Lawns are growing great now and that means it’s time to begin fertilizing them. Nitrogen would be the main nutrient that I would suggest. However, if the lawn is a little thin or showing a little yellowing in spots, there are a few additional things that might need to be considered.

If the lawn is thin, consider checking the soil for compaction issues. A good way to check for compaction is to push a hand trowel into the soil in several places. If the hand trowel goes three to four inches into the soil easily then compaction isn’t the issue. However, if it’s difficult to push the hand trowel into the soil more than an inch to an inch and a half, then compaction may be the main cause of the thinning turf. Aerating the turf with a core type aerator this month or next month would be a good project to loosen up the soil and allow the grass roots more access to the water and nutrients in the soil.

If compaction isn’t the issue, then take a soil sample from several locations around the lawn and mix them together to make a representation of what is happening in the soil and send that off to the NCDA&CS soil test lab to find out if the pH or nutrient levels are where they need to be for best growth. When the soil report comes back, fertilize according to the directions.

If there are spots in the lawn that are starting to yellow this early in the year, then low iron in the soil may be a likely suspect. Applying some chelated iron to the area, should solve that yellowing.