Like most of everything we own and love,  regular maintenance is the key to long-lasting success. I’ve personally witnessed many homeowners completely burn their grass by either applying too much fertilizer, applying their fertilizer at the wrong times, and using the wrong ratios not knowing what proper nutrients are needed for success. A simple soil test can easily determine what is needed for your grass to thrive all season long. Some questions that pop up regularly are (Do I really need to fertilize my lawn?) – ( What do the numbers represent on the fertilizer bags?) – ( Why don’t the numbers on the bag add up to 100%? )  and  ( Do I need to test my soil before adding fertilizer? )  Well, let me break it all down for you all as simple as I can.

1. Why should I fertilize my lawn in Québec?

• Certain fertilizer applications add all the nutrients necessary for your lawn to thrive in our northern climate. We also experience droughts and have watering bans in most boroughs in Québec. This alone can make it quite challenging to maintain our lawns if no fertilizer is applied to your grass at the right times. Vaudreuil Dorion have some of the strictest watering bans that we’ve seen in the West Island and surrounding area’s but, we have great fertilizer programs that can save your lawn throughout the summer and resist drought as long as a proper mowing shedule is implemented with the proper mowing heights.

       2. What do the numbers on the bags represent?  (NPK)

•  The first number represents             (N) Nitrogen
•  The second number represents        (P) Phosphorus
•  The third number represents            (K) Potassium

The numbers represent the % of each nutrient. For example  :  31/00/03  represents 31% Nitrogen – 0% Phosphorus  – 3% Potassium

    3. Why do the numbers on the fertilizer bags not represent 100%?

• This question is quite complex. Additional components are added to the formula for stability, resistance to humidity, slow-release, quick release, etc… Rarely will a customer ask me this specific question but, I will get into it more in-depth if there is enough interest from you all.

    4. What to look for in soil sample testing?

• The main nutrients to look for are Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K)
•  Sulfur (S), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg)
•  copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), boron (B), chloride (Cl), nickel (Ni), and molybdenum (Mo)

What is the Best NPK for Lawn Fertilizer?

At Grovia Landscaping, We love to use our own personal blend of fast acting granular release fertilizer in spring.  Then a slow release blend in the summer months which protect lawns from drought and another quick release fertilizer in the fall. There are always different opinion’s on what works best and what does not from one company to another. We at Grovia Landscaping base all of our NPK’s on personal experience and our own personal results. We focus our grass fertilizer programs in Notre Dame De L’Ile Perrot, Baie-Durfe,  Beaconsfield, Pincourt, Senneville, Vaudreuil Dorion,  Pincourt and Ile Perrot Québec.

Some experts may disagree on certain warm weather grass fertilizer but up here,  with our cooler climate of Montreal Quebec,  Kentucky blue grass goes dormant for half the season and we found that using a 1.1.1 ratio fertilizer NPK has remarkable results to start off our cooler climate grass early on in the season. We absolutely stand by our 19/19/19 quick release granular fertilizer.

This 19/19/19 fertilizer drives ourstanding results in Québec for our cool weather grass!

• (N) the percentage of nitrogen promotes thicker blades of grass that help newly sodded lawns and well maintained established lawns choke out any potential unwanted weeds.
• (P) the percentage of phosphorus encourages strong root groth and strenghtens the root system after a long cold winter of dormant grass covered with heavy snow and ice.
• (K) the percentage of potassium nutrients help fight off disease from harsh winters and all the elements aswell.

Our 27/04/08 summer slow release granular fertilizer is ideal for periods of drought and extreme heat that we periodicaly get in up here in Montreal – Québec.

• (N) The higher percentage of nitrogen promotes darker green and thicker blades of grass.
• (P) A smaller percentage of phosphorus is needed for established lawns.
• (K) A percentage of potassium that help fight off disease and that protects and helps your grass from drought.

Grovia Landscaping Inc. is working on a new mixture for fall fertilizer for our cool weather grass. If you’re looking for a lawncare company near me that provides fertilizer treatments to your grass in the west island  look no further. Grovia lawncare provides fertilizer programs in Notre Dame De L’ile Perrot, Ile Perrot, Beaconsfield, Senneville, Baie-Durfe, Vaudreuil and surrounding areas.

You can always reach us at 514 924-1151 or email us at stef@grovialandscaping.com