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Frequently Asked Questions
Why test the soil before buying anything?
Because the commonest mistake is applying a nutrient to a problem that is not a nutrient problem.
A soil outside the pH range a plant tolerates locks up nutrients that are physically present.
A lawn can be starving in the middle of a well-fertilised soil.
Adding more fertiliser does nothing in that situation; correcting the pH releases what is already there.
Tests also reveal deficiencies that symptoms alone do not distinguish.
A test costs a fraction of a season's product and prevents buying the wrong one repeatedly.
What is the difference between granular, controlled-release and liquid feeds?
How fast the nutrients become available, and for how long.
A granular fertiliser dissolves over days to weeks and gives a clear response.
A controlled-release coating meters the same nutrients out over months.
A liquid feed is available almost immediately and gone almost as quickly.
They are three answers to how nutrient demand is spread across a season, not three grades of one product.
Which suits depends on how often the area can be treated and how even the growth needs to be.
Do soil improvers replace fertiliser?
No - they change soil structure, which is a separate question from nutrient supply.
Compost and soil improvers affect how the soil holds water, drains and lets roots through.
No amount of nutrient input compensates for a soil with no organic matter.
Equally, structure alone does not feed a demanding sward.
Most poor lawns have both problems and need both addressed.
Improvers work slowly, so they are an investment across seasons rather than a treatment.
What does mulch do that a soil improver does not?
It sits on the surface rather than in the soil, and its jobs are suppression, moisture and temperature.
A mulch layer blocks light and suppresses weed germination.
It reduces evaporation from the soil surface considerably.
It moderates soil temperature swings at the root zone.
Over years it breaks down and does become organic matter, but that is a side effect.
Mulch piled against stems and trunks causes rot, which is the usual application error.
How is grass seed chosen?
By what the area has to tolerate - shade, wear, drought, mowing height - rather than by seed quality.
Mixtures are formulated for different conditions and behave very differently.
A hard-wearing mixture is coarse; a fine ornamental mixture will not take traffic.
Shade-tolerant mixtures exist because most standard mixtures fail under trees.
Establishment speed varies, which matters when the area must be usable soon.
Overseeding an existing lawn and establishing a new one call for different mixtures and different preparation.
When is the problem a disease rather than a deficiency?
When the pattern is patchy, spreading or shows lesions rather than uniform discolouration.
Nutrient deficiencies tend to affect an area evenly and follow the growing pattern.
Disease usually appears as patches that expand, often with distinct edges or markings.
Treating a disease with fertiliser frequently makes it worse, because soft growth is more susceptible.
Timing, humidity and mowing height all influence disease more than nutrition does.
Identifying the organism matters, because products are specific rather than general.
Are lawn chemicals available everywhere?
No - approvals, permitted uses and operator licensing differ substantially between markets and change over time.
Active substances approved in one country are banned in another.
Some products are restricted to licensed professional users only.
Record-keeping obligations apply to professional use in many jurisdictions.
The position changes as approvals are withdrawn or renewed.
The local regulator's current list is the authority, not general practice or previous experience.
How much of a difference does application timing make?
Frequently more than product choice - the same product applied at the wrong time does little or harm.
Fertiliser applied to dormant turf is largely wasted and may leach.
Pre-emergent products must go on before germination, which is a narrow window.
Lime works slowly and is applied well ahead of when the pH change is wanted.
Seed needs soil temperature and moisture rather than a calendar date.
Reading the season rather than the calendar is what separates good results from average ones.
Can these products be applied by hand?
Small areas yes; anything larger needs a spreader, because evenness is what determines the result.
Hand application produces stripes and patches that show for the rest of the season.
Over-application scorches; under-application shows as pale bands.
Drop spreaders are accurate and slow; broadcast spreaders are fast and less precise.
Calibration against the product's stated rate is what makes either work.
Liquid products need a sprayer with a consistent output rather than a watering can.
What should be stored and what should not?
Sealed fertiliser and lime store well; opened bags, seed and liquid products do not.
Fertiliser absorbs moisture and cakes solid once the bag is opened.
Grass seed loses germination over time and much faster in warm damp storage.
Liquid feeds and chemicals have shelf lives and can separate or freeze.
Chemical storage requirements are regulated for professional users in most markets.
Buying to the season rather than to the discount avoids most storage problems entirely.