Fertilizer supplies essential nutrients to the grass plant for adequate growth and maintenance of plant functions. If you want to have a quality playing field then fertilizer is key. Turfgrass species require different amounts of fertilizer at a consistent rate. If you are in a sand based system, be careful with high levels of soluble fertilizer because a high percentage may be lost to leaching.
The key is to supply adequate amounts of essential nutrients (we base our recommendations on nitrogen because it is needed in the highest quantities by grass plants) throughout the growing season from April through October in amounts that can be fully utilized by the field. Phosphorous and Potassium are also very important and must be maintained at required levels in the plants.
I suggest getting some soil and tissue samples done over the course of a season to monitor where your nutritional levels are - You want N-P-K to be about 3%,1%,2% in the tissue test.
How much Nitrogen per thousand square feet per year
Common Bermudagrass - 6 to 8 pounds
Hybrid Bermudagrass - 7 to 9 pounds
Kentucky Bluegrass - 5 to 7 pounds
Texas Bluegrass - 5 to 7 pounds
Zoysia japonica (coarse bladed) - 5 to 6 pounds
Zoysia matrella (fine bladed) - 6 to 7 pounds
You want to supply the turf with a fairly constant supply of nutrient spaced about 4 weeks apart starting around Easter. The bluegrasses will require fertilizer throughout the entire year as they will maintain growth through much of the winter.
Selecting the right fertilizer
Fertilizers are similar and what you really need to know about them is the amount of soluble nitrogen. You can shop around by finding the cheapest price per pound of nitrogen, but this is not always the best value. Try to begin the season with some complete fertilizer and possibly go with straight nitrogen (ammonium sulfate or urea) in the late spring and early summer, then end the year with some fertilizers higher in potassium. When you look at a bag of fertilizer, there are three numbers separated by dashes, which is called the "analysis" of the fertilizer. It is actually a percentage of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium, which are the three nutrients in highest demand by the grass plants. Nitrogen is the first number, then Phosphorous, then Potassium (N - P - K). You can compare the price per pound of nitrogen taking the first number (for example we'll use 15) and divide by 100 for the decimal equivalent of the percentage (0.15). Now multiply this by the total weight of the bag (40 pounds) for the number of pounds of nitrogen in the bag of fertilizer (0.15 X 40 = 6 pounds of nitrogen). Now take the total price for the bag of fertilizer and divide by the number of pounds of nitrogen to get price per pound of nitrogen ($15 price / 6 pounds N = $2.50 per pound of nitrogen). Compare with other bags of fertilizer.
