If you want to create a cost-effective fertilizer program for one of the properties you manage, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is choosing a fertilizer solely on price. The bag price is an important factor when figuring out the cost of the total program, but as you'll see, it's only part of the equation.

In this article we'll look at how to properly cost fertilizer, which will help you avoid losing money on product and labor.

How to Calculate the True Cost of Fertilizer

An effective fertilizer program must produce healthy, green turf, but it also needs to make sense from a financial standpoint.

As discussed in the video, one of the most common objections when it comes to slow release fertilizer is the bag cost is too high. But when you look at the number of bags needed per application, how long the fertilizer lasts, and a few other factors, programs utilizing slow release fertilizer usually cost less overall.

Comparing the Cost of Fertilizer

One of the biggest problems with quick release fertilizers is they don't last very long. Usually only 4-6 weeks. On the other hand, slow release fertilizers routinely last anywhere from 2-4 months. And there are a few products that last even longer!

A reliable way to compare fertilizer costs when you're preparing for a single application is to calculate the cost of fertilizer per acre per week. To illustrate how this calculation works, we'll look at the true cost of Turf Royale 21-7-14, a quick release fertilizer that costs $22, and TurfGro 24-5-11 Spring & Summer, a slow release fertilizer that costs $26.

Step 1: Calculate the Number of Bags Needed to Fertilize 1 Acre

When you look at a fertilizer label, the first thing you'll want to find is the NPK ratio. This will show you the percentage of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) in the bag.

Quick release fertilizers tend to have less nitrogen in the bag, so if you're fertilizing at the typical application rate of 1 lb of N per 1000 sq ft, you will need more bags of fertilizer to get the job done.

A 50 lb bag of Turf Royale 21-7-14 has 10.5 lbs of N, which means you can fertilize 10,500 sq ft or .241 acres. To fertilize an acre, you'll need 4.15 bags.

A 50 lb bag of TurfGro 24-5-11 Spring & Summer has 12 lbs of N, which means you can fertilize 12,000 sq ft or .275 acres. To fertilize an acre, you'll need 3.64 bags.

Step 2: Multiply the Number of Bags by the Bag Price

If you need 4.15 bags of Turf Royale 21-7-14 to fertilize one acre and it costs $22 a bag, the cost to fertilize one acre is $91.30.

If you need 3.64 bags of TurfGro 24-5-11 Spring & Summer to fertilize one acre and it costs $26 a bag, the cost to fertilize one acre is $94.64.

The costs are pretty similar so far, aren't they? But we're missing one important detail: How long the fertilizers last.

Step 3: Divide the Cost to Fertilize One Acre by How Long the Fertilizer Lasts

As we've discussed, one of the main benefits of moving to a slow release fertilizer is that it lasts much longer than quick release fertilizer. This is where you start saving your money.

If it costs $91.30 to fertilize one acre with Turf Royal 21-7-14 and it only lasts 4 weeks, that means it's costing you $22.82 per week.

If it costs $94.64 to fertilize one acre with TG 24-5-11 Spring & Summer and it lasts 9 and half weeks, it's only costing you $10.09 per week.

As you can see, when you pay a few dollars less for a product that only lasts half as long, your fertilizer ends up costing you more in the long run. But the savings are actually greater when you consider a few other costs.

Other Ways Slow Release Fertilizer Saves You Money

The example above focused solely on the cost of fertilizer, but there are other costs to think about when it comes to your fertilizer program. You should also consider:

•The cost of labor. Fertilizer doesn't apply itself and labor isn't cheap. Every application of fertilizer means additional labor cost.

•The cost of gas. Unless you live on the property, you'll need to get to and from the job site, which wastes additional time and money.

•The cost of additional mowing and maintenance. This article has mainly focused on costs, but one of the main benefits of using slow release fertilizer is that it produces steady, healthy growth.

Unfortunately, many of us have been misled to believe that a quick surge of super green is healthy for turf. Not so! In fact, repeated use of quick release fertilizers is a lot like a caffeine rush followed by the crash.

You end up with peaks and valleys in the overall look of the turf. During those lush peaks following a fertilizer application, the plant is overproducing above-ground shoots at the expense of the root system.

The end result is a lot of mowing and shallow roots that cannot mine for water and nutrients as deeply in the soil profile, which may require additional maintenance to correct.

Need help creating a fertilizer program or selecting the right fertilizer?
Contact your local Horizon store. We're happy to help!

Fertilizers designed for trees and shrubs are often very similar in the ratio of NPK, so it's important to take a further look at the bag to see what the fertilizer actually contains and how it will affect your plantings.

In this FAQ, Christina Burton, Horizon's Maintenance Channel Manager, shows you what to watch for when reading a bag to avoid excessive quick growth, tender shoots, and insect damage.

Video Transcript

Spring is a great time in a lot of areas to fertilize your landscape ornamentals. So your trees, shrubs, flowers, ground covers. Those type of things.

And typically, compared to a turf fertilizer, landscape ornamental fertilizer will be a lot higher in these 2nd and 3rd numbers. The phosphorus and the potassium.

And the important thing to really examine when you're looking for a fertilizer for your landscape plantings is that a lot of products can look very similar just in the ratio of NPK. These are both 1:1:1 products. 15-15-15 and a 14-14-14.

You might think, "What's the difference?"

But they're very different in what all is in the bag and that's very important for landscape ornamentals in particular.

So there can be something as basic as a 15-15-15, and really all that's in this product is some quick release fertilizer, quick release nitrogen, and phosphorus and potassium. And the downside, the major downside of using quick release fertilizer on your trees and shrubs is that it causes very quick growth. And with that you end up with very tender shoots. And what happens is those tender shoots are very prone to insect damage.

So if you notice in some of your properties that you have a lot of repeated problems with aphids, with white flies, a lot of times that's a sign you're using too much quick release fertilizer.

14-14-14, and again this doesn't mean it's these exact ratios, but it's just saying look a little closer on the bag. This could be a product that rather than just quick release nitrogen, it contains slow release and a good portion of it. 60% plus. And that's really getting you sustained feeding, slow growth. Not getting the tender shoots over the entire season.

In addition, usually really good products for trees and shrubs contain micronutrients. So iron, manganese, zinc. And those are again just very important, more so than for turf, for landscape ornamentals. It has to do with flowering and their colors.

So again, just pay close attention to the label and make sure you're choosing the right product for those landscape plantings.

Weed and Feed Fertilizer is an option to consider when you want to fertilize your turf in the spring and control weeds with the same application.

In this FAQ, Christina Burton, Horizon's Maintenance Channel Manager, discusses the two main types of Weed and Feed and shares application tips that will help you get a healthy, weed-free lawn.

Video Transcript

If you want to fertilize your turf in the spring and also control weeds, you would wanna consider a Combo Fertilizer. Or a lot of people know this as a Weed and Feed.

So the way to choose a Weed and Feed is to really first ask the question, "Are you trying to prevent weeds from growing? Or are you trying to control ones that are already there in your lawn and you want to remove them?"

If you want to prevent weeds, you need to use a product that has pre-emergent on it. And what it really does is when you put down the fertilizer and its got the pre-emergent on it. And you water it in, that's really important, you end up creating this barrier underneath the soil. And these weed seeds, as they try to emerge, they hit this chemical barrier and they die before they can sprout.  

A post-emergent on the other hand, you've already got weeds in the lawn and it's really important that this product sticks onto the actual leaves of the weeds. If the product doesn't stick there, getting washed off into the ground doesn't do anything. Because that's not the way that that chemical is taken up. It doesn't take it up through the roots. It's gotta go through the leaves.

So a couple important things to note:

• First of all, you wanna make sure that you water just lightly prior to applying the product so that the leaves are wet and the product will stick to the leaves.

• And then you'll also want to make sure that you shut the irrigation off so it doesn't get washed off. It has time to be absorbed and taken down to the roots. That's the way it carries down the chemical.

And then another common mistake is that folks will think that they should mow the lawn prior to. That that will be better. They'll get the weeds partially mowed down and then apply it. But the problem is if you come in and chop these weeds off, you've gotten rid of a lot of the surface area of the leaves that's going to take up the chemical. So your chemical actually works not as well.

So again, make sure you water it first, have the product stick to the leaf, turn the irrigation off so it doesn't get washed off for 24 hours, and try to not mow for about 2 days before and 2 days after applying the product.

Choosing a spring fertilizer can be tricky because a lot of fertilizers have a similar NPK. In this FAQ, Christina Burton, Horizon's Maintenance Channel Manager, will show you what key ingredients to look for on the label so you can choose the right fertilizer for your lawn.

Video Transcript

When choosing the spring fertilizer, it's really important to note that there are a lot of products that can look really similar in the NPK, in the 3 numbers on the bag ratio. But you really have to take a closer look at the label and figure out what is in that bag specifically and what that's going to make your turf do.

So there are some products that are really for a quick green-up and that could be a good thing in the spring. Maybe it's been a little cool out and you really wanna get that pop. And those are products that are going to contain things like Ammonium Sulfate and Urea. Very fast acting sources of Nitrogen.

And what happens is at that application time, those release very quickly. You get that good green-up, but then they run out pretty quickly. These products don't last a long time. Usually in the realm of 4-6 weeks.

Whereas products that contain slow release, and by looking at the bag, they'll typically have an asterisk listing "Slowly Available Nitrogen From" things like Polymer Coated Urea, Sulfur Coated Urea, sometimes organic inputs, Methylene Urea.

And those products, they release less quickly at the time of application for a nice steady green-up. And they last a lot longer.

So again, it's just important to take a closer look and figure out what is the product that is going to get you the results you want.

The first spring fertilizer application is important to the health of both warm and cool season grasses.

In this FAQ, Christina Burton, Maintenance Channel Manager for Horizon, explains how the type of turfgrass you're growing and local weather impacts when lawns should be fertilized in the spring.

Video Transcription

We talked in previous sessions about the best time to fertilize your lawn has the most to do with what type of turfgrass you're growing.

So to review, cool season turf is most actively growing and should be fertilized primarily in the spring and in the fall. Kinda avoiding the high heat of summer.

Warm season turf is best fertilized starting in spring and going through the summer.

So when it comes to spring fertilizing and getting a little more specifics, some things to keep in mind:

Cool season turf - If you're in a region where there's frost or snow. You wanna just make sure that you're passed that. You don't want to fertilize any earlier and then again, just getting down before you're approaching the heat of summer.

For warm season turf, there's kinda a misconception that fertilizing prior to the warm season turf coming out of dormancy that you can wake it up so to speak with fertilizer. And that's not actually true.

The rule of thumb is to definitely wait until that warm season grass, like Bermuda, has come out of dormancy and then that's the appropriate time to start fertilizing in the spring.

Overseeding in fall to maintain your turf's color throughout the winter can be a challenge. Do it right and you have lush turf year-round. Do it wrong and your turf will suffer for seasons to come.

The key is to effectively slow down your warm season turf so that it's not competing with the perennial ryegrass that you're trying to establish.

As Christina Burton points out in the above video FAQ, warm season grasses such as Bermuda begin to harden off during the fall in preparation for the cold of winter. When warm season grasses are fertilized too late into the fall, their tissues are tender and prone to cold and disease stress.

At the same time, any new seed that you put down to keep your turf green through the winter months is going to need starter fertilizer to promote root growth and establishment.

So in order to have a healthy, disease-free turf now and in seasons to come, it's very important to cut back on the amount of fertilizer and water you use prior to the actual overseed date.

In addition to decreasing the amount of fertilizer and water used, here are other steps you should take to ensure your overseeding is successful.

Before Overseeding:

1. Perform your last aggressive dethatching of warm-season turf 6 weeks before the overseed date.

2. Stop all Nitrogen fertilization 4 weeks before.

3. Stop mowing 10 days before.

4. Decrease water by 50% 1 week before.

5. Drop mowing height by 1/3 3 to 4 days before.

Day of Overseeding:

6. Drop mowing height by 1/3 again.

7. Remove clippings to open the turf canopy to the soil.

8. Broadcast the seed.

9. New seeds need Phosphorus (the middle number in NPK Formulations) to promote root growth and establishment. Apply a fertilizer high in Phosphorus like TurfGro 6-20-10 ProStarter Fertilizer.

10. Lightly cover the seed with 1/8-1/4 inch of fine mulch or seed topper.

If you have any questions about overseeding or if you want to learn more about any of our TurfGro products, contact your local Horizon store!

Organic fertilizers are a popular option with many clients because they tend to be more environmentally-friendly than synthetic fertilizer.

In this FAQ, Christina Burton, Maintenance Channel Manager for Horizon, explains the benefits and caveats of implementing an organic fertilizer program.

Video Transcription

So as we discussed, most often when folks are searching for organic fertilizer, what they really mean is they’re looking for fertilizer with natural components. Again, examples of these might be feather meal, bone meal, manures like bio-solids and poultry waste.

And there’s certainly some benefits, but also some caveats, to using organic fertilizer.

First of those: Public Benefits. From a PR standpoint, again, to be able to be a contractor having that message of kid-friendly, pet-friendly, environmentally-friendly. Definitely has its advantages.

Operationally, organic fertilizer programs over time are certainly more efficient. Less product is actually used. You’re really building up the soil that is, in a sense, feeding the microbes that are feeding the plants. It just becomes this ecosystem running on a lot less.

There are some caveats. The challenges with an organic fertilizer program are that it’s not that immediate result that you’ve been used to with synthetic fertilizers. That snap of green that you’re used to seeing right after you apply.

It takes some time to build up the soil. To get those microbes living off of it. So, often times, this can be up to a year. So it really takes some committing to the program.

In addition, there’s a big variance in the quality of organic inputs.

So things that err on the side of manures (bio-solids, poultry wastes). Those are going to be a little more quickly acting, but they don’t last as long. They’re not as high quality.

Whereas as you get into the bone meals and feathers meals. Those are higher end, but again, take a little longer to get established and get going.

So it’s just some things to know when getting started on an organic program that are very different from traditional synthetic.

Even amongst landscape professionals, there is some confusion when it comes to the term "Organic Fertilizer".

In this FAQ, Christina Burton, Maintenance Channel Manager for Horizon, explains what organic fertilizer is and what your customer may really be asking for when requesting organic fertilizer for their lawn or landscape.

Video Transcription

So what is organic fertilizer? Technically speaking, organic fertilizer is nothing but, definition meaning: it contains Carbon.

So in this sense there are a lot of synthetic fertilizers, your traditional “not natural” sources, like methylene urea, that contain Carbon. So by that definition, are organic.

Most likely if you’re looking for an organic fertilizer, what you really mean is you want something that’s natural. So containing natural components: broken down feather meal, bone meal, bio-solids or poultry wastes or other manures.

That’s really what you might be looking for when it comes to organic.

There is often confusion when it comes to differentiating organic and chemical fertilizer.

In this FAQ, Christina Burton, Maintenance Channel Manager for Horizon, explains the difference between organic, inorganic, synthetic, and chemical fertilizer, which can be critical when helping your customer identify what type of fertilizer program they want for their lawn.

Video Transcription

When people ask about chemical fertilizer, there is a bit of confusion regarding the different terms and how we define what that means.

So in reality, chemical fertilizer is interchangeable with the terms “synthetic”, with “inorganic”. They include components such as urea, ammonium sulfate. Kind of your traditional fertilizers that you think of.

Versus, they might be looking for organic, or think they are. But in the true sense of the word, organic really just means that it contains Carbon.

So in reality, there are examples of inorganic fertilizer or chemical fertilizer that still contain Carbon. Methylene urea would be an example. So really, by definition, they are organic.

Most likely, when organic fertilizer is being sought out, what folks really mean is “natural”.

A common reason people stay with quick release fertilizer is they think that their turf will not be as healthy when they use slow release fertilizer.

In this FAQ, Christina Burton, Maintenance Channel Manager for Horizon, describes the main problem with quick release fertilizer and why slow release fertilizer is a better long-term solution.

Video Transcription

The other common myth regarding slow release fertilizer and what causes people to hesitate moving to slow release is that the turf is not going to be as healthy. They’re used to seeing that flush green growth from a quick release and think that slow release isn’t going to get that for them.

And really, as we kind of looked before, you get that lush flush growth at the beginning with quick release, but you also get the fall really quickly. So it’s those peaks and valleys.

Whereas the slow release, again, there’s still some quick release components in there that are giving it immediate green. You get a result. But it’s extending the period a lot longer and you’re not having a complete crash.

And the other downside with having a crash like that or with the over-production of shoot growth at the beginning is that, much like fertilizing in the wrong periods of the year, it’s causing the turf to over-produce shoot growth and they can only do that at the expense of the roots.

So repeated flush quick release applications like this, really the end result is a very shallow root system that has a hard time mining for nutrients and water. And it just kinda becomes this vicious cycle. Versus, the slow release is sustainable.