the fertilizer
- You can mix the Trace Minerals (such as Azomite) with the Fertilizer upon spreading, or you can do it separately… it just doesn’t matter
- This Schedule works throughout much of the state, but mostly within 200 miles of the coast and all the way down to south Texas.
- Outside of the Houston area, I do not know who all carries these products, but call us on the radio show and we’ll help figure that out.
- 3-1-2/4-1-2 = the ratio of many fertilizers that meet the protocol of THE SCHEDULE… read the whole schedule at the link above, and it shows examples like 19-4-10, 19-5-9, 18-4-6, and yes even 15-5-10, but make sure they also say “slow or controlled release”
- Nitro Phos Imperial and other ‘fast-acting’ 15-5-10’s are not controlled or slow release
- We don’t recommend Weed-N-Feeds period!!!!! https://ktrh.iheart.com/featured/gardenline-with-randy-lemmon/content/2018-02-06-a-weed-and-feeds-label-should-scare-you/