FEW Know This About Lawn Winterizer Fertilization: How To Do It Right

[@TurfMechanic]

►►► Want to fix your lawn for the long haul but don't know where to start? I can help! Click here right now and get started today: turfmech.link/dont-know-where-to-start ◄◄◄

[@colleencatalano3547]

I love how your cats love you! 🧡🐱Thanks for awesome information in all your videos!

[@TurfMechanic]

😃 get ready, baby kitten coming next week, probably will make plenty of appearances over the seasons to come.

[@aquienpuedainteresar4188]

Another good info packed video. I'm rethinking my Ammonium Sulfate app I had scheduled for tomorrow. To be honest your way of winterizing is logical to me without any research. Keep the nutrients in the bank for when is needed.

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

I fricken love your channel.

[@shion_lwn]

Very informative..!! I wish I watched this video sooner. You are sooo knowledgeable!!! My area (northern) has usual warmth in December so far. Had some snow days at the beginning of Dec, but it's been warm since last week. Lawn care newbie (me) trimmed a bit of grass a few days ago, applied low dose of fertilizer (fast&slow release 50/50), iron, and bio-stimulants next day, watered in with rain. I ve never fertilized in December before, and someone told me I basically injuring grass 😩

[@TurfMechanic]

Thanks for the compliments! Always a fun experience to get to mow in December 😃 I thought I was going to do it this year but our freeze and snowpack finally came this week. Enjoy the warmth while you got it and thanks for watching! Spring is coming soon, enjoy that lawn of yours!

[@anthonydickman757]

Great info Brian that was fantastic and super helpful! And I like the new transitions too 👍🏼

[@anthonydickman757]

…and it was “surprisingly helpful”! 😁 In all seriousness your channel is one that I would be in shock if there was content that wasn’t incredibly helpful. You really are a true turf mechanic!!!

[@TurfMechanic]

Thanks a lot Anthony! I'm sure I'll put a stinker out there sometime, lol! Always trying to avoid that though. Thanks for watching my stuff, ill keep at it!

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

I just bought 40 lbs of urea. I agree 100 percent of your analysis. My plan is to turn my granular urea into liquid and spray it on as a foliar application at a spoon fed rate of 0.1 lb of nitrogen per 1000 square feet.

[@TurfMechanic]

To have a confident response to you I'd want to research a bit more but here are my initial thoughts - I think leaf tissues can absorb ammonium nitrogen or nitrates only and urea has to be converted into nitrates in the soil by enzymes followed by bacteria...so if you apply dissolved urea via spray it won't be plant available until it's watered into the soil profile and made plant available through those same natural processes. If your soil temps are still high enough then this could work, 55 is the magic number for soil microbial activity and 45 is probably the floor for that activity...below that it's the fungal activity that's in control of the wheel. Depending on your grass type it may still want to grow at 45 degrees (PR) but other types warm season grasses for instance won't. Hope that helps. Thanks for the comment(s) David, it's going to help guide some of my deeper learning on the subject.

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

See Brian! Good point. I do remember seeing a video saying nitrogen is taken up by the plant using an enzyme in the roots. So good point. I guess the best thing to do is dissolve the urea so it doesn't leach out during the watering process of dissolving the granuals but rather already have the granuals pre dissolved in liquid. Then immediately water the uria solution into the soil making it a soil application rather than a foliar app.

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

Or in stead of using a pump sprayer, use a hose attached sprayer so it goes directly to the roots bypassing the leaves for the most part.

[@TurfMechanic]

There you go! That would work!

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

How do you know so much?

[@juzoli]

Here is my plan. I don’t say it’s good, but that’s what I will do:) I have a bag of 6-4-0 Milorganite good for 2500sqft, and a bag of Purely Organic 10-0-2 good for 5000sqft, which adds up nicely to my ~7500sqft lawn. We had some freezes, but also some warm days, so the grass growth is very slow, but not zero yet. This weekend will be rainy and mild, then it will be cold for good. So I plan to put it down before this weekend, so the rain will water it in, and also have some minimal microbial activity before it probably stops next week. So maybe there will be a little nutrient release before the winter, but it will mostly just sit in the ground until spring. I still prefer organic, because I rather let it wake up in the spring naturally in its own pace (together with the microbial life), instead of artificially pushing it with the lots of nitrogen. They will probably have greener lawn earlier, but I’m not convinced it is healthier, without continuous supervision during the whole year.

[@TurfMechanic]

That looks like a solid plan! It's pretty similar to what I'm doing over here. 👌

[@ivanbabic5726]

Great stuff, thank you! I wish you would leave couple of seconds more between the segments so we have time to "digest" the information given.

[@TurfMechanic]

That's a good idea Ivan, maybe a transitional visual would work. I may try that next time I put a dual vid together like this. This was an experiment and I learned a good deal making this one.

[@thankful0329]

Great video and very interesting i have half a bag left of purely organic lawn food. that will cover my lawn and was thinking of putting it down later this week. but wasn't sure i should. but i think i will do it and see how it does. thank you for your hard work and time doing these videos. always look forward to seeing new info you have on all this.

[@TurfMechanic]

Thanks so much! I'm always floored with the feedback I get on these as they take a lot out of me to make, lots of effort is put into being as accurate as possible. Put that lawn food down once soil temps get closer to 40 than 45 and you'll feel good when the grass starts growing in early spring. 👌 A thriving fungal network in your lawn is probably better for your grass than almost any lawn tuber states. Eventually ill get more vids out on lawn fungal activity and why I'm against the application of almost all fungicides.

[@thankful0329]

@@TurfMechanic look forward to the videos on the good lawn fungal.

[@aaronlothamer6618]

The University of Purdue suggests to use a fast release synthetic fert as a winterizer for Indiana lawns.

[@TurfMechanic]

That may be the case but it's still not my preference- fast release synthetics will be either used now for growth IMO or they will stay in the soil through winter... Problem is as I see it they have to stay in the soil for a long time and will be subject to a lot of loss for months while doing nothing to support soil biology over the winter. I personally support plant/animal N sources for soil building and eventual release in the next season. Of course cost is an issue too, synthetics are cheaper so it's not surprising that many people turn to them and advise them. I just personally haven't been persuaded that they are better for late fall fertilizers.

[@aaronlothamer6618]

@@TurfMechanic Fair enough! I personally don’t think there is a wrong way to do it.

[@TurfMechanic]

@@aaronlothamer6618 that's probably the most accurate statement possible on the subject, lol 😅

[@aaronlothamer6618]

@@TurfMechanic Yeah, if you’re like me at all, I can obsess and overthink these things to no end. Just pick your poison and throw er down! 😀

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

Man! You are good.

[@ACKCSC2024]

I use a digital luggage scale it works great and they are cheep and accurate to oz.

[@TurfMechanic]

That would definitely work too, I probably be more likely to get one of those if I was applying fert to bigger lawn spaces. Thanks for the comment Mark!

[@mattlane7888]

Thanks for the information!

[@TurfMechanic]

👊

[@SuperTA329]

Nice Vido, enjoy this style videos. Makes for a nice ride into work.

[@TurfMechanic]

Love hearing that! I am a bit embarrassed about the audio in this one but fortunately a lot of people care more about the info. Always nice to see you here in the comments STA! 😁

[@SuperTA329]

@@TurfMechanic I was going to mention that as some constructive criticism. It was a bit difficult listening to in the car as I had to constantly adjust volume. That's not normally the case with your videos. All is good. 👍

[@TurfMechanic]

@@SuperTA329 I'm surprised I didn't notice the volume difference in the edit, you can be sure I'll pay closer attention to that next time...I sure with yt made technical edits possible to vids that are already online.

[@johngrinnell]

Another incredible video. But what’s even more amazing is your cat. How do you make sure they don’t leave the property???

[@TurfMechanic]

Thanks so much John! Some of these vids do take a lot of note taking ahead of time just to make sure I can cover the topic as efficiently and deeply as possible. As for the cats, they can roam as far as they want but none of them choose to roam more than an acre in any direction. They keep rodent populations pretty low around the house which is awesome!

[@JM.TheComposer]

Interesting approach - Some people argue that they winterize with the goal of allowing the grass to immediately store energy in the root systems, after top growth has slowed down, but roots are still active. Do you see this approach as 'not a thing,' or is it something that's valid but separate from what you discussed in this video?

[@TurfMechanic]

I see this approach as a thing for sure! Perhaps I should have dedicated some extra time to that idea as well but over the past year I've started to feel like this is less important even though I still think "jts a thing". Fertilizing for plant uptake in late fall will either result in new growth or root holding of those nutrients, I think the timing would have to be impeccable to apply fert for one vs the other. Last year I would think this was more of a reasonable idea but these days I think its a great concept but way too hard to implement in practice. Waiting until soil temps drop low enough and grass stops growing nearly ensures my product will sit on the soil and get incorporated into it slowly over winter without loss, maybe I'm wrong but I think it's a more reliable delivery to plants by spring while also feeding the soil life at the same time. Another point worth bringing up - something I'm not prepared to speak authoritatively on - is root shedding that naturally occurs over winter. If the plant stores nutrients in roots and then sheds root mass over winter then where do those nutrients go? Building soil nutrient holding capacity seems like the right choice to me but I'm always open to having my mind persuaded otherwise. 🤔

[@JM.TheComposer]

@@TurfMechanic Wow, thank you for this detailed response! I had performed my final fertilization of the year, just 1 day before you posted this video. I've been watching the weather report and my soil thermometer every day, to ensure average temps were just below 50F, *and* we didn't have another warm snap coming. (We've had a very warm Autumn around here.) Will it result in a lot of top growth? I don't know yet, but I keep a spreadsheet so I can do my 'lessons learned' for next year.

[@rizocars6115]

Thumbs up for the cat 😺

[@phillipramz8882]

What about mulching/chopping up leaves, and spreading that over the lawn with the mower? I've done that the past couple years, and things come up pretty green each spring.

[@paullasko2023]

What about P and K applied late fall? Does the lawn or soil eventually use them or does that leech or break down?

[@thurstonr9929]

Morning Brian, Very informative video and information I wish I knew before applying my winterizer which contained urea. So basically if my fertilizer that I applied this week contained 3.3% urea nitrogen it won’t be absorbed in the soil over the winter? I would have certainly purchased Jonathan Green. I guess this is why guys like you are around to educate us lawn DIYers. But now I know what to apply next year. Thanks for this content. Definitely filled with important information.

[@TurfMechanic]

Thanks for the comments Thurston, it's always hard to explain everything well without going on forever. If your fert was 3.3% urea and was applied to moist soil (common in fall) or to a thatch layer sitting above the soil it would have started the volatilization process very quickly losing nitrogen to the atmosphere- that's why we water it in right away. The longer we wait to water it into the soil the greater the loss. If you watered your product in right away then it easily made it into the soil profile and converted into ammonia. At that point soil temps and microbial activity came into play. If temps were closer to 50 then the ammonia started converting into nitrite then nitrate where it finally becomes plant available. Closer to 40 and the ammonia won't convert and will stay in the soil or leech away before microbial activity starts up again. Grass types go dormant at different temps as you know and the longer ammonia stays in the soil the more likely it will eventually go through denitrification at some point. The same risk for organics the difference is organics stay in the soil as ammonia for less time so the denitrification risk is lower. Lots of extra info I could touch on but I don't want to write a blog post here lol.

[@thurstonr9929]

@@TurfMechanic First, thank you for taking the time to really explain this process. We’ve had some pretty cold nighttime temps here in the North (40) but warmer days. The one positive is that I did water it in right away and we just got some rain last night- more expected Friday. Hopefully some nutrients gets into the soil for nice spring green up. But moving forward, will most certainly use organics. This is why we need your channel!

[@eliotanders3488]

Interesting information. I'm using "Purely Organic" brand lawn food (10-0-2) which use corn gluten meal. Question; is using corn gluten meal in late fall a good way to prevent or hinder weed growth in the spring as well as fertilize the lawn?

[@TurfMechanic]

I'm planning to use corn gluten meal in the Spring for the weed suppression but this time of year it's unlikely to have any suppression effect. It works to suppress weeds but is very sensitive to environmental conditions at application time and under the best environmental circumstances during application it's suppression capabilities are mostly capped at 4-6 weeks so it wouldn't last until typical spring weed germination times and the winter weeds have already germinated for most people so it wouldn't touch them. It does still work as the organic soil fertilizer just like the products I used so I think its a great option to use for this time of year.

[@trendandvalue]

hi Brian, been toying with the idea of throwing down alfalfa pellets (horse feed) on my lawn. grass should go dormant in a week or two (North Dakota). is there a benefit to do it now or should I just wait until snow melt in spring?

[@TurfMechanic]

If you do it now then the beneficial fundi (decomposers) will break down the pellets over winter. They tend to do the job of soil bacteria during the warm part of the year just much slower which is why winter works fine. This will get all of those good nutrients into the soil and ready for use by the time your long winter is over. I would drop them now if it were me and enjoy the results in spring.

[@trendandvalue]

@@TurfMechanic great, thanks. I picked up a bag. fall is still holding on for now, so I am going to wait to apply until we get consistent frosts. essentially throwing down rabbit bait here, it'll keep my cats and dog preoccupied the next few months. one other question - when I was at Tractor Supply I noticed they sell compressed bales of unprocessed alfalfa. could one use this while reseeding for moisture retention like regular straw?

[@juzoli]

Did you left a small portion of your lawn untreated as a control area?

[@TurfMechanic]

I did not...unless you consider my hill yard (by the chickens) a control. I almost never do anything up there other than mow. I didn't even irrigate up there this year.

[@JM.TheComposer]

Regarding your soil thermometer, how far down is it below the surface? I have mine at 4 inches.

[@TurfMechanic]

I usually plunge mine roughly 3 1/2 inches or so but sometimes I shoot for 1 1/2 to see surface temps compared to 6 inches to see sub soil temps or deep root zone which is useful for deep rooted grass types like fescue bermuda zoysia etc. My plain soil thermometer is only a thun 7 inch stem, last year I used a 20" compost thermometer that had a stronger stem. I may switch back to that this winter because it's much sturdier and weather resistant. I've got a boring video reviewing the reotemp thermometers if you want to look it up.

[@wayiamstarr]

I believe with all do respect ...that high urea nitro should be put on lawn only in late fall or and early winter. ..what u r putting on would be what i do in late late winter or early spring

[@TurfMechanic]

Id love to hear your reasoning, imo urea is a great option for mid fall (october-ish) because lawns are still in growth mode. I think the organics in mid Nov work well to give lots of time for slow fungal breakdown of the product over winter. Applying organics in late winter imo wouldn't break down and become plant available quick enough to make a difference in early spring growth. I'm not the smartest guy on the block though, maybe I'm wrong, what is your reasoning Waylam?

[@wayiamstarr]

@@TurfMechanic i feel like organics breaking down slow in spring in summer r good because of heat and drought. . i think high nitro going into dormancy helps give a push of growth little up and will help most with root growth...hell idk...lawn expert / pros...at commercial places push 46 0 0...but grass pad...push like a 8 12 10...so da hell knows....my starter i use is 18 24 12...so i dont need N PK levels high.... I love video . i never consider the breaking down over winter. Hell i prob do both now

[@wayiamstarr]

@@TurfMechanic milorganite...for winter have u did that before

[@mattfrekwentflier8342]

Very informative video. Can you do a foliar app of Ammonium Sulfate as a Winterizer? Or is granular best?

[@dvxAznxvb]

Foliar needs to be watered in; if you do hose end it’s fine and it can be done during cold; you usually can’t reply on your irrigation though Urea has potential burn and ammonium is considered slower so it should be ok to go 1/2-1lb per 1000sqft without burning

[@TurfMechanic]

I'd have to research the foliar absorb of amm Sul on grass, I think its able to enter leaf tissues but not 100% on that. I've always watered it into soil myself. As I tried to imply in the vid ammonium sulfate works as a winterizer in cold soil, sub 45 to push one last growth push out of cold season grasses and warm season grasses in warmer soil. But it goes down into the soil profile in the ammonium form so it won't bind to soil particles the same way as ammonia will. I would expect ammonium sul to stay in the soil over winter. I would expect it to be used right away or leach away. If sprayed lightly on leaf tissues I think it will enter the plant but of course this implies the grass isn't dormant so it will push more growth probably and maybe store some of that N in root tissues if the plant is actively going dormant. I sound like I know what I'm talking about here but I'm not confident on that so please do extra research, I know I will! 😁

[@erickchoza8561]

I am new to grass. How can I mow to 3.5 tall fescue, when all the mowers I have found on the internet say their highest height is 3" . do you know of a brand that their cut height is 3.5?

[@rlbjr]

Both Toro and Honda mowers can cut as high as 4".

[@experimentchannel9692]

Hey turf mechanic, I am allegedly in zone 6b transition zone, we have extremely hot summers, but my lawn is extremely shady, could I get away with fine fescue? I’m on well water w small lawn so water for the lawn is unlimited...

[@TurfMechanic]

Dude! You are speaking my language! I'm also 6b with ocassionally colder nights over winter. We're also on a well and if I had more widespread shade if go for a heavy concentration of fine fescue in a heartbeat! My fine fescue pots in shade stood up to our heat this summer so much better than the other cold season grasses because I kept them jn the shade. The rye and kbg and fescue suffered in the heat and in the shade, the fine fescues thrived in the hit shade. You will love the decision to go fine in your shady areas! You will water less and fertilize less too. I give you my 110% yes on this one. 😁

[@M2TC]

Do you know anything on the effectiveness of spreading sulfur at late fall temperatures? Trying to nudge my 7.2 a bit lower

[@TurfMechanic]

I made three videos on lowering soil ph earlier this year including one where I applied elemental sulfur, I say go for it now, but don't expect it to move tye needle by spring. The smaller the particle the faster the sulfur will work so keep that in mind. Elemental Sulfur is another product that needs biological activity to "make it work" in the soil so that will be a slow process through late fall winter and early spring but I can't think of a reason that you should wait. Make sure you use elemental sulfur and not a fertilizer with sulfur, elemental sulfur is different and will acidity soil eventually while sulfur fertilizers won't. Ammonium sulfate for instance contains sulfur and its an acidification fertilizer but it's not the sulfur that causes the ph change. Look up those videos in search to learn more, id link to them now but it's hard from my phone while in comments.

[@M2TC]

@@TurfMechanic thanks!

[@bluejay3945]

Am I a bad husband if I’m using my wife’s meat thermometer to check the soil temperature without telling her

[@rontiffany7366]

I do the same thing 🤐

[@UrbanDadLife2024]

🤣🤣🤣

[@aquienpuedainteresar4188]

Not if she doesn't find out 🤣🤣🤣

[@TurfMechanic]

I say you are a good husband! Only the best husband's monitor outside soil temps FOR their wives! You are taking this burden on yourself so that she doesn't have to! Lol

[@rontiffany7366]

I also monitor grass seed and fertilizer.🤐

[@kenanderson1240]

You continue to verbally wander around with your presentations, talking alot about everything, but not connecting your points into coherent

[@IrvRat1982]

Dafuq Ken. Go eat a Snickers.

[@TurfMechanic]

Sorry you couldn't follow the thought process Ken, im not happy with my audio with this one but I'm super happy with the amount of info and the quality of info I delivered in this one, it's hard to pack more detailed info into this amount of time. The delivery isn't going to please everyone so I hope you'll continue to give my material a good chance again and maybe grow into it.