I finished winterizing my lawn this week which means that the 2023 lawn season has come to a close for me. My last cut of the season happened earlier this week at just under 3″. As soil temperatures continued to drop, it was time to apply that last fertilizer application of the season, referred to as “winterizer”. The soil temperature in my yard was at the 40°F mark, which is perfect for this last fertilizer application. You shouldn’t apply this fertilizer too early or you’ll be forcing your grass to unnaturally push top growth. If you’re looking for a way to get the soil temperature for your yard, you can either get this soil thermometer or check it online by entering your zip code.
What Is Lawn Winterizer?
Lawn winterizer is what’s referred to as the last fertilizer application of the season. For it to be effective, it should be applied when the grass stops growing but the ground is not yet frozen. Soil temperatures will be anywhere between 35°-45°F, where 40° would be the sweet spot. At these temperatures, the grass is naturally no longer growing.
Ideally you should use a fertilizer that has a higher Nitrogen number. Nitrogen is the N in the N-P-K analysis on a bag of fertilizer. It makes the grass green and encourages top growth but since it’s so cold at this time of the year, top growth does not happen. Instead, the grass stores that Nitrogen in its roots for a quick Spring green-up. The N-P-K of the fertilizer that I used is 46-0-0, meaning that there is .46 lbs of Nitrogen per pound of fertilizer that is applied.
How Much Fertilizer To Apply As A Winterizer
You should put down enough fertilizer to yield about 1 lb of Nitrogen per 1,000 sqft. For the fertilizer I used (46-0-0), I put down 2.1 lbs per 1,000 sqft. This resulted in 0.97 lbs (2.1 * 0.46) of Nitrogen per 1,000 sqft.
Combining all of my fertilizer applications for the season, I put down a total of 3.83 lbs. of Nitrogen on my lawn, falling just short of the 4 lbs. goal. Check this out if you’re not sure how to determine how much fertilizer to apply to your lawn.
And that’s a wrap! I hope you found this and all of my previous posts this season helpful. If you followed my advice thus far, I’m sure that your lawn will be coming out stronger next Spring.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
This will be my last post for this season. Next season I’ll plan on sharing a spreadsheet with my subscribers that can be used as a log to keep track of what’s been put down on their lawn. It will also calculate how much Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium is applied. For now, I hope you enjoy this time away from the lawn and would also like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
