Ace Hardware Fertilizer Stages

A beautiful lawn is a source of pride for homeowners. It also provides important environmental benefits, such as preventing soil erosion. Oftentimes, a year-round maintenance program is needed to keep a yard looking its best. A vital part of that program is fertilization. Ace Hardware offers several stages of fertilizer that promote lawn health by replacing depleted nutrients and reducing weeds and insects.

Early spring fertilizing helps your lawn recover from damage imposed by winter's harsh weather. Ace's Green Turf Crabgrass Preventer is a pre-emergent fertilizer designed to be the season's first. It keeps crabgrass from sprouting but allows new grass seed to grow, supporting its early growth.

Late spring fertilizing provides nutrients that help your grass establish a strong root system, which protects the existing grass and helps it fill in bare spots. This stage is also the time to kill off broadleaf weeds such as dandelions and chickweed. Ace's Phosfree Weed & Feed is a post-emergence fertilizer that controls over 175 such weeds and feeds your lawn without burning.

Two feedings over the summer and another late in the fall give your lawn the nutrients it needs to stay thick and healthy. Ace Green Turf Weed & Feed 29-3-3 is a general fertilizer suitable for use during the lawn's prime growing season and at the end of the season to prepare it for winter. Consider applying an insecticide when you fertilize during the summer, if pests are a problem.

Figure out how much fertilizer you need before you head to the store. Measure the length and width of your lawn. Multiply the two measurements to find the square footage -- its area. The fertilizer packaging notes how much area one bag covers. Once you have the fertilizer at home, broadcast it according to the package instructions. Work in the same direction for the entire first pass over the lawn and then work across the first pass in another complete pass. This helps to eliminate uneven coverage and missed spots.