Winter is coming. No, not the next season of Game of Thrones. Cold weather can cause damage to turf, trees and shrubs—but there is a step you can take now to prepare those plants for a better chance to withstand the winter months ahead.
It doesn’t matter if you’re in a snowy, icy region or not, one final fertilizer application can have many benefits. Fall fertilization can help turf, trees and shrubs strengthen roots and build up food reserves to prepare for winter, recover from summer stresses and better resist disease or drought. Adding fall fertilization as a service offering, if you don’t already, is a great way to increase your profits ahead of winter and make happy customers when they have green grass in a few months.
The exact timing of the application will vary by region, but it should be done when temperatures are consistently below 60 degrees. You want to give the plants ample time to acclimate for winter without increasing growth too much.
This time of year, focus on nitrogen and potassium. Potassium helps to enhance cold-hardiness of the plants, while nitrogen will help plants produce food reserves, which aid in earlier spring growth when the cold has faded away. However, to reduce runoff, be sure to only fertilize before soil is frozen.
Try one of these products this fall for strong, healthy turf come spring:
Do you offer fall fertilization as a primary or add-on service? Let us know why you suggest your customers do an application of fall fertilizer in the comments below.