Lawn Fertilizers

Landed a nice long term garden job today ... small garden but not much there yet ... (just lawn) ....

the lawn is looking very tatty and the owner has said that I must just do whatever and sort it ... (thats my 1st job)

in spring, there will be a whole garden upgrade with the planting of shrubs, flowers, a few small trees etc... all to my design, but obviously within budget (which is a nice healthy amount, so can do lots) ... she said I could do it now, but told her to wait till after the cold, but will prepare the beds in the meantime and perhaps plant a few trees, but the bulk will be done in spring ... this will be a good client as it will be a weekly maintenance job, and they own a few more houses in the area which they rent out, so loads more work coming soon

recently, I sorted a lawn with a few applications of different fertilizers all bought on the Tesco sale .... it has now turned into a very lush thick lawn, deep green and needs mowing twice a week ...

so, this time round, I will be looking at using the following, based on the NPK ratios:

for a quick instant greening, I will opt for a fertilizer with a high nitrogen content ... from what I have found, Westland Rhododendron, Azalea & Camellia Plant Food has a formula of 38-5-5 ... (the Scotts lawn builder which is used by many, and highly recomended has an NPK forumula of 22-5-5) ... the westalnd costs approx £5/kg vs £10 for 800 grams of Scotts

then, for a slow release during autumn/winter, I will use a slow release formula which is high in P and K (for roots etc).... the one I am considering is Phostrogen slow release which has a formula of 14-10-27 plus trace elements (The Scotts autumn lawn builder which is highly recomended and used by many has a formula of 16-0-16) ... Phostrogen costs £18.99 which fertilizes 400 sq meters, and Scotts costs approx £25.99 for 400 square meters


I used the phostrogen on the lawn that needs mowing twice a week, but it was not the slow release one

so, based on the above, this may be the best solution? ... or am I missing something? ...

In spring, I will aerate and scarify and check if I need to use something for weeds