Why Feed Your Lawn?
Grass is a hungry plant. Every time you mow, you're removing nutrients from the system. Without replacing them, the lawn gradually thins, loses colour, and becomes vulnerable to moss, weeds, and disease.
A well-fed lawn grows thick and dense — thick enough to crowd out weeds naturally and resist wear and tear. It's one of the simplest things you can do to maintain a good-looking lawn.
The Seasonal Feeding Programme
Spring Feed (March–April)
What it does: wakes the lawn up after winter and drives strong green growth.
What to use: a fertiliser high in nitrogen (N). Look for an NPK ratio where the first number is the highest — something like 12-4-4 or similar. Most products sold as "spring lawn feed" have the right balance.
When to apply: once the grass has started growing (usually mid-March to mid-April depending on where you are in the UK — lawns in the south start earlier than the north). The soil needs to be above about 5°C for the grass to actually use the feed.
Summer Feed (June–July) — Optional
What it does: sustains growth and colour through the main growing season.
What to use: a balanced feed with moderate nitrogen. Some people skip this entirely and just do spring and autumn — that's fine for most lawns.
When to apply: only if the lawn is actively growing and not drought-stressed. If it hasn't rained for two weeks and your lawn is brown, don't feed it — water it instead.
Autumn Feed (September–October)
What it does: toughens the grass for winter. Promotes root growth and disease resistance rather than leaf growth.
What to use: a fertiliser high in potassium (K) and low in nitrogen (N). Look for an NPK ratio where the last number is higher than the first — something like 3-5-10 or similar. Products sold as "autumn lawn feed" have this balance.
Why low nitrogen in autumn: nitrogen promotes soft, leafy growth. Soft growth going into winter is vulnerable to frost damage and fungal disease. Potassium strengthens cell walls and improves the plant's ability to handle cold and wet conditions.
Winter — Don't Feed
The grass is dormant. Fertiliser applied in winter sits on the surface doing nothing (at best) or washes into waterways causing pollution (at worst). Leave the lawn alone from November to February.
Granular vs Liquid Fertiliser
Granular
Pros: easy to apply evenly with a spreader, slow-release formulations feed for 6–12 weeks from a single application, harder to over-apply.
Cons: needs watering in (rain or irrigation) within 48 hours. Granules sitting on dry grass in sun will scorch the blades.
Best for: most home lawns. Buy a basic wheeled drop spreader — they cost under thirty pounds and make even application almost foolproof.
Liquid
Pros: fast-acting (you see greening within days), easy to apply with a hose-end sprayer, good for quick colour boosts before events.
Cons: easy to over-apply and cause scorch, doesn't last as long as slow-release granular, can be patchy if you don't walk at a consistent pace.
Best for: quick top-ups between main feeds, or small lawns where a spreader isn't necessary.
How to Apply Granular Fertiliser Evenly
Uneven application is the number one cause of stripy, patchy fertiliser burn. Here's how to avoid it:
- Measure your lawn area so you know exactly how much product to use. See our measuring guide — the same method applies
- Calibrate your spreader by doing a test run on a patio or driveway (sweep it up afterwards). Adjust the aperture until the correct amount covers the right area
- Apply half the dose in one direction, half at 90 degrees. This gives you two lighter passes rather than one heavy one, and any slight unevenness in one pass is compensated by the other
- Overlap each pass slightly so there are no missed strips
- Water in within 24–48 hours if rain isn't forecast. A good soaking with a sprinkler for 20 minutes is enough
Common Fertiliser Mistakes
Scorching
Applying too much fertiliser, or applying granules that sit on dry grass in hot sun, burns the leaf tissue. You'll see yellow or brown patches that follow your application pattern (usually stripes matching the spreader width).
Fix: water heavily immediately to dilute and wash the fertiliser into the soil. The grass usually recovers within 2–3 weeks, but badly burnt areas may need patch repair.
Feeding Drought-Stressed Grass
Fertiliser is a salt. Applying salts to dehydrated grass makes the dehydration worse. If your lawn is brown from drought, water it back to health first, then feed once it's green and growing again.
Feeding Before Frost
A late autumn application that stimulates soft growth just before the first frost will damage the grass. Get your autumn feed down by mid-October at the latest. If you've missed the window, skip it and wait for spring.
Using the Wrong Feed at the Wrong Time
Spring feed in autumn pushes soft, lush growth that's vulnerable to frost and disease. Autumn feed in spring won't provide the nitrogen boost the lawn needs to get going. Check the NPK ratio and match it to the season.
Feeding and Other Lawn Treatments
If you're also scarifying, aerating, or overseeding, do them in this order:
- Mow
- Scarify
- Aerate
- Overseed (if needed)
- Top-dress
- Fertilise
Apply feed last so it sits on the top-dressed surface and gets washed into the aeration holes with the first watering or rain.